Give Me Five Good Reasons!

[bigchickenman]

MY rooster came in handy to the point that he let my hens know that they were hawks close by.Unfortunately I still lost two to a huge hawk.So if I hadn't had my rooster they may have gotten them all.

 

[Chickenmaven]

If they can convince you to want a rooster, come to Michigan & pick up a couple of mine.

 

[jjdward]

As far as ratio of roosters to hens, I have 16 hens and 2 roosters. I think most books will tell you that you need 1 rooster to 10 hens but I have figured out that chickens can't read. I have no fighting between roosters. For the breed, I have a BO and Black Star rooster. My hens are black star, EE, and 1 white leghorn.

 

[Camelot Farms]

I am a rooster convert. I swore I would never have a rooster. I had visions of flogging and chasing ans spurring. Then, someone asked me to take on a flock of 40, 8 of them were roos....big old barnyard boys. We called one Godzilla if that gives you a clue.

We rehomed 7 of them and kept one. He has converted me.

I love to sit on my shed steps and watch Pretty Boy take care of his girls. There is something so primal about it. And when he sees a hawk or something, he is immediately on task and at the ready.

He never ever has made a mean move toward any of us. If he does....he will be 'retired' and a new roo will take his place because I just adore them!

 

[ChicknJ]

most people already gave you the reasons why, I have one more. I had a Frizzle Roo , Fritz , that was the absolute best dad in the world. When the big hens would go after the babies in the yard, they would run and hide under his wings and he would lower his body onto them. He won Father of the Year in my book. Unfortunately, he died about a yr ago, and I still miss him and call me new roo Fritz frequently by accident.

Once you get used to your roo's sounds, you can tell what he is trying to communicate to the girls. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[speckledhen]

I can tell you that I rehomed my sweet Mace because older brother, Dutch, refused to share his 30 women. It was crazy the way he chased him and fought with him. Now, he has them all to himself, but he better watch out. Not all the eggs are fertile now and though it usually wouldn't matter, I would like the BR eggs, at least, to be fertile in the laying flock. He may see a young up-and-coming cockerel in his harem one day.

The worst thing about a rooster to me is that they tend to put some wear and tear on the hens' feathers on their backs and heads. It's better if you have plenty of girls for him, but still, they do have their favorites.

 

[SportTees]

Looks and personality. I like my roos much better then the hens.

 

[goobhen]

You cannot go wrong with an Orpington roo (at least my Forrest was a sweetheart roo, RIP) Brown Star roos are nice too!

They are prettier than the hens
good watch-dog
funny to watch (they can entertain you for hours!)
make babies
love their crows. Evidently I have 4 roos, only 2 are crowing at this time. They do not crow until about 7:30/8:00 am. They crow in the daytime, mainly when the see ME! They don't crow if they see the DH. I am the one who gives them: (cut up in chicken-sized pieces) cherries, honey dew melons. watermelons, tomatoes & cucumbers!! Theresa

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
I fully understand and appreciate that! The girls by and large used to ignore Denny until I injured my back last October and he had to take over some of the care and feeding duties for several months. Now they come to him almost as well as they do to me. But they still look to me for the best goodies!

Thanks for the feedback on roo's, folks. I'm getting closer and closer to thinking that I not only want one, but need one in the flock. I'd love to have more babies, and as I said before, it's not much of a problem to re-home some of the pullets or hens should it come to that.

I'm thinking either BR, BO or an EE roo, in light of the composition of our current flock (see above) Any thoughts or feedback on those three choices, I'd greatly appreciate hearing it. From your own personal experiences, is one more preferable than another? Or are all three choices a "can't go wrong" decision? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Serrin

edited because I never seem to see my typing errors until AFTER I hit submit!

 

[PollyWaddle]

I can't imagine life without our roosters! We have to live where they can, so we turned from city-slickers to fringe-dwellers because of the ROOS! And ditto for all the reasons that everyone has listed. They are wonderful company and SO funny.

Ratios: We've had as many as 1 roo per 6 or 7 hens. If they're free-range-ish and there's lots of food, and they're gentle breeds, they will get along. HOWEVER, sometimes the young ones grow up, and at 1 year would kill the older guys. You just have to keep an eye on them. Right now we have 30 hens and 5 roosters, although one is lame, one is a banty and the other is just dumb as a stick. Anyhow, they are in balance.

Breeds: We love our salmon faverolle, but he breeds small chickens. Best by far is our Barred Rock, Friendly. Huge, sweet, and such a good breeder. We just hatched out 32 chicks from different moms, and they're all colored like him. We also had a blue andalusian that was wonderful, but I know they're a crap shoot.

Them's my 20 cents worth.

Get one!!! (If you don't like him, you can always have him for dinner!)

EDITED: Hey, we live in Eugene, and have LOTS of ~12 week old cockerels right now -- if you happen to be in the neighborhood

.