Roosters with hens

[Chelseyb123]

I never hear folks mention that multiple roosters can actually prevent a hen from being mated too much. I see it all of the time where one of my roosters will run and knock another rooster off of a hen it is trying to mate. When I had 3 roosters and 1 hen, they all did it to each other constantly. It was hilarious.

What ive had to deal with is my rooster favorite hen is 9months an very small leg horn. She still ate an drank fine but you could tell she was stressed everytime the roosters came around her. She would try an get away from them. But when they are able to free range it was less of a probably.

 

[sourland]

I never hear folks mention that multiple roosters can actually prevent a hen from being mated too much. I see it all of the time where one of my roosters will run and knock another rooster off of a hen it is trying to mate. When I had 3 roosters and 1 hen, they all did it to each other constantly. It was hilarious.

And this is frequently how a hen's side gets ripped open by a rooster's spurs or toenails when he tries to complete the deed.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

And this is frequently how a hen's side gets ripped open by a rooster's spurs or toenails when he tries to complete the deed.

I don't think it happens frequently, but this gives me the idea of clipping off the point of their spurs. Does anyone know how far you can go before drawing blood? I used to do that to my goats' horns so they wouldn't hurt each other, and sawed off one goat's horn a bit too much so that it started bleeding.

 

[Chelseyb123]

There are some good videos online of people doing it ive seen. Ive never sonw it but ive seen it be done.

 

[Stayc]

I think eventually the hen will suffer because of the 3 cockrels. I had 3 cockrels 3 hens that grew up together and it was too much for my girls. They would mate them back to back. Best of luck with your flock

 

[sourland]

I don't think it happens frequently, .

There are multitudes of threads addressing this problem in the BYC archives.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I am really curious as to how you reached this conclusion. There are multitudes of threads addressing this problem in the BYC archives.

I can't recall ever having it happen here.
I do have what most would consider way too many roosters and what would be considered a bad rooster to hen ratio but on the positive side enough room that I don't have a lot of the issues of flocks in smaller areas.
I.e. not a lot of cock blocking going on.

 

[CannedMonster]

If you do get more hens, it’s a good idea to quarantine them before you integrate them into your existing flock. I’ve heard 30 days as a good rule of thumb.

 

[lomine]

One day I came home and one hen was missing. After a long search I found her hiding behind the duck nest box with a huge gash on her side. It was obviously made by one of the boys and I assume it was the one over zealous cockerel. He was butchered that weekend. I think it is more about the cockerel's/rooster's temperament than the flock ratio. Even with a rooster and hens to keep him in line, he was just a jerk in many ways.