Pros/cons of keeping a rooster?

Here are some pics of Henry. He is staying, for now and we will decide what to do as time goes based on his behavior.



This is a pic from when we first figured out he was a he at 4 weeks.



A little more recent, from when I first started this thread.





And two from yesterday.

eta: Baby is kind of in both pics and is highly supervised with him.

They're a pain in the buttox to get rid of if you got to many, other than culling them

I didn't have any problems finding good homes for mine as I mentioned in past posts. I think your approach of taking it day by day is the best. The last one we found a home for, Checkers, was still sweet, but his loud crowing throughout the day was the reason we decided to find a home for him. Henry looks very handsome. : - )

I put them on craigslist, where when you say Free, things are usually gone in the blink of an eye, and still nothing

It's hard to say what is in demand at what time. I know I happened to be lucky. What worked for me is putting it on craigslist- farm and garden - for sale, and putting price "negotiable" because like "Lilwanis," my chickens are like pets and I didn't want them killed. Also, I felt like if I said they were "Free," some crazy person would take it and do who knows what. Most people around here list $10 per cockerel/rooster. I just put "negotiable" so that I could talk to the person first and see what their intent was. I didn't end up charging anyone, but a traded with a few people for a pullet As I mentioned before, we were lucky to hear from people who had small farms (with 20 - 30 chickens) who wanted a young, less aggressive cockerel instead of an old, mean rooster. I think that describing my situation as being a new backyard chicken owner who was appealing for help and advice worked for me because many nice people even took the time to say they might know someone, etc. This is how I listed my craigslist posting:

Rhode Island Red Roosters Price: Neg.
We bought 6 Rhode Island Red "pullets" at Rural King at the beginning of March, and 5 out of 6 are cockerels! They are three months old and have been lovingly raised, have a huge coop, and free range during the day. We don't know what to do! The best scenario is for farmers to take them, because we really hope they won't be killed. If anyone would like to trade a pullet for a cockerel, we will end up with one hen that will need 2-3 more hens for company. If anyone is interested in our cockerels or has any advice, we would appreciate it. Thank you.

ChickenExtreme said:

I put them on craigslist, where when you say Free, things are usually gone in the blink of an eye, and still nothing

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You can also list them in the farm and garden section. That's what I did when I got rid of two of mine.

Yea, a fellow finally came and got 2, and last night a buddy and I cleaned 4 for his uncle. We originally took them to him, he wanted them, they was free, but we wound up doing all the labor, go figure. But it was worth it, lol.

Everyone has their own favorite breed I'm sure, but I've heard it said that Wheaten Marans Roosters are the gentle giants of the chicken world. I accidentally ended up with 4, (supposed to be all pullets but what can you do?) and they are very docile so far at 3 months old. I'm planning on keeping two, and I wasn't planning on keeping any males at first. They are so gentle, I at first thought there was something wrong with them (sick? maybe brain damage? too much inbreeding?) but after doing a bit of research I learned that is just their outstanding character trait.
Check them out if you get a chance.

Bangarang64 said:

Everyone has their own favorite breed I'm sure, but I've heard it said that Wheaten Marans Roosters are the gentle giants of the chicken world. I accidentally ended up with 4, (supposed to be all pullets but what can you do?) and they are very docile so far at 3 months old. I'm planning on keeping two, and I wasn't planning on keeping any males at first. They are so gentle, I at first thought there was something wrong with them (sick? maybe brain damage? too much inbreeding?) but after doing a bit of research I learned that is just their outstanding character trait.
Check them out if you get a chance.

Click to expand...

I'd have to say a Barnevelder Rooster is my favorite