Give me the truth about roosters

[MarlaMac]

So, we have a rooster, Rooster Cogburn. He is a good flock manager - he keeps the girls in line, he leads them to and fro, he responds to let the girls know where he/the flock is after they lay an egg, he alerts to threats, he is great with baby chicks being raised by broodies (he actively takes part in their rearing), he is safe around humans/pets of all shapes and sizes. He also, usually has a girl that he will single out for "discipline". Because of this, some of my girls are very timid around him which make them all the more a target.

Our flock consist of Rooster, 13 laying hens (although some are past peak prime ~4 years old) and 6 14 week old pullets. All australorps. Rooster and the 13 hens are Black and the 6 pullets are Blue. Cogburn is around 3.5 years old. So not young and not old. The flock free ranges all day. We let them out of the run in the morning, keep it open so hens can access lay boxes and shut them in at night when they all come back to go to roost. They spend the day in bushes and trees, under our decks and in our yard. We live on 60 acres and they can go anywhere they like, their chosen range is about 1 to 1.5 acres around our house.

Overall, I am good with our current situation, although, I must confess I am disturbed by Cogburn's desire to pick on at least one girl at a time and I don't allow it when I sit with them every night before they go to roost. Rooster is well aware of the water spray bottle and all I have to do now is show it to him and he settles down. What I call pick on is probably just flock dynamics. He doesn't hurt her, he just wants to mate her all the time and he will chase her down and then stay extra time on her back in what I see as an effort to assert his dominance.

I have allowed broodies to hatch out clutches. We have have 5 clutches come to fruition. I do not plan to allow any more broodies to hatch out clutches because I hate the part of having to find homes for all the boys. I don't want to eat the roosters b/c I am too much of a softy in that area and I don't necessarily like chicken meat. It would be different if they were the only source of meat available to me, but they are not. So I will always strive to give them to a good home where they can manage a flock of their own. So far, I have been blessed to be able to accomplish this (at least as far as I know).

So, a long rant to ask this question: how important are roosters to a free ranging flock? If I do not replace Rooster when his time is up, what will change in the flock dynamics? Will a hen rise up to be the flock manager? Will there be more squawking and bickering among the hens (Rooster does not put up with that right now)? Will they be more susceptible to predators?

Thanks, in advance, for your shared thoughts and expertise in this.

 

[rural mouse]

@Shadrach @Perris

 

[Perris]

how important are roosters to a free ranging flock?

I believe they are the sole reason why my flock has not been predated by foxes since 2020, so I would say, they are essential for protection/ predator deterrence.

do not plan to allow any more broodies to hatch out clutches because I hate the part of having to find homes for all the boys.

You don't have to rehome *all* the boys, especially if they are broody-raised within the flock, and Cogburn is their dad. They are all members of the same flock and relatives get on. Cogburn sounds like he will set a fine example for them to follow. Sooner or later a son will challenge for dominance, and sooner or later one will depose Cogburn; then you may have to take him into protective custody or cull him. But then you also will have one of his sons as dom, and their brothers/ uncles/ sons/ cousins /nephews in support.

 

[Beau plus penny]

if he actively targeting hens i would say thats not a good thing i would try to get him to not do that somehow

 

[MarlaMac]

I believe they are the sole reason why my flock has not been predated by foxes since 2020, so I would say, they are essential for protection/ predator deterrence.

You don't have to rehome *all* the boys, especially if they are broody-raised within the flock, and Cogburn is their dad. They are all members of the same flock and relatives get on. Cogburn sounds like he will set a fine example for them to follow. Sooner or later a son will challenge for dominance, and sooner or later one will depose Cogburn; then you may have to take him into protective custody or cull him. But then you also will have one of his sons as dom, and their brothers/ uncles/ sons/ cousins /nephews in support.

Thank you. I thought that too. We did just try to keep one of the boys that was hatched/raised in the flock. He was 17 weeks old and just starting to experience his "manhood". He started chasing the girls as they walked to and from the coop to lay eggs. He was constantly on the edge pacing and trying to "catch" a lone gal. Cogburn would run to help the girls that he managed to "find" alone. The girls did not like the extra rooster and were getting stressed with him around, so we found him a home. Amazingly, a sense of calm came back over our flock.

It may be that I am simply too engaged and notice every little thing that goes on and that I am actually the problem here. I am willing to accept that, but for now we are a one rooster family.

My real question in all of this is; if I don't have a rooster am I depriving my flock of their most natural state and therefore making their lives more difficult?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have allowed broodies to hatch out clutches. We have have 5 clutches come to fruition. I do not plan to allow any more broodies to hatch out clutches because I hate the part of having to find homes for all the boys.

That means your flock will age and egg production will drop tremendously over time unless you add sexed pullets on a regular basis. That might be your plan.

So, a long rant to ask this question: how important are roosters to a free ranging flock? If I do not replace Rooster when his time is up, what will change in the flock dynamics? Will a hen rise up to be the flock manager? Will there be more squawking and bickering among the hens (Rooster does not put up with that right now)? Will they be more susceptible to predators?

