How much is to much to start with?

I have eight different roo's with matching hens. I would like to breed them, but is eight to much to handle. In the past i have always bought eggs from others and then hatched them. But now i have the space to hatch my own heritage birds. What is the best ratio for cock to hen? I know that i have much to do before i start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The male to female ratio varies with different breeds.
For the more active breeds 8 to 10 hens is a good ratio.
For some of the more docile breeds like silkies or cochins 4 to 6 hens.

It is always good to keep a spare rooster incase of fertility issues.

If you have one rooster to one hen, that hen is gonna be beat up pretty badly. I have 2 roosters to 8 hens in my buffs, and I think that I will have to do something different. A rooster can pretty much cover 8 hens. I had 6 hens to one rooster in the cochin breed and that was plenty for him to handle too, he covered them all. The buckeyes had 2 roosters to 6 hens (2 barred rocks in that picture). The hens were all covered. some roosters are more gentle than others, it totally depends on the rooster itself I would say. But one to one is not a very good thing. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

We had a white rock pair and they were happiest when kept seperate in their own enclosure, the hen laid every day which I think can be a sign of a contented hen..
on the other hand, I know what you mean about ratio, still figuring out how to do single matings without stressing the hen out, I was thinking of taking out the roo after a reasonable time but then I do hate to keep a hen on her own, they love company, wish I had more hens that laid a different colored egg that i could keep together and still know who laid what!

Sorry i should clarify. I have more than 1 hen per roo. My Roos have 3 - 7 hens per Roo.

I see, so you're asking more like is that too many breeds to start out with? If so, I think I would agree as 2 or 3 breeds are enough for me to work with at one time, others have more i know so?

If you have the time and room, I have many breeds but find that I can only concentrate on 3 or 4 at a time and most of the year mine run free so it is eating eggs only, I will be hatching many chicks this winter in selective pens, already have 60 or more on the ground and a coupel hundred eggs in the bator,ameraucana are in breeding pens, BLRW are going in, marans will be in in a day or so.

I have been building pens/coops to house them. And i am very excited at the idea of hatching eggs. As well as my wife and three daughters. And i am just not sure how much work it will be. Everyone here tells me to sell some that i have too many. But they are our pets. And having a mixed flock is something my wife loves. I hope to start seperating later this week. Maybe i will just start with 2-3 and see how it goes from them.

I can sure understand your enthusiasm! Many of us start out with several breeds and we want to raise chicks from them all! You may find it difficult in the long run to keep all those separate breeding groups. But by then you will have found out which breeds you simply cannot part with, and which you may be willing to let go. You will always be able to find good homes later for any groups you decide to part with. For now, happy hatching!

Just thought I'd add one other thought: I have a main coop where I keep some hens from several different breeds all together....Some I have no intention of ever breeding such as buff Cochin, Polish Crested, Cuckoo marans etc. It is the best of both worlds since you can still enjoy the breed without worrying about finding roosters, having separate breeding pens etc. That way you can keep your pets, but it is less work having them all together.

Ah, so you were wondering how many breeds to keep, that throws a different light on things. But seriously for someone starting out, I would choose the breeds that are exceptionally liked by you. yes, I know, all breeds for sure, but there must be some that stand out with you....I started out with 5 and am now down to three breeds only. I found that I just didn't have the room when I began to seriously think about what I wanted to be working with. I have found the three. If I had a bigger place, I would certainly have more I am sure, but three is good enough for me to have lots to focus on...you will find what you want to do, it may take time. I would love to have some hens from certain breeds, just to look at, but there is no way that I could separate the eggs, unless they were green or blue egg layers. Still thinking about having a few hens that lay pretty blue eggs, I love the blue eggs and that would not cause any issue with the breeding aspect. Good luck. You will have an interesting life, for surely. have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

1 or 2 breeds to be serious about is usually the easiest way to go. Once you start learning more about them you start to realise how challenging it can be.

