Roosters to hens ratio

[electrycmonk]

This thread is truly fascinating and it's also refreshing to see that there appears to be a sizable amount of intelligent dialogue without the 'name calling's I've seen at one time or another in gearhead, etal forums.

It's initially seems to me that, this rooster ratio or just rooster topic is akin to the old commercial debate, "Tastes great" vs. "Less filling." /BTW I am also fully aware of the puns I just tossed in here.

 

[BroodyCluck]

I am looking for advice please. I thought I had five hens and two roosters. It turns out I have 6 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?

I have read that roos can be good with 5 hens. But I see articles that say they need more. In my case I have 6 laying hens. Then I have 3 roos. But 1 roo is actually a transgender who became that way because as a hen she layed oversized eggs and bled and almost died. Then she stopped laying and eventually took on male characteristics including spurs and crowing. But that's another story. However she can not be kept with a roo because she grew very tall and domineering and will fight the roo. So I just have to consider her as roo.
Anyway, I have 3 pens with chicken wire sides for plenty of sun light and a good roof. So each pen has a roo and 2 laying hens.
I will let out the chickens 1 pen at a time. So it will be 1 roo with 2 hens. Their own hens. They are all healthy no aggressive breeding of my hens. They seem content and the hens lay well. When I want them to go back into the pen, I will dump some food into their food bowl. They rush into their pen and I shut them in so another group gets let out. At first they soon caught on to knowing they were going to be locked up and tried to resist by not going in. But I broke them from that by picking up this long handled net and go toward the roo to run him in. Then the hens follow. Next they resisted and would not be shooed in, then I sprayed them down with a water hose and kept on until they went on into the pen. They learned and now comply. People who don't know would be surprised to know how easy it is to train chickens and once you do, they stay on that pattern. It seemed like it wouldn't work but I stayed with it and the chickens that were penned up could see this so, they were learning too. It just took a matter of days and they were set. Now I go about 8am and let one group out then I go back about 1pm or so and put them up. And let another group out. The 3rd group will be the first one out the next day and so forth. And I rotate like that and make sure each group will get some morning hours out and on another day some afternoon hours out. So they don't all get out every day but I feed them well to ensure they get enough to compensate for what they are missing by not getting to forage all day.
I would suggest you add a few more hens. If you don't have pens, section off the area to make each roo with his own hens. I've found the hens don't like to be with multiple roos. That stresses them and the roo wanting to mate will be rough to make resisting hens comply. Your roos should have hens that belong to him. Keep them where each roo can't get with the other's hens and they will learn that these are his hens. When you let them out try letting them out one roo with his hens at a time at first. Then you see they have learned these hens are his then you may try letting all the groups together and see how it goes. But if a roo starts to mount the other roos hen, try to breah it up with a net or if they start to fight and you see the aggressor roo, go after him with a net and put him into his shelter. It's very easy to catch the roo when they fight because they are fixated and concentrated on each other. Take him to his shelter and presumably the hens will follow and then keep them in for the day. Don't leave hid hens out because the other roo will be very brutal mounting hens that aren't his. Since they were raised together they may just decide to get along.
I plan to give a try to letting out two groups of mine next and see how it goes after I add a new hen for each roo and they adjust. I have 3 two month old pullets I'm keeping sheltered right now due to the cold.
A friend of mine has 2 rooss and seven hens. It happened when a hen hatched several eggs and only 1 survivor because they roam the woods all day. There were a lot of fights when the roo became mature. But another pen placed a good distance from the other one solved the problem. Now the senior roo keeps 4 hens and the younger roo keeps 3 including his mother who raised him. Her pens are small but the chickens are let out to roam all day. They come back to their pen only when they are done for the day. As soon as she lets them out in the mornings, one group goes one way, and the other group goes the other way. They have very few squabbles and if she sees it, she breaks it up by netting up the aggressor and putting him into his pen, the hens will soon follow and they stay in for the day. And they do learn.
I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

How do you make sure your roos are always well behaved? Rough roos taste good. I haven’t had to kill any yet, thank God, but I would if necessary. I only have one extra pen, which I will use for growing out spring chicks.

 

[Mosey2003]

How do you make sure your roos are always well behaved? Rough roos taste good. I haven’t had to kill any yet, thank God, but I would if necessary. I only have one extra pen, which I will use for growing out spring chicks.

If you mean well-behaved as in not beating up on the hens or over-mating, I don't think there's anything you can do to alter that sort of behavior. I simply don't keep males like that.

 

[tcfoster]

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.

Thank you! I totally agree with you!

