How To Raise A Rooster

[KelsiNS]

My easter egger, Hershey, seems to enjoy hearing himself. He may be quiet for hours-then its crow after crow after crow. The good news is, he and Boot seem to crow when im getting an egg. Luka has yet to find his voice. Im beginning to notice how they are working out dominance. Alice is 100% Hershey's main squeeze. Rosie too. He has exclusive breeding rights and they eat my other boys alive for trying. Boot has exclusive rights to Fancy, Agitha, and Navi. Luka has Sally, Betty, and Eir. If Boot tries to mate with Eir-Luka spurs the boogers out of him, but nobody notices when he does the same with Navi.its like the boys picked their own team of ladies. Its pretty neat.

 

[newbie32]

Thats been the challenging part. Ive been searching for bantom cochin hens. But most breeders wont sell a few. They only sell either a lot or as couples (roo and hen)

Ask around and find someone to go half on the bill for more. You will probably want at least 3 or 4 hens per rooster-although the best ratio would be 8:1 or 10:1. Most hatcheries sell in groups of 25 or 50. So ask someone to take half the order and you keep the other half. If you decide you have too many then you can sell them in pairs too!!!!!

 

[newbie32]

My easter egger, Hershey, seems to enjoy hearing himself. He may be quiet for hours-then its crow after crow after crow. The good news is, he and Boot seem to crow when im getting an egg. Luka has yet to find his voice. Im beginning to notice how they are working out dominance. Alice is 100% Hershey's main squeeze. Rosie too. He has exclusive breeding rights and they eat my other boys alive for trying. Boot has exclusive rights to Fancy, Agitha, and Navi. Luka has Sally, Betty, and Eir. If Boot tries to mate with Eir-Luka spurs the boogers out of him, but nobody notices when he does the same with Navi.its like the boys picked their own team of ladies. Its pretty neat.

Cool! I want a rooster to crow when I am getting an egg!!! Sounds like you got yourself some awesome roos that all stay happy with their mates. Although I think it is probably the hens that choose them hehe!!!!

I don't have jealous roos yet. I have an alpha hen that acts like its the end of the world when I pick up another hen. She pecks the offender and then jumps on me to claim her spot. Jealous chickens are funny!!!

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

All 3 of my roos do the egg song when the hens lay the egg. Silly thing, the hens won't see the egg song anymore. The roosters are also great for alerting the hens when a hawk or other predator is near. I love to sit and watch them do their rooster thing.

 

[KelsiNS]

Luka found his voice. Everyone is right-dont baby roos.

Because now he sounds like a girl. Mamas boy!

Hershey is a deep COCKADOODLEDOOOOOO.
Boot just says AAAAAAHHHHHOOOO
Luka says....Tweedledeedledeeeeee.

Yikes.

 

[TheChips]

i took some of the advice that was posted in here about how to raise your rooster. And though some of the tactics I did had the 2 agressive roosters back off a little, they were still tormenting the others.

Sadly I got rid of them, but they went to a good home. I cried all morning yesterday after the neighbor took them to her friends house. But I know it was for the best of the other 6 chickens I have.

I want my chicken coop to be a friendly welcoming area. And with those two in there, it was like a jerry springer show. So after crying all day, took a nap to rest my eyes and went outside to the coop, I realized how peaceful it was. How the other two were getting along with the 4 hens. It helped me realized I did a good thing. And at least I could say that I did try my best.

 

[newbie32]

I now that was probably hard but I bet the hens will be happier. Plus sometimes roos need lots of hens. 10 or 12 each!

 

[TheChips]

From what my neighbor told me, their new home has tons of hens. So Im picturing them doing their little shimmy shake happy as can be

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Sometimes, everyone involved, (you included), just needs a change of venue. Maybe they'll do fine at their new home.

 

[chickensooner]

Many people end up with at least one rooster in each batch. After so many weeks of raising these guys it can be hard to part with one. There are all kinds of stories of the perfect rooster. Unfortunately there are even more stories of floggings and temperamental roosters. We all strive for the perfect protector for our hens, the one that is docile to humans and easy going with the hens. What are your methods for raising a non aggressive rooster? How do you interact with them from day one? What breeds have been the most docile? When does the aggression begin? Do you treat the rooster differently after you learn that it is in fact a rooster? Share your stories! I want to do this right so I will never have to give up a rooster that I adore.