What’s the Perfect Ratio of Hens to Roosters

hi there welcome to the happy chicken coop youtube channel thanks for joining us today we're going to be talking about the perfect pen to rooster ratio and what that perfect ratio is before getting into that please be sure to like this video and subscribe to the youtube channel also be sure to subscribe to our website thehappychickencoop.com if you subscribe using the link in the description you'll receive a free ebook on the 10 best egg laying chicken breeds alright without further ado let's get into it so we often get asked how many roosters should be kept with the flock of hens and what's the ratio it should be although this question is a moot point for folks who cannot keep roosters because of the city or bylaws it's a valid question for those who just want to keep a few roosters for breeding or just because roosters can be incredibly beneficial for your flock if integrated properly today we're going to explore the ideal ratio of how many hens per rooster we will also cover how the pecking order is affected along with the pros and cons of the whole thing hopefully we will give you enough information to make a wise decision for you your flock and the neighbors so let's just start with the very direct question how many roosters should i keep to successfully keep more than a couple of roosters requires a good number of hens and lots of space a small backyard area would not be suitable for more than a couple of roosters unless you're going to keep them confined if that is your plan you should make sure either you have no neighbors or they are on board with your plan because we all know i don't know if you knew this but roosters can be a bit noisy as an example when the alpha rooster crows in the morning each rooster will follow along in order of superiority you might like it but will your neighbors crowing can begin as early as 2 a.m now for the numbers a rooster in his prime can cover between 1 to 16 hens as he ages he can successfully cover fewer hens at age 3 he is considered beyond prime a rooster's job is to ensure the success of his kind so mating with the hen looms large in his mind for many of his waking hours therefore the size of your flock will determine how many roosters you can comfortably keep without worrying about fighting or wear and tear on the ends most people say the optimum number for a rooster is 10 but this can vary with breeds as an example leg horns the ratio for leg horns can be 12 hens to one rooster the ratio for bantam silkies can be six hens to one rooster and for turkeys the ratio can be four hens to one rooster the absolute minimum number of hens for one rooster should be three or four and even this can be problematic depending on your breed of rooster several people have noted that rhode island reds easter eggers and americana roosters can be more aggressive with other roosters and a bit rough with the hens in order to minimize the damage to your hands you need to have sufficient hens to spread the load often a rooster will have a favorite hen so watch her carefully to make sure she doesn't get too badly worn from repeatedly mating the usual culprit of violence mating is a young immature rooster she should get better with practice but until then keep a very close eye on the ladies for possible injuries when mating a rooster can be hard on the hand causing broken feathers bald spots and even skin tears when he is treading them hens can also become fatigued and may hide to avoid the rooster's attention if you notice these signs and the hen is looking a bit ragged it's time for the rooster to have a timeout in separate quarters if you can only have one or two hands you may have to pan your roosters for a few days or a week to give the hens a rest from his attention this method does work well for many folks especially if you're a space restricted or a number restricted so how much space does a rooster need in an average small backyard you will likely have room for two roosters at most even if they are free range roosters guard their flock space jealously they are conserving resources for their own flock fighting will ensue if you have too many boys and not enough space if you have too many roosters but don't want to part with them you can build them a bachelor pad in the wild flocks of males exist and get along well as long as there aren't any hens around consider building a coop and run for the boys only this way you can keep them from fighting over the ladies resources and territory it also allows you to change out the roosters in the flock if you need to if you have several mini flocks of different breeds you should have one rooster for each hen each of these roosters and flocks should have their own little kingdoms so they are kept effectively separate the area doesn't have to be huge just make sure it's well delineated with fencing or a barrier of some sort also we have an a guide on how much room do chickens need if you want to check that out i will link here in the description so i'm now going to answer why you should keep roosters a great many people see no use to use a rooster whatsoever they're viewed as unnecessary and kind of a nuisance i have also heard them to be described as aggressive or useless ornaments sadly a not uncommon attitude although some roosters can be a nuisance and aggressive not are all the same it is very much an individual thing much as you get mean or kind people in the world a rooster in the flock adds a degree of security and equilibrium in