Do I NEED both roosters?

[ChixPix]

I have 19 hens and 2 roosters.

One rooster is really a good rooster, I've never seen him be mean, he'll let us feed him from our hand, etc. The second rooster has become a real PITA!!! He rushed me last fall and pecked me HARD on the back of my bare leg. I was carrying food (a pumpkin) and I yelled and then threw the pumpkin at him and beaned him. (it was a 1/4 pumpkin). He stayed clear of me for MONTHS. Lately he's been being agressive again. First with my 16 year old son, who is pretty much a full grown man (a scrawny one), and now me again too. I have to watch where he is when I go outside.

I've also noticed that when he mates with the hens, there's a little bit of agression between him in the other rooster. Sometimes, he'll get a hen down and rake across her back - I couldn't figure out where all their feathers were going. I have several with no feathers on their backs at all. He's not very hardy either. He had a heck of a time through winter and lost all the points on his comb to frostbite, but everyone else was fine. He seems very immature (he's almost a year old).

Their spurs are coming in, and I just know I'm gonna get spurred.

To top it ALL off, we had company yesterday and they have a 2 year old little girl. We took her out to feed the chickens. While walking back to the house, I was watching her and I saw this rooster rush her. her face was about a foot from his face. He was getting ready to pop her right in the face. I was so ticked I screamed at him and he stopped dead in his tracks. Rooster got a kick and backed off.

This has pretty much sealed the deal for me. I'm pretty confident I'm having chicken and noodles this weekend.


But the bigger question is, can I get away with one rooster and so many hens? I've kinda been hoping for some chicks, so I really would like a rooster. It's chick days here, so I could pick up a couple chicks and hope for a rooster this fall. Or, do I just let one rooster rule this roost?

 

[axion_lotus]

I think one rooster would do okay. Granted, not all your eggs will be fertile, but there's a good chance a lot will be.

And if you're feeling froggy, you can see if someone on here (or on eBay; I've heard a lot of people lik this site when it comes to chickens) will sell you another nice tame roo for your girls, so the roo you're keeping will be able to rest for a bit after all that fun and having 19 pretty ladies all to himself!

Good luck, and I hope your chicken and noodles are tasty!

 

[donrae]

Oh my goodness get rid of him! Life's too short to put up with a mean animal.

I'm thinking you'll still have decent fertility with the one roo. You can always keep an eye out and see who he favors, and collect those eggs. Or seperate him and half the hens for a day or two, and then collect those hen's eggs. But considering a hen can keep the sperm inside herself for at least two weeks, I'm thinking you'll get plenty of fertile eggs. Or, you can always pick up a rooster for free from here or Craigslist this fall. A nice rooster, that is!

 

[Peck Johnson]

He will only get worse with maturity I think.

 

[magoochie]

We have a strict 3 strike rule at my house. On the 3rd strike I get the knife.

however, if they EVER go after a kid, they are done right then and there. It will only get worse as he matures. And as his spurs grow out, you will wish you got rid of him long before that.

 

[mtngrl812]

I have a blast with roos like that..... I just wait for them to come at me, actually encourage it, then when they jump up to get me, I catch them in mid-jump. Then they are mine (couldn't find a devious smiley to put here) I carry them around with me for a while. I hold them and pet on them, carry them by the legs, walk all around in and out if building, pick things up and carry with them, let the dogs smell them.... just my own fun type of torture for them. They will behave for a long time, mature or young!

But for a roo that is being so mean to the hens.... as The Queen of Hearts said "Off with their heads!"

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you get another rooster, I recommend raising one from chickhood or quarantining him for at least a month. Even then, keep in mind that there are diseases that make chickens asymptomatic carriers.

In short, I recommend buying chicks or from a reputable breeder.

You can make a breeding pen with some fencing (just for daytime use) and have the roo in with a few girls that you can identify the next day to go back in the pen with him- then collect those eggs for a few days for the incubator. (I have NOT done this and so take this advice with a grain of salt.)

To be safe, wait one month before assuming the mean roo's "ahem" is gone. In other words, he could be the father unless you wait a month.

 

[Badbaby05]

Quote:
MUHAHAHAHA

 

[ChixPix]

Thank you all for your help! I love the idea of walking around and making him miserable for a while. He's a real pain in the patootie. Very beautiful though! Every time I get a pretty one, they seem to turn out to be a big turd. Looks like he's gonna be dinner soon, and Rufus (the good rooster), will be in hog heaven.