Roosters Pros and Cons

Hasgrits68

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 27, 2014
35
11
26
Ethridge TN
I'm fairly new to the world of Chicken and I have four sweet hens that are about 16-18 weeks and we have been offered a rooster in their age range. We are not interested in breeding so for our situation we would consider the Roo's pros as being some protection of our girls and the novelty for our family to have one of these beautiful boys. Would very much love to hear input, are we asking for more trouble than he will be worth? I'm sorry if the question has been beat to death on here! But Roosters Pros and Cons? Go.....
 
What breed is the rooster in question and why is he being re-homed? Many times you find folks giving away roosters that they no longer want due to behavioral issues and they'd rather pass the problem off on someone else than deal with it themselves through butchery, etc....that said, at this age range it also may simply be a case of a "surprise" rooster coming from a batch of pullets that the person in question has now realized is male and wants to be rid of.

What sort of housing do you currently have - what I'm getting at is does your coop have room to add the rooster?

You mention protection, do you free-range your flock for all or part of the day?

Are you allowed to have a rooster in your locale? If you are inside the city limits you may find that the poultry regulations allow only "non-crowing" birds, meaning no roosters.

Are you planning to stick with just 4 hens?
 
Last edited:
I am pro-rooster all the way. But in your case you really should not get a rooster, because you only have 4 hens. The proper ratio is 1 rooster to about 10 hens. The rooster can basically over-mate the hens and it puts a lot of stress on them and can even cause injury.
 
Great information! I'm not sure what his breed is, and I'm not planning on adding more hens for a while, these are my learning flock, so both post have helped. My girls are so happy and yes we control free range meaning they are let loose in a fenced area with our supervision so at this point why rock the hen house? Thanks
 
If educating family is overriding interest then get him. A great deal will be learned about his behavior as well as that of the females. Stable flock dynamics will not be realized until everyone is at least 8 months old.

Most problems rooster might present are usually correctable through changes in your husbandry technique.
 
I would recommend waiting a year. There will always be roosters available. You called this your learning flock, and there is much to be said for experience in general before taking on a rooster.

Mrs K
 
Consider getting a single gamerooster. They are less prone to be hard on hens, especially in a free-range setting and behavioral repertoire is also much greater than typical ornamental / production breeds. See some examples in link below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/882368/what-to-look-for-in-a-broody-rooster

If you want someone that can provide direction on how to realize a positive learning experience then try to keep me in the loop.
 
I think it is funny how only 'non crowing' birds are allowed, but people leave their barking dogs out all day and night, and no one has a problem with that. Just a random thought.
 
I think it is funny how only 'non crowing' birds are allowed, but people leave their barking dogs out all day and night, and no one has a problem with that. Just a random thought.

I findi t amusing simply because those who think that is going to cut down on the noise of poultry have clearly never really payed attention to just how loud and obnoxious hens can be...especially in a group.
 
I findi t amusing simply because those who think that is going to cut down on the noise of poultry have clearly never really payed attention to just how loud and obnoxious hens can be...especially in a group.


For me, loud noises is a function of large numbers of birds or social strife. Hens can be loud in two situations; first is when they are startled by , second is when they do not have access to a rooster while in lay.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom