Do you like roosters?

[The Meadow]

Wherever did you get donkeys? I've been looking to buy one, and don't want to make the journey down to wherever the BLM has its adoption centers.

There seem to always be donkeys looking for homes in our area (Eastern Ontario Canada). Our first donkey adopted us more than we adopted him. Long story. Unfortunately he passed away and now we have the three jennies we adopted to keep him company. Quite love them as family members. There is a great FB group called 'Only Donkeys' that often has people asking if anyone can adopt a donkey ...

 

[chickendreams24]

I like them because they protect my hens, and fertilize my eggs, but overall it depends on the roosters personality

Agreed! A good gentle rooster is a blessing.

Not to sound too harsh but bad ones around here go to freezer camp.

We had one that was so severely aggressive we actually had to shoot him from a distance. In the head it was quick and he didn't feel a thing. He even attacked us in his sleep. I have scars on my legs from his relentless attacks.

Now on the other end of the spectrum I have had a silkie roo that adopted 6-8 weeks old chicks when their mother was killed by a predator. Several weeks later he then gave his life defending another hen from a fox so she could run away. I witnessed it first hand. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do.

We breed for gentle roosters. Not just with us but also with the other birds and even with other roosters. I won't keep an overly aggressive bird.

Another thing I don't tolerate is attacking our dogs bc our dogs are gentle with the birds and don't bother them.

Maturing cockerals get a grace period to learn and figure it out, but if they don't they go.

We have up to 8+ cockerals and roosters out free ranging together and they have enough space that they are fine. We almost never have bloody birds.

We have had some really great and some really awesome roosters.

We had another rooster destined for a pot that last year gave his life by putting himself between a predator and a 4 week old broody chick. He was aggressive towards people on occasion and it had been escalating but I can't help but be grateful to him for that.

I think each rooster is different, and how they're raised matters but the line is also super important.

If you can have one and have enough hens and care to find a good one(because there are bad but also lots of good ones out there needing homes) then absolutely I recommend it.

When we told people we had roosters we got a lot of "well you can't eat your eggs then bc they'll have chicks in them".

We collect eggs several times a day and store them correctly. It's bologna. You're also not killing a chick eating fertile eggs of course.

We love the crows our boys are relatively quiet and they're great at keeping the girls safe. Especially from hawks.

We also find that if you have enough hens and space(free range is key) more than one or even two roosters can be a good thing because they're more relaxed and aren't as possessive of the hens. They'll also keep each other in check if one is a little too rough.

The best roosters help raise chicks(and are infinitely patient) but some bad ones may kill or even eat the chicks.

The good ones test nest boxes and make nests for the hens. They'll walk them to and from laying. They'll find treats and tidbits and feed the girls.