Do I need to get rid of my silkie roo?

[lulumammato2]

Hello, fairly new to this still. I have 4 BR hens one brown mystery hen and my sons silkie popcorn just started crowing about a week ago. Its not very loud and not at a bad hour but will it get louder? And what will it do to the eggs besides fertilize them? Do they taste different or not last as long?He's a beautiful blue silkie and the sweetest of the bunch I would hate to get rid of him but I live in the city and just needed eggs not babies ( at least not until I can convince my DH to move me to the country!!!)

 

[ralleia]

I've read that there is a surgical option to "de-crow" a bird. I ended up getting rid of both my silky roosters because of their excessive crowing.

A rooster isn't necessary to get eggs. Some people believe that fertile eggs are "healthier" but I haven't seen any evidence.

If you really want to keep him, then consider having the surgery to get him fixed--I would hate to run into trouble with my neighbors (to include legal trouble) and risk having to get rid of ALL my chickens over a crowing rooster.

 

[sourland]

Fertile eggs taste no different than non fertile. They keep just as well--just make sure that you collect eggs daily.

 

[lulumammato2]

Will it make my hens act differently? Will the crowing get any louder?

 

[spiritdance]

My silkie roos aren't particularly loud, and they don't crow as frequently as my bantam cochin roos do. If your hens are "legal" so you don't have to worry about them, you could always try him out for a bit and see if he bothers anyone. If you lock him in the coop at dark and don't let him out until morning he should stay quiet at night, which is when most people don't want to hear a roo.

 

[ralleia]

Quote:
I *doubt* that it will get any louder. It's been a while since I've had the silky roos, but with mine the problem wasn't volume but frequency. We had a grey and a black one and particularly the grey would run around crowing incessantly. I hope that your roo is smarter!

I've heard that without a roo, often a hen will take on the role of quasi-rooster, sometimes ceasing egg-laying and exhibiting rooster-like behaviors. I've not had this experience though, even during those times that we were roosterless.

 

[Blue]

Quote:
This is true, but it doesn't always happen. We had one hen who started crowing after the rooster was killed by a dog. She stopped when we added another rooster.