Roosters to hen ratio

[Andie32]

I’ve got 20 birds. I know for sure I have one Roo. And I’ve got 7 laying. 6 leghorns and 1 EE as of yesterday. I’ve got more EE and some RIR, which I hear can be late layers. They’re 24 wks now. Should I only keep 1 Roo, or would another be ok with that many pullets? What’s a good ratio?

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

i like to have at least 20 to 1 roo, but they say 10, This year i have 24 hens to 1 BO roo.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are your goals? Why do you want any rooster? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, that can be a strong motivator. I suggest you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more males but that the more males you have the more likely problems are.

A big factor with the number of males is how much room you have. Sometimes multiple males can coexist in a flock without any real issues, sometimes there are serious issues. The more room you have the less likely any issues are going to be serious.

I'm not a believer in magic numbers for chickens, rooster to hen ratio or anything else. Some people keep one rooster with one or two hens and don't have issues. Some keep one rooster with over 20 hens and still have barebacked or over-mated hens. Some roosters have troubles keeping a half dozen hens fertile, many can keep over 20 fertile.

 

[Andie32]

I’ve got a 95sq ft coop and a 140sq ft run attached. And they free range in the late afternoon/evenings and usually on weekends when someone is home. I didn’t really have a goal besides eggs to begin with but I kinda like my Roo. And I was thinking about hatching some eventually when I get a little more acclimated to having and caring for them. They’ve only been laying about two weeks now. And he’s been crowing about the same. I’m not sure the average age for them to start crowing, but I’m pretty sure he’s my only Roo.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd hesitate to add another male in that space. It might work but I would not bet on it. As for hatching you don't have a lot of spare space to integrate more chickens, but one rooster could probably keep all or most of the hens fertile.

 

[Andie32]

If we do decide to hatch, we’re going to build a smaller coop on the other side of the run to house to chicks away from the elders and the Roo.