You will have 19 females that free range. No fences. That is very different from a coop with 4 square feet per chicken and 10 square feet per chicken in the run. Very similar to what Dad had except he had 25 to 30 hens and one rooster free ranging. I manage mine differently.

Some people would not have a free ranging flock without a rooster, even if they did not want fertile eggs. Others are extremely happy to have a free ranging flock without a rooster. There is a lot of personal preference in this. You are dealing with living animals, you do not know what they will do.

How does your flock behave today? Are all of them staying tightly together with the rooster or do they spread out? The 6 pullets may form a sub-flock and keep their distance, especially if they have not started laying. In Dad's flock some hens would stick pretty close to the rooster but others would really spread out, usually in small groups. Practically all of the eggs were fertile, even spread like that, but how much good will a rooster do if the hens are spread out over a half acre and a predator hits 100 feet (30 meters) away from him?

In Central Texas I'd think your main predator risks during the day would be hawks, eagles, fox, coyotes, dogs, and bobcats. You can find stories on here where a rooster fought to protect his flock, I have no doubt that can happen. What I generally saw was a rooster was much more likely to try to lead his flock to safety (or get himself out of harm's way) once a threat was identified.

Most roosters do stay fairly alert. If they see something suspicious they will warn their flock and put themselves between the flock and the threat while they check it out. This is an advantage. In a flock with no dominant rooster one hen will be dominant and will often take on some of the duties of a dominant rooster. But that does not mean she takes on all of his duties or with his skill. Some roosters do not do that good of a job of it either. With living animals you don't know what you will get.

Memories from my childhood. Dad's flock suffered two predator attacks while I was growing up that I remember. A dog showed up and killed several chickens. Dad was at work but Mom's brother was visiting. He used Dad's gun and killed the dog. Another time, a fox started picking off a hen every morning. It would wait in ambush after they were let out and take a hen. It took Dad a couple of days to recognize his pattern, then Dad was ready and shot the fox. In neither of these incidences was the rooster harmed. Nor was he a help.

This covered a period of probably 15 years before I left home. Two predator attacks in all that time. We were surrounded by pastureland and woodlands. Plenty of predators around. When I say you can go years without a predator attack or you can be wiped out overnight, this experience is what I base that on. With or without a rooster a predator could show up at any time and do serious damage. A rooster might help, he might not.

Some roosters will stop hens from fighting each other. Some. If they are spread out over a half acre how well can he manage that if he even wants to? Some roosters are very good about keeping peace in their flock. Some are really great at helping take care of chicks, whether with a broody or when the chicks are on their own. Some are not.

He was 17 weeks old and just starting to experience his "manhood". He started chasing the girls as they walked to and from the coop to lay eggs.

Typical adolescent cockerel behavior. Not all do that but many will. Once he grows out of that stage things usually settle down a lot. Some may never grow out of it. The old rooster and he may fight to the death once he matures enough. With that much room the odds are pretty good the two males will work things out but with living animals you do not get guarantees.

I don't have a recommendation for you. I hatch eggs so I need a rooster. You say you are not going to. I think they can help some but I also think they often do not help a lot. You sure do not get guarantees with them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You don't have to rehome *all* the boys, especially if they are broody-raised within the flock, and Cogburn is their dad. They are all members of the same flock and relatives get on. Cogburn sounds like he will set a fine example for them to follow. Sooner or later a son will challenge for dominance, and sooner or later one will depose Cogburn; then you may have to take him into protective custody or cull him. But then you also will have one of his sons as dom, and their brothers/ uncles/ sons/ cousins /nephews in support.

As @Ridgerunner says, with living animals you do not get guarantees. I did not find this to be the case in my experience. I hatched out a cockerel from my rooster once and for a long time they got along fine. I keep a flock of 20 - 25 hens and it seemed like a good idea to have a backup for my rooster, and I thought I had plenty of hens for two. We have ten acres and they mostly free range on three of them. The cockerel began trying to put together a harem of his own and the rooster tried to prevent it. There was some sparring going on but mostly the cockerel would run away. He was sneaky about trying to lure hens away. Then one morning I came out to find the cockerel dead and that was the end of that.

 

[Perris]

My real question in all of this is; if I don't have a rooster am I depriving my flock of their most natural state and therefore making their lives more difficult?

I think you already know the answer to that one. An all female flock is a dead-end from a natural perspective.

 

[Perris]

Just to illustrate the point, here's a photo I happened to take today. 1 mature roo (not the dom) preening between 5 cockerels (4 this side of him, 1 beyond), 3 hens/pullets among/nearby, all calm. There are quite few more birds of both sexes behind the foliage.

 

[ClickityChick123]

My real question in all of this is; if I don't have a rooster am I depriving my flock of their most natural state and therefore making their lives more difficult?

The whole time we've had chickens, we've never had a rooster and the girls have done fine. If you don't have a rooster than one hen will typically step up as boss, but other than that they are still very happy and healthy.

I also don't have as much space as you have and don't have to worry about predators as much, so it could be different.