Is a rooster essential to your flock?

[Mrs. K]

A lot depends on your set up, are you a true back yard, or more farm like. How close is your neighbors? How close to your own home is the coop. I like having a rooster, decreases day time predation for me and my hens, does nothing for night time predation.

If you have a large space, roosters need more room then hens. If you free range on a regular basis (I only do it on an irregular schedule) if the coop is a good distance from your house, you have NO CHILDREN under the age of 6, and you have a sharp knife, then adding a rooster or even two for 22 hens can be a good idea.

Roosters often are not good with children, or small women, but an attacking rooster will get bolder and bolder, eventually attacking men too.

To me, if you are willing to try a rooster, you need a plan B set up and ready to go, if it doesn't work, hence the sharp knife. Sometimes it doesn't, don't feel guilty, take care of it. If you can't, don't get a rooster. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken hobby for a lot of people.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

I love having roosters in my flock, and also have zero tolerance for individuals who behave badly, either to humans, or their flockmates.
Roosters are beautiful, can produce chicks at home, can help warn the flock of danger, and complete the social order out there.
They also crow, and can annoy you or your neighbors, and might be illegal where you live. Don't get one and then try to keep him quiet! He is who he is, and that includes the crowing. I like it, personally, and my neighbors have said that they are fine with it, and it's legal here in farm country.
If you hatch eggs at home, or buy straight run chicks, you will have cockerels, and need to have a plan for them before they arrive. One for the flock, many for the freezer, or maybe sold to other folks, possibly for their freezers. Eliminating jerks, who upset the flock and are dangerous.
Please think it through before committing!
Mary

 

[cmom]

I feel the same way. All of my males are good but if I have a problem male, he goes. We are a farm so most of my birds are livestock. We have several acres so I have no problems but as others have said a backyard flock may be different. Since I hatch out a few hundred chicks every year, around half will be males and I can't keep them all. I do grow them out and keep the best as future breeders and sell the rest. It helps to offset the cost of the feed. In the past we have processed some but not so much anymore. When we first moved to where we live now, we were the only ones on the street but over the years people have divided their properties into parcels and now we have had people buying the land and building. If they don't like my birds crowing or singing their egg laying songs too bad. Many of the new neighbors buy my eggs so I guess they don't object too much. Some have told me they enjoy hearing the males crow. Good luck and have fun...