Thoughts on Roosters??

[Farmlife16]

I've had chickens now for a few years, but never a rooster. I have a beautiful roo that I am thinking about keeping, but I'm honestly nervous that he's going to end up being aggressive and be more of a headache than he's worth. The main reason I'd keep him is to help protect against predators, but I'm not convinced it will make that much of a difference. Those that have or have had roosters, what are your thoughts on this?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Rooster are nothing more than the first to go when it comes to predators.

 

[Farmlife16]

Rooster are nothing more than the first to go when it comes to predators.

And then you've lost your good rooster...

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

A good roo will alert the girls to danger and sacrifice himself to save them. It’s their instinct. I personally will never be with out one again. They keep the peace amongst the hens, they show them where the food is and where a good nesting area is, and you’ll get fertlized eggs that you can incubate if you choose.

 

[Farmlife16]

A good roo will alert the girls to danger and sacrifice himself to save them. It’s their instinct. I personally will never be with out one again. They keep the peace amongst the hens, they show them where the food is and where a good nesting area is, and you’ll get fertlized eggs that you can incubate if you choose.

Thank you! How hard was it to find a good roo?

 

[TwoShepherds]

I keep my flocks in runs at this time because of my dogs (so I don't worry about predators), but I like keeping a couple of roosters. I keep them so I can hatch out my own chicks, but in addition to that they are handsome, fun to watch, and I like their crowing. I've probably been lucky, and I tend to have docile breeds, but I haven't had a truly nasty rooster yet. If I did, I would send him to freezer camp. So far, as long as I price them low enough, and don't mind waiting a few weeks, I haven't had much trouble rehoming my unwanted cockerels/roosters on Craigslist.

 

[Farmlife16]

I keep my flocks in runs at this time because of my dogs (so I don't worry about predators), but I like keeping a couple of roosters. I keep them so I can hatch out my own chicks, but in addition to that they are handsome, fun to watch, and I like their crowing. I've probably been lucky, and I tend to have docile breeds, but I haven't had a truly nasty rooster yet. If I did, I would send him to freezer camp. So far, as long as I price them low enough, and don't mind waiting a few weeks, I haven't had much trouble rehoming my unwanted cockerels/roosters on Craigslist.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Very helpful!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had chickens now for a few years, but never a rooster. I have a beautiful roo that I am thinking about keeping, but I'm honestly nervous that he's going to end up being aggressive and be more of a headache than he's worth. The main reason I'd keep him is to help protect against predators, but I'm not convinced it will make that much of a difference. Those that have or have had roosters, what are your thoughts on this?

My first thoughts are to ask what has been your history with predators? How many chickens have you lost and, if you know, to which predators? Do you free range or are they penned? Is this really a problem? If you did keep a rooster what would change in the way you would manage them?

You can never tell if a cockerel or rooster will turn human aggressive. They can be fine until they are not. People have been keeping free ranging roosters with their flocks for thousands of years. If a lot of them were going human aggressive on a regular basis chicken could be extinct but they are not. But some do go human aggressive. If you are willing to eat him, sell him, or give him away if it goes bad you probably haven't lost much by trying. But if you can't get rid of him when it is time but just let it drag on you are at more risk.

In my opinion a rooster doesn't add much to the safety of the flock. Some might attack a predator, maybe a hawk, but that's not going to do any good against a fox, dog, coyote, bobcat, or most other predators. They certainly do not stand up to hawks every time even when they are present. Some of my hens sometimes scatter out so they are not all with the rooster all the time anyway and he cannot protect them if he is not around. Same thing is true with a livestock guard dog. If a LGD is not with the flock it is not doing much good.

When a threat is detected my roosters tend to try to lead the flock to safety instead of fighting a rear guard action. I've had two different dog attacks lost 8 and then 5 more chickens. In neither case did the rooster lose a feather.

Some roosters tend to be a lookout, especially against flying predators. He can warn them if he spots a danger. But many times in a flock without a mature rooster the dominant hen does a lot of looking and alerting.
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One thing I notice. If something concerns them the rooster will often get between whatever they are worried about and the flock. He kind of checks it out which does put him in danger. A humorous example, I can walk around with a bucket in my hand without a problem but if I am holding a small camera that they are not familiar with they go into this alert formation where he is between them and my camera. But if the threat turns out to be real he is putting himself in danger.

To me any additional safety a rooster brings to the flock is pretty marginal, especially if you have a dominant hen doing most of these things anyway, but there can be times having a good rooster can help.

 

[Broody_Mama]

I'm honestly nervous that he's going to end up being aggressive and be more of a headache than he's worth.

I think it's worth giving him a chance. My roo has never shown an ounce of aggression in the three years I've had him. He takes good care of his ladies, even refusing to eat snacks until they've all gotten some first... he'll even carry pieces of the snacks over to those who seem to be missing out. Quite the gentleman.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Our birds are young with an eight wk age difference with the roo being part of the older. I've noticed when there is death from above he growls and all the hens scoot for the coop. I have read that the breed we have can be aloof to predator danger, not this boy, if it moves he instantly goes on alert. First time with Blk Aus and I'm satisfied with their behavior and antics.