to many roosters

[Rusty66211]

Ok I have 3 roosters ( I think, they are only 9 weeks old right now) and 27 hens of varius varieties. Can they all live together happily or should i get rid of some roosters. Maybe seperate the area (coop and run) to accomodate two flocks or three. I am new to this chicken thing and was supose to have 23 hens and only 1 rooster but they send m extra from the hatchery and now I love them all. What do I do?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Your dilemma is why I tell folks to always have a Plan B in place for any unwanted roosters they might get, no matter where or how they get their chicks.

But you *might* be able to keep all 3 of those beautiful roos, especially since they are being raised together they may not have as many differences to settle by fighting. The ideal ratio is 1:10-12, you have close to that. And if you're able to divide the coop to accomodate 2-3 smaller family groups.

Give it a try, but if they won't get along, try Plan B.

 

[Holly O]

What sunny-side-up said.

I think you'll be fine.

 

[Buckguy20]

It depends on the breed and sometimes even the individual roo.
I would suggest that you not seperate them at all. As they get older they will spar and estabilish a pecking order. They may still fight from time to time but usually each one will know his place.
This might not be true with some birds. They may want to fight all the time even until death.
If you ever separate them and then put them back together, they are much more likly to have some serious battles.
Also one rooster to 23 hens is a little much. It should be no more than 12 to 14 hens per rooster and that may be too many depending on your roo.
If they are different breeds, you might want to pair them with the same breed hens when they are older in order to keep a pure line of the breed. Or what ever crosses you want to create.
Of course that means separate pens.
I currently have four roosters in my main pen and they get a long fine as long as each one minds his place. They do still test each other. If I would put another rooster in with them now, it would be chaos and all five would go at each other!

I hope this helps.

 

[Rusty66211]

thanks so much all the replys helped alot. I am going to take a wait and see approach. We are not into the breeding thing (yet) we just wanted eggs so we thought the so called rainbow collectionthat lays all kind of colors from white to brown and even light blue would be a fun way to intorduce my boys to the chicken life cycle. I jsut love them all the flock is so colorfull I will post pics one day soon. thanks again