Roosters to hens ratio

[jolenesdad]

Confined/domesticated chicken keeping is not the natural order, so the "ideal" natural ratio does not apply...

@aart bringing the real talk in this thread.


I would also point out that the OP mentioned they keep the chickens in a stall in the barn over the winter, so odds are they need no more than 1 rooster, if at all.

 

[Shadrach]

Confined/domesticated chicken keeping is not the natural order, so the "ideal" natural ratio does not apply...

@aart bringing the real talk in this thread.


I would also point out that the OP mentioned they keep the chickens in a stall in the barn over the winter, so odds are they need no more than 1 rooster, if at all.

You are missing the point.
The assumption is that if a rooster has only one or two, or a few hens he will overmate them.
Space in this case has little to do with it. You could put 10 hens in the space and the rooster will mate with one or two more than he will the others.
You have also conveniently overlooked that I mentioned that I keep 1:4 ratios.
I also mention that if chickens are contained you can keep any ratio you like.
The point I'm trying patiently to address is that providing any particular number of hens for a rooster is not going to guarantee that over-mating won't happen.
It doesn't matter if you keep them in a barn, am a run or a spaceship.
With the numbers the OP has, three roosters and two hens the probability is one rooster will become senior and he will mate with the hens. That rooster will probably drive the other roosters away.
aart doesn't keep roosters afaik.

 

[aart]

Steps off Shad's Spiral...SeeYa!

 

[Shepherdess]

I've kept chickens for many years. We are a no kill farm. Our roosters do great together if they are raised together. We have five coops and each has at least two roosters as well as a group that free ranges that has three roosters. We've only had problems once with two brothers but now they coexist peacefully in a bachelor pen . We would never be without roosters. They herd their girls into coops when danger is present and will fight to the death if there is an immediate threat. I can't tell you the number of times that their crowing has warned us that something was up in the barnyard. We love Hagrid, George, Ringo, Dweezle, Dweezle II, Dweezle III, Chanticler and Pigwidgeon. We remember with sadness Flash, Warrior and Monsieur who gave their lives for their girls...

 

[Manhen]

I am looking for advice please. I thought I had five hens and two roosters. It turns out I have four hens and three roosters! They are in a large pen in the barn in the winter. I haven’t observed aggressive behavior yet but are there enough hens to keep the roosters happy?

The hens will not be happy. The never are after a few weeks...

 

[Perris]

if you decide to keep them all, make sure there is space and clutter in your run for the roos to run away from each other and not get cornered, because as they mature they will want to sort out their pecking order, and if they can get away from each other, it should not result in bloodshed.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Some of these answers are great, but do not take into account the fact that OP has limited space and experience. In my opinion, her ratio of hens to roos is likely to be problematic for her because of these factors - not because of what's natural for chickens. Her question was, will the hens be happy with this ratio? In my estimation, given her lack of expertise and limited space, probably not. If she were comfortable handling any problems that might arise, or even spotting such problems; IF she were set up with a bachelor pad, IF she were comfortable stepping into the middle of a rooster mash and separating a couple of fighting cocks before one got hurt without herself getting spurred or losing an eye - then sure, this could work. But I don't think she is. Hens' happiness aside, I question whether she is going to be happy with the arrangement. And no, I don't think she is. She needs a few years' experience handling one rooster. Then she can try multiples if she wishes, and her chances of success will be far greater. Probably none of you rooster wranglers jumped right in with multiple roosters right out of the gate, and if you did, I'm betting it wasn't a smooth and painless experience.

 

[Trevorusn]

Some of these answers are great, but do not take into account the fact that OP has limited space and experience. In my opinion, her ratio of hens to roos is likely to be problematic for her because of these factors - not because of what's natural for chickens. Her question was, will the hens be happy with this ratio? In my estimation, given her lack of expertise and limited space, probably not. If she were comfortable handling any problems that might arise, or even spotting such problems; IF she were set up with a bachelor pad, IF she were comfortable stepping into the middle of a rooster mash and separating a couple of fighting cocks before one got hurt without herself getting spurred or losing an eye - then sure, this could work. But I don't think she is. Hens' happiness aside, I question whether she is going to be happy with the arrangement. And no, I don't think she is. She needs a few years' experience handling one rooster. Then she can try multiples if she wishes, and her chances of success will be far greater. Probably none of you rooster wranglers jumped right in with multiple roosters right out of the gate, and if you did, I'm betting it wasn't a smooth and painless experience.

I did, and still am lol. It's the only way to really learn. And honestly, it went way better than what I was prepped for. What was hard was having one young cockerel and two domineering pullets who bullied the young cockerel, males are not always the trouble they are made out to be.

 

[aart]

I did, and still am lol. It's the only way to really learn. And honestly, it went way better than what I was prepped for. What was hard was having one young cockerel and two domineering pullets who bullied the young cockerel, males are not always the trouble they are made out to be.

How old are they now.....and how much space do you have?

These are two things that are often left out when someone says,
(not just you @Trevorusn, please don't take it personally )
"my x number of roosters get along great!"

There are other variables to take into account also as @BigBlueHen53 mentioned.
Especially if keeper is a pet keeper or a food raisier.

I'm a food raiser and hatch new layers every year, I eat all the cockerels.
I only need one male for my chicken keeping goals.

 

[Chicken Heel]

Yesterday morning I integrated my 17 weeks old Black Australorp into my mixed flock of 12 large breed hens that are 2 3/4 years old and have never had a rooster with them before. I have done similar integrations in the past and sometimes the youngster has gotten his butt whipped. But in this case, the hens accepted him into the flock seamlessly. By the afternoon, he was doing what roosters do and all was still peaceful. He even went into the coop at dark after all the hens had gone to roost which I like to see. It appears he is going to be a nice rooster and he now has 12 ladies to help him out with his raging hormones.