RC Cordon Bleus high ratio male:female. Can they live this way?

19 Jun 2016, 15:24

I have always assumed that RC Conrdon Bleu hens will not do well in an aviary environment with excess males around. I expect that they will be hassled too much, and they are already quite vulnerable. But is this true??? I ask because I am struck by the amazing excess of males bred by many breeders this year. The latest example I found was 8 Males to 0 females.

So how do CBs go when housed with a very high male:female ratio? Do the hens get hounded to death? Do the males compete each other to death? Or is the one happy couple left in peace by the single males?

Ta

19 Jun 2016, 16:37

The males and females will defend there area they are monogamous so if there are extra males or females they will be hounded by the pairs if the aviary is not big enough deaths may occur.

19 Jun 2016, 18:31

They will certainly co-exist in an aviary with extra males & may bicker until pair bonds are formed but I reckon such an aviary would experience poor fertility as spare males have a knack of interfering with the courtship ritual/mating of established pairs if they have a chance to do so.
In the last 2 consecutive years I have actually bred more hens in my Cordons by about 2:1.

19 Jun 2016, 18:38

Waaaaaah.... Send me some hens!

I also bred a similar ratio of hens a couple of years back from my two pairs, and happily sold them. Then I lost one hen somehow, and the other got too old and passed on, and since then I haven't found any hens within 60km. And boy, I have tried very hard. It's driving me batty.

19 Jun 2016, 19:37

Reminds me when I was younger..... 5 good sorts.. 10 young blokes,in one bar , all thought they were a chance to get away with one. Ended up in fights, blokes mainly, but then again some of the girls started to fight over the most attractive "Stud" guy. Sounds very familiar with our avian friends.

Ken.

19 Jun 2016, 20:18

If you ever produce a surplus of young hens, it always pays to keep an extra hen or two as spares in the holding aviary (especially going into winter). Cordons & Gouldians are 2 species I do this with every year and they usually get called up for breeding duty by the end of winter.

19 Jun 2016, 21:25

Tiaris wrote:If you ever produce a surplus of young hens, it always pays to keep an extra hen or two as spares in the holding aviary (especially going into winter). Cordons & Gouldians are 2 species I do this with every year and they usually get called up for breeding duty by the end of winter.

Something that I do as well. .because as finchy stated hens get old so always a good idea to to have spare hens to replace them with. ..