Do hens prefer having a rooster

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

Newbie here but we had roo and now he is gone. Egg production is up - he was stressing them. The hens are friendlier. We aren't getting attacked in our yard. The hens are ranging a little farther from each other without the roo but he only kept about 1/2 the hens around him the others just wandered around by themselves. We might try another roo in the Spring or just get fertile eggs from someone else when we have a broody.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I got my RIR roo when he was 7 mo. old. I had 12 hens. Two of them were 2yrs old and the rest I raised from chicks and had only been laying a couple of months. Before he came they mostly hung out in the barn. His crowing must have alerted at least one preditor, I think it's a bobcat, because he was here 2 wks when I lost my first hen. The first time it just left a few feathers. The next 3 not a trace. The last one there was a long trail of feathers.

She must of put up a good fight. Always at dusk. Started to put them in early and it hit at dawn. No sound no crowing nothing from him at all. He's constantly challenging me and some of the girls are looking kind of raggity. I don't know if it's because he's young

??? Only good thing is I have 14 new chicks and 20 in the incubator. Hope I get a good roo cause he's history.

 

[spartacus_63]

Most of my girls were raised with my alpha Roo, here to fore know as Steve, and they like him and pay attention when he calls. Steve is not aggressive to me or the DW. He will raise his hackles if a stranger comes into the yard but has never made a serious attack on any people. He does stand sentry duty while the girls are free ranging. He also keeps order in the flock. We have the girls on about two acres and if he hears any of the girls squawking he comes at a the double time. Not all of the girls hang out with him. He has his chosen few. I also have seven girls that are older than he is. They are less attentive to his calls. My one and only Barred Rock defies him. She was the Alpha hen before Steve came of age. He routinely picks on her just because she is there, but she does not submit to him.

Steve is a RIR. I also have a Buff Orpington Roo, named Butch, two OEG bantam roos, Wilbur & Orville, an American Game bantam, Larry and a Polish roo, Jessie. They all have learned to get along except for Jessie. Butch does not like him and seeks him out in the mornings and chases him away from the flock. No problems at night in the coop though. They all have there chosen girls, but Steve gets the final vote.

My opinion on production is that having a roo may not increase production, but I do believe that it will get the girls laying sooner.

 

[Jasmine1998]

My hens love my roo. He is super friendly & good with kids. He is a dark brahma. Every time a kid comes over the first thing they ask for is to see Bob. He even lets us know if someone comes into the yard as he starts crowing like crazy. He does get a little jealous when his hens start following me around but eh never does anything mean. He just "tricks" his hens into coming back to him. He will go about 100 ft away & start pecking the ground & making his "ohhh I just found something good to eat noise" so they all go running back to him. It is kind of funny.


This is him when he was younger.

 

[happymorrows]

Well, it sounds like the overwhelming consensus is that roos are good and fun to have, but bad roos aren't worth it. I tried to give him one more chance last night. I walked up to him and tried to get him to back down, and he just came at me hard. My husband walked at him and he backed right down and walked away. We walked at him together and he got really confused. You could see he wanted to come at me, but didn't want to challenge DH. Anyway, I feel like my bond with the ladies has been hurt because of him. I have avoided the yard, and now all the girls that would sit on my shoulder and knee want nothing to do with me.

Does TS carry kill cones? I'll be on the lookout for a new roo this spring when I add more ladies to the flock.

 

[Mervin]

I was in the same situation about a month and half ago. I let him go a little further than I should have, trying to reform him and all (already dispatched his brother). He kept getting more and more aggressive toward people. I wouldn't even let my little girl go in the pen. When I noticed him peck feathers off the hens' backs (not from mating) I figured it was time for him to go. He did it then the hens would peck at each other.

Truthfully, things have been much better since we have no roos. There hasn't been any feather picking and the dynamics have changed pretty significantly, for the better. The two roosters and four Welsummer hens I got for breeders have almost convinced me to swear of having rooster and have convinced me to give up on Wellies. The Wellie girls seem lost without a rooster truthfully. My utility birds couldn't seem to care less though. They're much more independent and much more personable, especially without a roo present.

 

[Beckyinma]

you can certainly train a bad (aggressive toward you/dd) roo to be better, you have to make him know that you and DD are boss. I would carry a broom with you, and if he comes at you, swat him (don't hurt him) with it, for a few times, don't turn your back on him, and maintain eye contact. Eye contact among animals is one of the biggest alpha/submissive tells there is. After a few times being swatted with that broom, he's not going to want to attack you, and he'll know you are boss, you have to be head roo, or he'll walk all over you.

I had to re-train my alpha pullet after we re-homed our young roo, because she was pecking and being really hard on the other 5 girls, especially the new one, who remains on the bottom of the totem pole. I'm the boss of that flock, and alpha girl knows she's second in command now, and there is hardly any pecking from anyone. She would chase the other girls around whenever there was a treat, she would growl and not let the lower girls get anything, so I started chasing her around, just her.. Worked like a charm.

If you want to keep your roo, do some research, there are lots of threads on byc about alpha/aggressiveness and re-training.

 

[abhaya]

I am lucky mt first roo is a good one. RooRoo guards his flock. chased off a stray cat that has been hanging around for months before I got him. He is not aggressive at all and only crows maybe 6 times a day.

 

[Mervin]

Quote:
Beckyinma,

Yes, I have read about all about retraining them. In some cases, I believe it may even work. But I do think it's somewhat naive to think that retraining suits every situation. Aggressiveness, by many accounts, passes from generation to generation. The birds in question, including the hens from the same source, simply are not friendly birds. They're beautiful and big and clearly illustrate the difference between utility birds and breeder birds and that is why I tried to spare him at first.

I came to the realization that if I hatched his (or the hens) progeny, I'd probably be dealing with their temperament for generations to come. Sure I might be able to make a workable roo out of him, but I really don't want to have to keep that up. Temperament is important me. If I going to work with a line, or sustain my own, I want them to be personable. Sure I want them to have size and confirmation, but I don't want people to be afraid to be around them either. Besides that I've come to enjoy mean rooster and dumplings.

(edited for spelling)

 

[Beckyinma]

Quote:

No, I totally agree, especially from a generational/breeding standpoint, you don't want to breed aggressiveness towards humans. Mean rooster dumplings sound great! LOL We didn't even keep our perfectly friendly roo. we re-homed him simply because we wanted 6 layers, and no chances for fertilized eggs. He was a cool roo too.

My kids are fighting over which one gets to do the first chop when our layers are no longer economically producing.. and they JUST started laying... LOL