Will a silky roo be too much for my girls?

[ck-newbe]

I have twenty standard sized hens and two standard roos (a Brahma and an RIR) not including my silky 'Sparky'. In the last couple of days Sparky has been grabbing onto the ladies, trying to mount them. This is quite funny to watch because he is not able to jump on them and is instead thrown to the side. Do you think that these three roos will be too much love for twenty girls considering that Sparky is so small? Is it likely that the other standard roos will ever try to seriously fight Sparky?

Thanks, Sparky's Mom

 

[sourland]

Sparky will cause far less 'wear and tear' on the hens than will the two standard roosters. There is a possibility that one day Sparky and one or both of the standard roosters will engage in battle. If that happens, you may need to rescue the silky. Only time will tell.

 

[BooBear]

Poor Sparky has discovered the girls!

Yes the other main roosters may decide he is a threat which means they will make sure he knows his place in their pecking order. The top rooster will keep all subordinates in line and even will knock the subordinates off a girl to prevent him from mating. He may get chastised, chased, and knocked off a bit and he may even end up with a couple of girls that decide to really like him. If for any reason they do decide to get overly aggressive about it you may have to seperate him out. But for now I would just keep an eye out and give the flock a chance to work it out.

Flock dynamics are really fun to watch especially with mixed flocks. The general rule is 10 hens to 1 rooster; however, an extra rooster can sometimes end up being tolerated by the flock. If the girls start to look ragged then pull a guy back. If they work it out to where each guy gets his own favorites and everyone follows the flock's pecking order you may not need to worry about it.

(This is also a great excuse to allow chicken math to kick in.

)

 

[ck-newbe]

Chicken math, yes! I don't have enough chickens! Thanks for the advice BooBear and Sourland.

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[BooBear]

Anytime you need proper enabling I got ya covered.