Age of a rooster? *new pics added!

[aart]

Scaly leg mites can spread, but fairly slowly.......
......but it's easy to treat, get bird off roost and night and slather his legs with bag balm, vaseline, oil, etc. once a week for a few weeks.
Smothers the insects, takes time for new scales to grow in and show improvement,

 

[carolinasculpture]

Thank you! Will definitely look into leg mites! So, how long do roosters typically live? Thanks again!

 

[aart]

Thank you! Will definitely look into leg mites! So, how long do roosters typically live? Thanks again!

Until they die...lol, sorry....hard to say.
Some chickens live to be 10 or more... and some don't.
He may not be incredibly fertile past 5-6-7.....<shrugs>

 

[carolinasculpture]

Until they die...lol, sorry....hard to say. Some chickens live to be 10 or more... and some don't. He may not be incredibly fertile past 5-6-7.....

When they die! Heee heee! In my experience the best ones always die first! So my new question...once he looses fertility, will he also be more likely to accept a new roo, like if we were to keep one of his sons? He has only 8 hens now and we usually add 3 a year, sometimes lose one or two, anyway, so far all our eggs seem to be fertile. Also, am going to "lube" his legs, just in case. Seems too easy a solution with no side effects to not do it. Thanks again! Back to the "when they die", it is just that since he is such a good rooster, I expect him to keel over any day, a bad roo would live forever!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

most of my roosters live from 4-9, it seems they die sooner if they eat layer regularly, mine have been living longer since I switched to an all flock. My older roosters still mate but not as often. As far as accepting a new rooster it's best to introduce them as a young batch of chicks and let them grow up in the flock. Two roosters can sometimes be a problem because they focus only on each other, and flocks kept in confinement can have troubles because the lower rooster can't get away. The best you can do is see what happens, worse case is you would have to choose one.