 

[tcfoster]

When I started my bantam flock, I ended up with 2 silkie roos and 3 silkie hens. They all lived in harmony for about a year. When the 2 roos were about a year old they started fighting and wouldn't stop. I loved both of them too much to give either of them up, so we just divided our bantam coop run and built another small coop. So now I have one silkie rooster with 2 hens and one with 3 hens separated by a few fences with a no fly zone in between (otherwise they would fight through the fence). Neither of them over-mate with the girls at all, they are very gentle and loving to their ladies and to me (just not to each other). Give them a chance! You may have to separate them, but they are wonderful additions to any flock.

 

[Echilde]

I have 6 roosters with 60 hens and there are rarely issues with over breeding or fighting, however they are free ranged on about an acre. Multiple roosters can work out, but lots of hens and space are needed. In my opinion .

 

[Echilde]

Just wanted to share my experience so far. Things went a little differently for me but I decided to keep my first 3 chickens that all turned out to be cockerels, in a Bachelor Flock. They free range during the day and are secured from dark to sunrise. I have 2 other flocks but the 3 flocks aren't ever without a separation fence. The 3 boys still run to check on them anytime they hear a concerning noise or see anything that concerns them, so I felt like this was the best scenario that I could handle. Well, 2 of the 3 boys flog me anytime they get the chance so I have taken their chance away by never giving them my back and carrying a pool noodle to keep my space clear. So there is another obstacle. Yesterday, while they were free ranging, the 2 that are middle and lowest ranked in their pecking order, had a really significant fight and the middle guy got beat up. I was hoping it was over after that but now, they seem to be fighting at least hourly with their lead guy intervening in attempts to keep the peace. I have been happy with this Bachelor Flock opportunity but it's been one obstacle after another, and that's not including anything my girls might need. I believe that my inexperience is to blame in part. In another one of my flocks of 3 cockerels and 6 pullets, my girls have been through hell with a silkie cockerel until one of the bigger girls put him in his place and made him calm down a bit, but I know it's not going to last. I'm going to have to separate them and I'm working on that. I say all of this to share my experience with keeping cockerels. After 7 months, I wish I'd rehomed all of the boys before putting so much into them and getting so attached. I believe it would have been a little easier to rehome a long time ago. I will say that I have 2, maybe 3, cockerels that I'd like to keep, but I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the situation. Out of 17 chickens, I have 6 cockerels. The two that keep fighting are at an age where they can be processed and their lives will be for something. I worry about them being used in an illegal manner if I rehome my bigger guys and after much thought and consideration, if it's necessary, I truly believe processing them will be far more humane. That is my personal opinion, so take it for what it's worth (not much ) I am envious of the folks that have loving boys. My tiny guys are sweeties (to me) but I always keep 1 eye wide open when it comes to a cockerel.

I have a rooster who apparently hates me, and only me. I carry a rake to keep him off of me lol. He is great with his hens tho, and my daughter loves him, so he is still breathing, although I threaten his demise daily

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

My experience with "Co-Ed" flocks and "Bachelor" flocks is as follows: My first Roo (Pekin) was introduced to my hen flock as a young but adult roo. My two sebright banty hens promptly beat him up (A rather short but definite message that "they" were the bosses in our run) and he so he made nice with the other hens (also pekins) instead. Eventually one of the sebrights relented and accepted him and I was rewarded with a lovely hatch of chicks. I decided to select one those roo babies to keep. I moved Pekin roo to another chicken pad, with a couple of his favoured hens for company, and the main flock VERY happily coexisted for the next several months with the four juvenile roos. No issues whatsoever with those young roos as they developed, no infighting, no hassling of hens, harmony - But I only "needed" one - so rehomed three, together, over to my other farm where they could live the bachelor life as a free range group. They thrived there! Following year - same process - retired the breeding roo and kept two brothers - again no issues, in fact I'd say the two brothers were very much buddies and had some kind of "shared duties" type of arrangement. One was always the lookout, the other was all about foraging with the hens, and the hens liked both equally.

I would say my apparent successes comes down to the following factors:
The roos were always raised together rather than being introduced (same age and dominance is sorted very early)
My chosen breeds are considered docile roosters and the hens are not shy about putting a juvenile rooster in his place.
I handle my chicks a lot so they are often very tame - roosters appear to have better manners when handled properly and don't feel the need to "herd" the hens when I'm in the run - in fact it's quite the opposite - quite often the roos are first to come for attention and tell me how their day is goin LOL.
My chickens have LOOOOAAAAADS of space - Free range with many feeding/water options so no one gets trapped or evicted in a way that causes lasting issues.

 

[Rooapalooza]

I got cheated out of that ratio. Out 20 something eggs hatched this year I ended up with only two pullets the rest cockerels. I’m swimming in cockerel right now. My luck!

Did you use an incubator or a broody hen?