I am like KathyS, I have what I call my laying pen. I have a few different varieties in a pen that I will not use for breeding. I keep some of my `maybe` breeders in there too for 'just in case'. That way I get to have some pretty layers of a breed I am not chosing to be serious about and also get a chance to have some different egg colours.

I read a good article in the feather fancier newspaper about being a 'Specialist' (keeping one breed) or being a 'Generalist' (keeping many breeds).

It talked about the pros and cons about both and how both parties are needed in the hobby.

APA Judge Dave Anderson gave his advice on how to have better success with being a 'Generalist'(as he considers himself one). He said to concentrate on one or two breeds maximum a year and hatch 40 to 60 of those breeds and then just hatch 15 or 20 of your other breeds. Each year you rotate the breed/s your concentrating on. The individual improvements of each breed will take longer to achieve but it will cause less stress and work on the breeders part.

It was a good article. No matter how hard we try we can't do it all at once. Too many breeds can = too much work when it comes to tons of breeding pens...ect

krl, that is very interesting. I would have liked to have read the article. I have never thought of it that way but it sounds like it could be another way to go if a person wanted more breeds.
Thanks for posting about it, some food for thought.

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. I know that trying eight is too much. But what to choose. We already have our brown layers for egg sales. And a mixed laying flock of Buff Orps., Speckled Sussex, White Rocks, Brown Leghorns, Australorp, and Caramel Queens. We love the variety that we have. Our pens are full of color. But some birds will have to go... I am sure that this year will be full of surprise and wonder. I Can't wait!

I'd say that once you get beyond the issue of the need to keep each variety separated you'll have to know what the end use of the chicks will be. I hatch several varieties with the purpose selling chicks. I fine tune my selection each year to meet the demand for individual breeds. Even then I usually end up with surpluses.

Points to consider:

1. size of incubator and facilities to brood chicks. A full to capacity Sportsman could produce up to 300 chicks in a 3 week cycle. 300 day old chicks don't take much room, but soon will occupy a lot of space.
2. Chicks from various varieties look similar and can be difficult to identify in mixed batches. I try to select varieties that have obvious differences.
3. At least 50% of the chicks will be male. That means that you will have at least 50% of your surplus that become very active cockerels to deal with as they mature.

My experience has been that whereas there is some demand for the rarer breeds, it is the better known and more productive egg layers that are most popular. The "collectors" or those that are allowed 4 or 6 city chickens will go for "pretty" hens, but my volume sales tend to the tried and true. They'll also want only females.

Of your list, I'm going to predict you'd have the best sales with Silver Laced Wyandottes, Welsummers, Cuckoo Marans, and maybe Light Sussex. Maybe Golden Laced Wyandottes. White chickens are not very popular and you'll find that customers will "hi-grade" the Andulasians that are obviously going to be "blue". You'll be stuck with the black and the white ones.

I find myself in a similar situation being new to chicken keeping. I have way too many breeds in that I thought I could/would get into breeding most of them.My original thinking was to keep 8-10 roosters in a rooster house, put them on the hens when I wanted to breed them, put them back with the males, etc. I realize now it is not realistic in regards to the roosters getting along ongoing and being able to distinguish which brown eggs were just fertilized once laid given I've got all these different breeds all together. And then there is the whole approach to wanting to breed quality lines. I'm realizing it's difficult to do if you have too many breeds to focus on.

And it's true, over time I'm feeling there are some breeds I just wouldn't part with and others I would happily let go of.

Good luck andrew......you're not alone.

I keep at least 1 spare roo for each of the breeds I hatch. The extras free range with the general flock but the "breeding" hens and single roo are kept separated. I have 6 or so roos in a flock that produces "sight-sexable" offspring - Red Rocks and Cinnamon Queens. The roos are Rhode Island Reds and the hens are Barred Plymouth Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandottes. If I want to hatch pure Rhode Island Reds I simply put some RIR hens into the mix. Also living with this flock are White Leghorns. Its easy to tell the white eggs from the Leghorns.

