Roosters to hens ratio

Pics
Date sort Score sort
VictoriaTemple said:
I am (as usual) the minority voice here, but please, if you have any love for your birds at all, give the roos a chance. The horror stories you have read on this thread are NOT common occurrences, and frankly, if you can’t handle roosters you should not have chickens. SOME roosters are mean. SOME roosters are aggressive. SOME roosters over-mate hens. SOME are the most affectionate members of your flock, excellent lookouts, food scouts, social mediators, and chick daddies. You want good chickens? Keep multiple roosters and treat them right. I currently have 3 roosters and 14 hens, and people on this forum constantly tell me I’m nuts. They also complain constantly about all the funky things (social, behavioral, medical, and genetic) that happen to hens who live without enough sexual stimulation and varied options, not to mention predator attacks. Hens need roosters to be mentally and physically healthy, without them they are depressed and die much too easily. I am seriously considering adding at least 1 more roo in the spring, maybe more. Are there trashy roos out there? You betcha. Know what makes a good roo? Same thing that makes a good hen...owner attention. You set the terms of your relationship with each bird individually and enforce it with kind and careful handling. No, if all you want is egg-machines, you should not have roosters. You should not have hens either. You should buy your eggs at the grocery store like everyone else who does not think animals deserve to be treated as living loving creatures.

I apologize to the OP if this post offends them personally, that is not my intention. I am just so sick and tired of defending roosters against people who consider them disposable life. There are few rehoming opportunities for roosters, so for God’s sake take responsibility for the animals you purchased. Multiple roosters CAN work. If anything, mine let out their aggression on each other and are much MUCH kinder to the hens because of it. Not a bare back among them, except for my very peculiar Jersey Giant whom I have witnessed actually clipping her back feathers deliberately and then going out of her way to attract my head roo’s attention. Why don’t you roo-haters stop counting combs already and think of your birds as puppies. If your dog gave birth to a litter, and half of the puppies were male, would you drown them? No? Why not? The social hierarchy in a dog pack is not at all dissimilar from a chicken flock. And too many male dogs in a given territory can certainly lead to fighting, fear aggression, over-mating, and other unwelcome behaviors. But somehow a dog breeder who puts down unwanted pups goes to jail, while a chicken keeper who kills every male chick he lays hands on is just building his flock responsibly. Animal cruelty is animal cruelty. Life is life. If you insist on culling males, at least give them the time to reach maturity and reward you for the life they had by being a tasty nutritious meal. If you can’t, get another hobby, one that focuses instead on nonliving things that can be controlled.
Click to expand...
 
Good Morning. I am responding to Victoria's post. I did give the roos a chance. I decided for the winter to let all the chickens have the whole back of the barn instead of housing them in their pen. It's going to a heck of mess to clean this spring, but nothing a hot water pressure washer can't handle. There was one "major" incident. One of the roosters got beat up pretty badly. His comb was torn and he cowered in a corner for several days. Fast forward. He and one of the little buff hens hang out together ALL THE TIME. The other two roosters and three hens run in their little group. The two even roost together away from the bigger group. They are now free ranging on farm and seemingly everything is going to be OK. I am planning on adding two hens just to keep the flock more in "balance". We have a lot of cockadoodling going on and it most welcome these mornings.
 
BecKen Acres said:
Good Morning. I am responding to Victoria's post. I did give the roos a chance. I decided for the winter to let all the chickens have the whole back of the barn instead of housing them in their pen. It's going to a heck of mess to clean this spring, but nothing a hot water pressure washer can't handle. There was one "major" incident. One of the roosters got beat up pretty badly. His comb was torn and he cowered in a corner for several days. Fast forward. He and one of the little buff hens hang out together ALL THE TIME. The other two roosters and three hens run in their little group. The two even roost together away from the bigger group. They are now free ranging on farm and seemingly everything is going to be OK. I am planning on adding two hens just to keep the flock more in "balance". We have a lot of cockadoodling going on and it most welcome these mornings.
Click to expand...

So glad to hear it, and glad your #4 rooster has a friend :). I'm curious, do you have a pretty clear sense of who's #1 in the flock? When I had three roosters, there was an obvious leader and loser (not to be rude, lol, he was my favorite.) The middle 'beta' rooster was the meanest little dude; it was probably because of his breed but I always thought he was overcompensating for not being the alpha :). Like he knew he couldn't beat the head rooster so he would attack everyone else extra hard.

Do they harmonize their cockadoodling? Mine all had slightly different voices and sounded a little like someone sitting on a piano when they synchronized their crows.

Don't forget you can use the barn mess in your compost/garden! Chicken poo has worked wonders for my squashes and corn. I really miss when I had ducks; their poop water was like gold for all my produce.
 
"If you can't handle roosters, you shouldn't have chickens"-I could say the opposite: If you can't handle culling, you shouldn't have chickens. But I don't care if you want to have a bunch of roosters or not. For those of us who keep chickens as an animal husbandry activity, it's not about being able to handle roosters or not. I manage the flock to keep the birds as healthy and stress-free as possible. Each rooster I unintentionally purchase with a group of chicks sold as pullets gets a chance. If it stresses out the hens, it goes to live somewhere else or goes to feed my family. There's nothing cruel about the decision. They are not mistreated. I've had roosters that lived their lives out here with little problem. I've had more that created too much stress and did not protect the flock. To each his own.
 
Vicker said:
"If you can't handle roosters, you shouldn't have chickens"-I could say the opposite: If you can't handle culling, you shouldn't have chickens. But I don't care if you want to have a bunch of roosters or not. For those of us who keep chickens as an animal husbandry activity, it's not about being able to handle roosters or not. I manage the flock to keep the birds as healthy and stress-free as possible. Each rooster I unintentionally purchase with a group of chicks sold as pullets gets a chance. If it stresses out the hens, it goes to live somewhere else or goes to feed my family. There's nothing cruel about the decision. They are not mistreated. I've had roosters that lived their lives out here with little problem. I've had more that created too much stress and did not protect the flock. To each his own.
Click to expand...

Totally. Give everyone a chance, but don't let a bad apple ruin the whole bunch.
 

Similar threads

A
Seeking Advice: Young Rooster in Flock with Older Rooster
2
Replies
12
Views
408
Anon112
A
hollandhens24
    • Sad
    • Like
Realistic Expectations for a Rooster
2
Replies
18
Views
1K
Mrs. K
Mrs. K
M
    • Sad
    • Like
Dealing with a 1 year old rooster
2 3 4
Replies
34
Views
1K
z3lda3
z3lda3
silkies4
Do I have room?
Replies
2
Views
285
silkies4
silkies4
L
Need poultry advice!
Replies
9
Views
541
Mrs. K
Mrs. K

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom