roster to hen ratio?

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Chirping
8 Years
Jan 4, 2012
196
5
93
Washougal, WA
what is the least rosters to hens I can have without them fighting way too much? I just hatched 2 rosters and 3 hens and in my older birds I have 1 roster and 9 hens would it be safe to put them all together when their the same size?
 
We have 4 roosters and 4 hens. ( I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT) One roo is locked up. He's a meany, we are going to eat him. One roo is a pet but he still free ranges with the others. Basically I have a bantam hen and rooster, and a standard rooster and 3 ladies for him. The optimum hen to rooster ratio is 1 roo for every 12 or so hens. Our bantam likes to try and claim the big ladies. The standard doesn't like that much...
Ultimately I want more bantam ladies for our poor bantam rooster. (It will relieve our hen, too, I'm sure.) And I'm hatching out more ladies for the standard rooster on Saturday. So this is definitely not a permanent situation.
 
Fighting can vary between roosters and flocks. Extra roosters will most likely give you extra management issues. If you want the simplest system, just keep one rooster for your 12 hens. If you want to keep your roosters, however, watch how it goes, and be willing to intervene (i.e., cook a rooster or two) if necessary. My ratio (about 1 roo to 4 hens) works here because my flock has a pretty big space to range. They all sleep in the same spacious coop, along with a flock of turkeys. My roos established a pecking order without bloodshed. Other roos that couldn't manage that ended up on our table.

I don't mind the extra work it takes to keep so many roos, because I love roosters so much! I'm also experimenting with breeding. Now, with 5 roos and 22 hens, I've got some hens laying infertile eggs. And, of course, one hen is totally overmated, I guess there's always a favorite (my overmated hen from last year is pretty much left alone this year).

I don't find it necessary to segregate the birds till they reach the same size, I do it at about 6 weeks (or earlier if they are being raised by a hen).
 
I don't want to get rid of any of my rosters, i just hatched them my self, one is a ee cross and the other is a pure bred. i have to separate sleeping coops for them (divided by a wall but I want to let them out into the same yard) and they are also free range for half of the day (i let them out around 2pm so they don't wonder too fare). I also have a dog house i can keep one in but would prefer to keep them all together. (i have a small yard i could make movable on the grass to reduce feed cost)
 
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