Keeping multiple roosters in a flock usually results in very little conflict and fighting is rare if they have lots of room. I keep maturing cockerels in a "bachelor" pen/coop and they mostly get along. Sometimes one will get picked on.

I ordered 3 varieties of Brahmas and 6 varieties of Wyandottes about 7 years ago. I have reduced this since to 2 varieties of Wyandottes and Black Cochins. I have one Light Brahma rooster left to sell or put in with an order of meat chickens for processing. I really liked having all the different varieties, but devoting time and facilities to each variety was a problem.

Realistically of all the breeds on Andrew's list I'd bother with would be Silver Laced Wyandottes. In a mixed flock it is difficult to tell which are the better egg producers but when isolated for breeding purposes it becomes clear. Cuckoo Marans have a poor record. Some only lay an egg every 2nd. day. I bred Light Brahmas and noted they continued to lay smaller sized eggs but mostly only every 2nd. day. My Buff Brahmas haven't laid an egg for months and the Blue Cochins had a similar record.

The varieties that sell best from a hatchery shipment are Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpingtons, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Americanas, Black Australorps, and Barred Plymouth Rocks. I've tried Sicilian Buttercups, Cubalayas, Yokohamas, and Russian Orloffs and have ended up practically giving them away.

If the University of Alberta still offers them, I'm planing to order a case of Light Sussex eggs to hatch. Last time I had a custom hatch request for 6 dozen and all but 3 eggs hatched. The customer died and his flock was dispersed before I could get a few for my own farm.

[quote="turkeylurkey"
If the University of Alberta still offers them, I'm planing to order a case of Light Sussex eggs to hatch. Last time I had a custom hatch request for 6 dozen and all but 3 eggs hatched. The customer died and his flock was dispersed before I could get a few for my own farm. [/quote]

that is a shame, really, but wow!!! nice hatch rate. Why the university? There are breeders closer that have really nice light sussex, not to tell you what to do, but really wondering why, nice birds in Langley/Chilliwack. have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

I think it is a huge pain to order eggs through the U of A, I tried several times last year and then ended up not getting any. They will not arrange shipping, etc, and I just found it to be too much of a hassle. I never had very much interest in light sussex chicks on the island, either, so I just have my flock in my laying pen, with their offspring - nice laying hens and excellent fertility

IT's great fun to breed and hatch. Anyone wanting to do this can cobble together breeding pens to temporarily keep hens and roos separate from the rest of the flock, to get those desired hatching eggs.

Where I have a problem, over and over, is when its' time to put all those young birds into the main hen house with the older birds. I can keep them separate for a time for breeding and a little wile as they grow, but I am not set up to house all the hatches separately forever. While it is possible to mix multi aged birds, it can be difficult!

The old guys have no desire to share the roost and the new guys out of fear huddle in the nest boxes and fill them with poop. This goes on for weeks and drives me batty every time it happens, and it happens every time new young birds get put in with older birds.

Your facilites for housingg adult birds can determine how much breeding and hatching you do. How much upheaval you want to tolerate in the hen house when you toss old and young together. It isn't impossible, just a challenge you should be aware of.

turkeylurkey wrote:Realistically of all the breeds on Andrew's list I'd bother with would be Silver Laced Wyandottes. In a mixed flock it is difficult to tell which are the better egg producers but when isolated for breeding purposes it becomes clear. Cuckoo Marans have a poor record. Some only lay an egg every 2nd. day. I bred Light Brahmas and noted they continued to lay smaller sized eggs but mostly only every 2nd. day. My Buff Brahmas haven't laid an egg for months and the Blue Cochins had a similar record.

customer died and his flock was dispersed before I could get a few for my own farm.

there are different lines of birds. each line lays differently. his lines could lay much better than the lines you had. i raise buff brahmas and i get eggs almost every day from all of them. and he has welsummers from me. my line lays great. but some lines of welsummers lay much less.