Dang roosters

[Kirmi8]

Isn’t it amazing how quickly things change? We had four 5-month old cockerels, 23 pullets and 11 mature hens. When the boys became “of age”, they started with the hens. The hens, while experiencing some feather loss, weren’t traumatized by the cockerels. But then those cockerels started chasing down, grabbing and yanking feathers from the pullets’ heads and necks. That was it. I locked three of them up in a grow out pen until we had time to process them. (That was their intended purpose anyway - they were Delaware Broilers.) I kept the 4th one, hoping to have a flock rooster. He sealed his fate a week and a half ago when he threatened my 2 year old granddaughter (who was just standing next to me, holding my hand - not running, screaming or bothering the hens in any way). He was fluffing, stomping and giving her the evil eye. I picked her up and tried chasing him away, but he kept coming back towards me. He joined his buddies in the grow out pen that evening. Now 3 of them are in the freezer. One was the guest of honor for supper Friday night.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, before Earl made his fatal mistake, the flock was much happier and more peaceful with only one male among them. Mating was hardly noticeable because he didn’t have to chase them down to get to them before another one, there weren’t two cockerels knocking each other off a hen or pullet to mate, none of that nonsense. He’d find a hen, she’d submit, and that was it.

Yep, I mad a rookie mistake and thought that because they were hatch mates and grew up together and I have many hens, mostly mature, that I wouldn’t have an problems. I thought the biggest concern I’d have is aggression to my kids and that’s a no brainer. I should have asked on here about roosters before undertaking the endeavour (I got them from a friend who had 18 roosters and only 5 hens from her hatch - rotten luck!) and I couldn’t choose because they were both so different and lovely looking.
I suppose all is well that ends well and that’s what counts and hopefully I don’t get any more stupid ideas lol.

 

[bobbi-j]

Yep, I mad a rookie mistake and thought that because they were hatch mates and grew up together and I have many hens, mostly mature, that I wouldn’t have an problems. I thought the biggest concern I’d have is aggression to my kids and that’s a no brainer. I should have asked on here about roosters before undertaking the endeavour (I got them from a friend who had 18 roosters and only 5 hens from her hatch - rotten luck!) and I couldn’t choose because they were both so different and lovely looking.
I suppose all is well that ends well and that’s what counts and hopefully I don’t get any more stupid ideas lol.

I’ve been raising chickens for almost 40 years. What I have learned is, as @Mrs.K says, “Roosters are a crap shoot.” I will say that I haven’t had as much problem with human aggressiveness once I started raising them the way I do now, but every now and then there is one who can’t figure out that I am not what he should be protecting the flock from.

My only reason for keeping a rooster would be for fertile eggs. A “flock protector”would be great, but he can only give his life once, then what? A dominant hen is just as effective a warning system as a rooster.

 

[Kirmi8]

I’ve been raising chickens for almost 40 years. What I have learned is, as @Mrs.K says, “Roosters are a crap shoot.” I will say that I haven’t had as much problem with human aggressiveness once I started raising them the way I do now, but every now and then there is one who can’t figure out that I am not what he should be protecting the flock from.

My only reason for keeping a rooster would be for fertile eggs. A “flock protector”would be great, but he can only give his life once, then what? A dominant hen is just as effective a warning system as a rooster.

Yes, Mrs. K has some phenomenal wisdom and helped me tremendously wrap my brain around the situation.

I do enjoy the crowing and beautiful plumage - but that’s now worth the stressed hens. I also thought maybe the girls wouldn’t mind a boy either. I had hen be broody for 2.5 months this summer and I was getting desperate and thought just get her some eggs but finally she snapped out of it. She was extremely persistent despite being locked out of the coop in the pen (with food and water of course) with everybody for the day.
Maybe one day I will try to hatch out some of our eggs if Mr. Roo continues to kind his manners. But then I have the whole problem of dealing with roosters again, and I’m not so good at that lol.

 

[bobbi-j]

Yes, Mrs. K has some phenomenal wisdom and helped me tremendously wrap my brain around the situation.

I do enjoy the crowing and beautiful plumage - but that’s now worth the stressed hens. I also thought maybe the girls wouldn’t mind a boy either. I had hen be broody for 2.5 months this summer and I was getting desperate and thought just get her some eggs but finally she snapped out of it. She was extremely persistent despite being locked out of the coop in the pen (with food and water of course) with everybody for the day.
Maybe one day I will try to hatch out some of our eggs if Mr. Roo continues to kind his manners. But then I have the whole problem of dealing with roosters again, and I’m not so good at that lol.

I look at it differently. I look at roosters as meat for the freezer. I will say that it took me a while to want to butcher the “pretty ones”. They are beautiful, but when they’re complete jerks it’s a little easier. We raised Cornish x for quite a few years because it was easier for me to process them. I have learned that free range chickens don’t have that *smell* that Cornish x have when you process them. They’re not as gross or prone to leg and heart issues, either. They may not be as meaty as a grocery store bird, but they have flavor and texture!

 

[Folly's place]

I do like having polite, useful roosters in my flock, but not many, and only the good ones!
Mary

 

[Poodlemum]

I finally got the strength to give up our two 14 week old roos and hope it was the right decision They’re great with us, but just so massive and I’m afraid they’ll hurt the hens. We need to integrate some 11 week old pullets and the hormones are RAGING. They even started picking on the WJG pullets their same age, plus each other…