Roosters to hens ratio......

[Josh0625]

What are yalls thought and experiences with a healthy, happy rooster to hen ratio? I want fertile eggs but not a ton of competition for the rooster, so they don't become " mean"

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

1 rooster to 10 hens for most breeds. What breeds do you have?

 

[Molpet]

depends on the roo... some are happy with 6 hens some 16... general rule is 10

 

[LilJoe]

I have one cock over 7 hens and not all the eggs are fertile. Yes, with past experiences he is VERY fertile.
I also have one cockerel over 18 hens and most of the eggs are fertile. I rarely have an infertile egg with him.

Depends on the roo, but I say at least 10 per.

 

[kanina]

My ratio on ducks is 3:1.

My ratio on chickens through the summer has been 4:1 and my roo treats my ladies just fine.

I've seen 10+:1 ratios and the roo was aggressive to a few of the hens. But I have yet to experience hens being aggressive for more attention.

 

[Josh0625]

1 rooster to 10 hens for most breeds. What breeds do you have?

Barred rocks....I have 1 roo to 7 hens right now but adding more hens and wondering about adding another rooster

 

[Josh0625]

My ratio on ducks is 3:1.

My ratio on chickens through the summer has been 4:1 and my roo treats my ladies just fine.

I've seen 10+:1 ratios and the roo was aggressive to a few of the hens. But I have yet to experience hens being aggressive for more attention.

My roo is great. He is friendly to my family and gentle yet efficient for his ladies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sorry but I don’t know what you mean by “mean”. If you mean at what ratio they won’t fight if you have multiple roosters, there isn’t one. If they are going to fight they will fight, whether that is over one hen or 30.

If you mean at what ratio will the roosters be nice to the ladies, there isn’t one. Some people keep one rooster with one or two hens and just don’t have these problems. Some people keep one roster with over 20 hens and still have problems.

If you mean something else, well what do you actually mean by “mean”? There is probably not a magic ratio for that either but a little info might help.

The more you can tell us about your goals, how many chicken you are planning on, is breed separation important, and how much room you have the better e can give a response that suits your situation. There are a couple of important points. Cockerels are roosters are totally different animals. An immature cockerel is pumped full of hormones and has no self-control. When they are pumped up with those hormones you can see a lot of fighting and they will be after the pullets and hens really bad. A mature rooster usually acts like a mature rooster and has a lot more self-control.

The other important thing is room. With two or more roosters don’t even think about some square foot per chicken formula. Think more in line with the roosters having enough room so they can get well away from each other. Out of sight is really good. Each rooster normally claims a certain territory and collects his own harem. If you pack them on top of each other the chances of very serious conflict is a lot higher than if they can stay separated.

So tell us a bit about what you are after. There are different ways to go about this stuff.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

I would just have one rooster...