Tell me why you keep Roosters...

[shantiquarian]

I have always had a few roosters because with out them you don't get new chicks but we have had a NO FIGHTING RULE. In MI fighters were "cat food" here in KY they get sold. I only want a friendly flock.

 

[ducks4you]

I live in a tiny town, with 5 acres and an AG 2 zoning.
I have NOT always had roosters. I started with wanting just hens, then after several straight run orders I decided to breed. I've incubating successfully for several years but this year was a bust. DH thinks my one EE rooster is shooting blanks, but I suspect the cheap incubator is at fault. Last year I had 3 roosters and ended up with 30 layers, 1/2 of which I took to auction and sold at the onset of laying.
I ended up ordering 25 straight run EE's earlier this month.
We will eat almost all of the 2 month roosters and keep 3-4 of them to raise with the baby hens for 2014.
You MUST raise roosters together to house them together. Otherwise, they WILL fight and kill each other.
We will also eat my current adult rooster and 10/15 hens (11 layers), 4 of which were bought (hatched) in June, and will begin laying next month.
I keep roosters for breeding and I don't keep birds that are older than 1 1/2 years. They go to freezer camp. =D

 

[foreverlearning]

Didn't plan on having a rooster but then my neighbors asked me to get one because they love the morning crowing. So glad I did. Our roo is so great with the hens. Never eats the treats always gives to his ladies. The interaction and communication is amazing to watch. He never gets aggressive with me or my husband or with strangers when we are around. But if anyone comes into the yard when we are away he can be nasty. Thinking I need to put up a. BEWARE ATTACK ROOSTER ON PREMISES sign!

Here's your sign:
http://www.randallburkey.com/Attack-Rooster-Sign/productinfo/10782/#.UkG3Kj9Ib8h

 

[foreverlearning]

Sorry, it didn't load the first time.

 

[dtreadway]

I have 6 females and no roosters. Where I live now roosters are not allowed. We bought 3 acres and a house in WV and when we move next May, (we are taking our hens with us) I am getting 2 roosters and 6 more hens. When we go down for a weekend we have two farms up the road, and their roosters answer each other. I can't wait to get 2 just for the crowing alone. I will let them mate my females for chicks eventually. Right now its eggs only, and there is nothing like fresh eggs.

 

[newbie32]

Sorry, it didn't load the first time.

That's awesome!!!!

 

[lovechickenswis]

If you do a pen with nothing but roosters they won't fight. It's only in the presence of hens that their hormones kick in and they begin to become aggressive towards each other.

That is great to know!!! I was just wondering that the other day. I have five adult roosters and several young roosters, I was having a dilemma about who to keep. Any others pointers you can give me about this?

 

[happyfrenchman]

I have always had a rooster... flocks with roosters are much more interesting. (IMO). But honestly, it is hard because when they get to a certain age, they really do gotta go. And it may be sexist, but I had much more of a bond with my rooster than I ever had with my hens. He was aggressive, but that was why I had him. I never lost a hen under his charge. (and my birds free range all day on a big piece of property). Culling him was very difficult for me, (not to mention for him). But I had decided to get different chickens and I did not want him in the middle of that. My new rooster, I know better than to name him or make too much of a pet out of him because someday.....

I always say "These people with their thousand dollar parrots... get a 5 dollar rooster and you have an animal that is just as smart as any parrot, just as personable, better looking, and can be let outside to range around.

 

[Horsea]

This is a most interesting topic. Some great replies here. Me - I order a dozen chicks (heirloom varieties) every couple of years and I have to take what's in the box - they are not sexed. That is why I have roosters. One year, it was 7 roosters & 3 hens but usually the ratio is better.

If there's too many roosters, I put a few in a separate place. Not ideal, but I do not favour the killing of animals, especially tame ones. I don't eat meat, nor does my family. I will not give away any rooster or hen to anyone who will kill it.

In any case, I love roosters for their physical beauty and for the way they tend to the hens, calling to them when they find something that the hens would enjoy eating. The excited sounds they make when they find a huge larva!

 

[Jack Speese]

The main reason I keep a rooster is hawk protection. While the only 100% sure way to protect a flock from hawks is a pen with a top, a rooster does help. He stands guard over the flock and will sound the alarm at the sight of hawk (personally I don't know why they are protected!) and the hens will run for cover. I occasionally hatch my own chicks so would obviously need fertile eggs, but I usually buy or order replacement chicks when I need them...that way I get purebred chicks and mostly hens. Sexers do, however, make mistakes, so unless you get sex linked chicks there is a chance you will wind up with an occasional rooster. I don't want more than one, though, because they are rough on the hens and as others have said, often one indeed becomes dominant and will bully his subordinates unmercifully. I'll admit I've been spoiled by the modern broiler industry. A non-broiler breed, not even a large breed like a Buff Orpington, Brahma, or Plymouth Rock, just doesn't have the meat in the right places. Even a big, mature rooster is "chicken chested" and doesn't have the breast meat of a broiler. So I really don't want any roosters for slaughter as, unless they are broiler breeds, in my opinion they are hardly worth bothering with. Right now I just have a hobby flock of laying hens (Barred Rock, Buff Orpingtons, Red Stars, and one Rhode Island Red rooster. When they get too old to lay well I give them away.