Today, more and more people are thinking about ways to save the family budget and get healthy, environmentally friendly meat and products. It is not surprising that many of them come to the conclusion that the best way to fulfill their plan is to get chickens. And having sorted out the topic, they wonder: how many chickens do you need one rooster? The question is really serious, so it will be useful to deal with it in as much detail as possible.
Why do we need a rooster?
Before you figure out how many chickens you need per cock, it will be useful to say why it is needed at all.
There are several answers. Firstly, it is the cock that acts as the protector of the flock. Yes, yes, often when attacked by dangerous predatory rodents (rats, weasels, etc.), the cock immediately rushes at the aggressor, and if it does not drive it away, then at least it makes enough noise for the owners to react.
But another factor is much more important - fertilization. In fact, every chicken egg is an egg. If it is not fertilized, then the chickens will not be removed from it. In addition, not trampled chicken, knowing full well that its eggs are not fertilized and that you cannot get chicks out of them, will not sit on the nest.
On this, the functions of the rooster end.
Pros of giving up a rooster
Some experienced farmers, knowing exactly how many chickens per cock need to be bred, generally refuse to use a male. Why so?
As mentioned above, the main purpose of the rooster is the fertilization of eggs. Without it, you cannot use them in an incubator or under a brood hen to get young chicks. However, this is not always necessary. Some summer residents generally buy chickens in the spring, raise them in the summer, eating fresh domestic eggs, and in winter, before leaving for the city, they let them all go for meat in order to buy another batch of chickens in the spring. That is, a rooster is absolutely not needed in such an economy - at least, to perform its main function. If you want to get eggs exclusively for eating or for sale (it is advisable to indicate that they are not fertilized), then you can do without a rooster. Contrary to the claims of some breeders, the palatability of fertilized eggs is no better than that of unfertilized ones.
In addition, the cock, in accordance with its function, tramples hens. Some do it very aggressively. As a result, chickens go plucked, scratched and pecked. And in such wounds, infection may well get, which will lead to a long illness or even death of birds.
A few more roosters, locked in a small area, may well arrange a fight. And sometimes it ends with the death of one of them. Of course, this will bring unnecessary trouble to the breeder.
Finally, until the rooster tramples the chicken, she will not want to sit on the nest, that is, to incubate the chicks. Today, many people prefer to trust this function to an incubator - in this case, the impact of various random factors is much less. An incubator doesn’t have the idea of throwing eggs because of stress, he just won’t rewrite them, and he can take out not 12-15 chickens, but much more. And the chicken for the saved three weeks will be able to lay 10-20 eggs (depending on the breed), which will be an additional help on the farm.
So, if you do not plan to use home-made eggs for raising chickens, then it is not only necessary to start a rooster, but it is generally harmful.
The optimal ratio for meat breeds
Let's say that you have definitely decided: fertilized eggs are needed. So, you can’t do without the head of the chicken harem. This raises the question: how many chickens per cock is the best indicator? It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer here. It depends on various factors, and one of the main ones is the breed.
The fact is that meat breeds are distinguished by greater weight and, accordingly, less mobility. Therefore, roosters are less active here. Therefore, here the ratio should be determined. How many chickens for fertilization per meat breed cock do you have? No more than 15-20 individuals. The rooster will not have time to trample more birds, because of which part of the eggs will remain unfertilized and chickens cannot be brought out of them.
Best Ratio for Egg Chicken
But when breeding eggs, the breeders did not at all strive to create large birds that produce a lot of meat. Here the task was to maximize the number of eggs that chicken will bring in a year. Therefore, roosters are more miniature, light and mobile. In this case, one rooster is enough for a flock of 20-25 hens. At the same time, he will probably have time to fertilize each of them, and the owner will receive high-quality eggs, any of which can be laid in the incubator, so that after 21 days to get a cute yellow chicken.
Choosing the best owner of the yard
However, it is not enough to know how many cocks should be on chickens. You also need to choose the most suitable.
Of course, it’s best to have several candidates for this. This usually happens in households. Chickens hatched in the spring (with the help of an incubator or live hen) grow up, and it is already clear which of them is chicken and which is a rooster. They are not allowed to adult birds yet - yielding in size and strength, they may well become an object of aggression, and they will always miss food. But the character is already clearly visible. Some behave frankly aggressive - for no reason they rush at other males and hens. Others, on the contrary, are very passive - they prefer to spend time away from the pack, clog into a corner, not showing much agility even when feeding. Of course, neither the first nor the second are suitable for the role of the head of the chicken family. But some individuals are completely different. They walk proudly, always show activity during feeding, do not get involved in a fight, but they can stand up for themselves - cocky relatives literally scatter from them, behave very quietly and calmly in their presence. This is the best candidate, which is definitely worth leaving for breeding. He will not only take care of the pack, but also pass on the good genes to the chickens.
What to do if cocks fight
Unfortunately, sometimes summer residents are faced with the problem of aggression of birds in relation to each other. Having found out how many chickens you need one rooster, beginner poultry breeders start a decent flock of hens from several dozen individuals and leave several males in it. So they arrange fights. What to do?
Alas, a truly reliable solution does not exist here. For the wild, this is quite natural - stronger males expel weaker ones, and the latter simply leave the territory of others. In a chicken coop or even in a small area for walking, this is simply impossible. The rooster will not be able to fertilize all the hens, but he will try not to let competitors to them. The only reliable way is to divide the site into several zones, in each of which one rooster will live with its own small harem. Yes, a little troublesome. But the problem is solved exactly.
Why change the rooster?
Over time, the owner may notice that the ideal cock, left 3-4 years ago, can no longer cope with its functions, behaves rather passively and does not trample hens. Alas, the bird age is not too long. Already at the age of three years, the cock is considered quite old. The time has come to replace him with a younger one, who will be able to qualitatively trample all hens, and at the same time protect them from various threats. But how to choose it is a very serious question, so we will consider it in detail.
Looking for a new cock
Knowing how many hens are needed per rooster, it is advisable to find out how to choose the right candidate. The main criteria are described above. But still, it is undesirable for several years in a row to choose a cockerel from the offspring, which gives its own farm. This leads to inbreeding (simply - incest), because of which subsequent offspring will be weaker - the number of diseases will increase, the individuals themselves will be smaller, egg production will drop.
Therefore, it is advisable to take a new rooster from another farm, the one with which your chickens did not cross before. Of course, you need to choose a male of the same breed that you specialize in - crossing will not lead to anything good.
Taking a healthy, strong and strong rooster, you can fertilize a whole flock with just one male and get rid of inbreeding, providing many years of good egg production and the absence of serious diseases. This is much easier than changing the whole flock consisting of dozens of hens.
Instead of a conclusion
On this our article comes to an end. Now you know how many hens one rooster is enough. And also we figured out the intricacies of choosing a suitable male who will be a reliable father of the whole family and your assistant in protecting the flock.