general he will intervene if there's a problem he will warn the flock of impending danger he will also watch over the chicks this is definitely a huge variable and find tasty morsels for his ladies well a flock of hens will do just fine without a rooster i really think it is a benefit to have a rooster for them i should explain that i used to think roosters were not needed in my flock and resisted getting one for several years a pulit that turned out to be a rooster changed my mind he gave up his life for the girls so i have had a rooster or two ever since yes there have been a couple that went to the soup pot because of their attitude but on the whole those i have raised myself have been good boys i think part of the secret to success is how you treat them and raise them of course genetics play a huge part too cocker rolls will generally turn out much like their father so if you have a good rooster you'll most likely have good offspring now let's take a look at the two main benefits of keeping roosters benefit number one the pecking order having a rooster in your flock does initially affect the pecking order as we know the pecking order is a complex social stratification of the flock in the pecking order each hen and rooster knows his or her place in relation to all other flock members and recognizes flock members and their place in the hierarchy the pecking order has three distinct levels of relationships the first one rooster to rooster the second one hand to hen and the third one rooster to hence the older and smarter hands will be at the top of the ladder along with the alpha rooster his favorite ladies will not be too far off behind in the social order the alpha male has the responsibility of caring for the flock and providing security and food he also gets the benefits as well the best food the best perches and the pick of the girls any secondary roosters will be much lower in the order they don't get the perks and privileges of being top of the ladder a young rooster may try to dethrone the alpha male periodically and may eventually succeed if the alpha male is old sick or injured this will alter the pecking order if you need to learn more about that i've also put together a guide on the pecking order and how to avoid problems in your flock i'll link to that in the description now let's talk about benefit number two flock behavior a flock with their rooster seems to be more cohesive peaceful and focused a good rooster actually works quite hard if you stop and watch him for a while he will escort a hen or hence to a good feeding spot and stand guard while they feed he is also watching those independent ladies to make sure they don't get into trouble he guards them against all sorts of predations and dangers including other roosters i sometimes watch my rooster flying across the yard at top speed to investigate a strange noise orahan's distress call he must put in a few good miles each day a rooster does not cut any slack to his offspring either the males will be chased away from the flock repeatedly and they will linger at the edges of the flocked area hoping to entice a hen or two if you plan to keep more than one rooster in either confinement or free range it's best to raise them together it's much easier to keep more than one roux if they've been in each other's company since a wee chick adding a rooster to an existing flock is never a good idea and now the last benefit obviously is more chickens another obvious one is just the option to incubate if you love your flock and the attitudes of your birds you may want to breed them and keep the lineage intact with a rooster on hand he will surely make sure your chick-rearing dreams come true a quick note fertilized eggs can still be consumed without harming yourself or the fertilized egg in most cases you won't even notice that an egg is fertilized aside from a small white bullseye hanging out amongst the yolk to summarize in a standard backyard flock a rooster should have no less than four hens if you have fewer hens you might want to keep the rooster pen for a couple days a week so the girls get a break especially in the springtime which is really the beginning of the mating season having a rooster in your flock adds another level of security you cannot watch them every minute of the day but he can and will raise the alarm if there's a problem i must admit i do enjoy having a rooster with the girls if he sounds the alarm i go out to investigate without him i may have missed something that was dangerous to the flock so keeping a rooster with the flock is not for everyone but it's very much a personal choice and if you feel that the cost of feeding and housing him outweighs the benefits of having him that's fine there's really no right or wrong side to the question i hope i've given you some good information on keeping your flock healthy and happy and that you keep enjoying keeping your rooster so let us know in the comments section below would you get a rooster or do you already have one and let us know your experience that's gonna do it for us here at the happy chicken coop thanks for listening if you find our content interesting if you learned something new make sure to subscribe to the channel and also share it with your friends i hope you have a great day and we'll talk to you soon [Music] you

Channel: The Happy Chicken Coop

Views: 35,879

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Id: _2rGlZTlqwM

Length: 10min 5sec (605 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 26 2022