Just how useful is a rooster anyway?

[dashman1319]

Hi all,

I've posted a few times about my back and forth thinking regarding keeping a rooster that showed up in our first order of sexed chicks. We ended up with four hens and a RIR rooster. There were a lot of up and down moments, but in the end our observation seemed to be that our little flock was well enough balanced and we figured the rooster provided some extra protection for our free ranging birds.

Thing is, I've been of the mind lately that our rooster actually doesn't do much protecting. We got a dog about two months ago, and while she is always leashed, she loves to make hopeless runs at the curious hens who always show up around us when we go outside. I couldn't help but notice that the rooster seemed unperturbed and also would turn and scoot when the dog showed anything resembling aggression.

Then this morning, as I sat at the breakfast table shortly after letting the flock out of the coop, I heard an almighty commotion. I turned around just in time to see perhaps the most beautiful fox I've ever seen in the wild gleefully chasing my flock through the yard. Everything happened pretty quickly - the dog was thrown into its pen, I ran barefoot into the yard yelling, and chickens were flying everywhere - but a lasting impression was the rooster, far ahead of his flailing hens, hightailing it behind the house. Luckily, no damage was done besides a few ruffled feathers.

When things had calmed down and I went to reassure the hens that all was well again, I found the rooster, as always, mounting his girls. And I just thought, you useless, cowardly creature. You haven't earned that right.

So does this sound like an inordinately ineffective bird? Or is this just par for the course? We put up with the rooster's noise, the girls put up with his insatiable sex drive, and for what? (For what it's worth, to balance the flock more we are adding an additional 4-5 laying hens in June).

 

[Shadrach]

What is it exactly you expect from your rooster?
I think your getting behavior you might wish from from a boyfriend, or husband confused with another species.
Of course he runs from a fox. He's not stupid!
Did you notice if he gave a warning call to his hens?
Do you think he should fight the fox? Seems like a rather unequal match to me.
Roosters are not equipped to fight predators. they are equipped to fight each other.
Honestly, words fail me.

 

[CannedMonster]

I think the idea of a rooster sacrificing himself for the girls is largely a myth.
I know some have and will do that but I think it’s rare.
In reality his job is to breed more chickens and lead the girls to a safe place when there’s danger.
But these young cockerels we get from hatcheries and breeders are completely inexperienced juveniles who have no mature rooster to observe and learn what they’re supposed to be doing.
It’s not a natural environment where they would have birds of all ages and sexes within the flock.

Ultimately its my job as a keeper of a domestic animal to keep them as safe as I can.

 

[Mrs. K]

Actually not all roosters are the same. Just like anything else. And we all have opinions, here is mine.

I think you get better roosters when the rooster is raised in a multi-generational flock. And some of those will not be good ones. There is more to being a great rooster than fertilized eggs. Once you get one, you don't keep a poor rooster. Being raised in a flock of older birds a rooster is in a subordinate position for some time, unlike being raised with flock mates, where he rapidly gets bigger than the other pullets, becomes sexually interested way before the flock and often becomes a bully.

You want a rooster that will be the first to see you as you come to the flock. His head needs to be up, and looking most of the time while his girls peck around you. He needs to naturally keep his distance from you. And not be aggressive with people. However, roosters are really not great until they are at least a year old. From that point on, my daytime predation has dropped, but as stated, they can only do so much.

I keep a rooster, but I am picky. The clue to keeping a flock master is a sharp knife, keep looking until you get a good one.

I free-range/total lock down, depending on the predators. Your fox is going to be back, and where there is one, there will be more. The rooster actually did make a run for safety, and the hens followed his leadership. One cannot really lead from behind.

Mrs K

 

[Redhead Rae]

There are some roosters that are very good at protecting their hens. However, as far as fighting a predator, it is very rare. My best roosters are more watchful than hens, are good at sounding alarms when trouble comes, and herd the hens towards safety. I find that the roosters that alternate between watching for threats, eating, and tidbitting for their ladies do this best. My Black Cochin, in my avatar photo, once alerted me to an opossum in the coop about a year ago. I was walking from my parents' house next door after dark and I heard him making an alarm call. The coop predator proofing was compromised because of ice damage and the possum found his way in. He got one of my cockerels, but we dealt with the critter before it could do any more damage.

 

[aart]

Or is this just par for the course?

Pretty much.
Tho you'll read some stories where a cockbird sacrificed himself while his girls ran for cover, he's often just a speed bump appetizer on the way to the buffet.
Full disclosure, my birds are confined 24/7....opinion expressed based on copious reading here and on other chicken forums.
My cockbird is very useful for fertilizing eggs for fresh layers hatched every year.

 

[Shadrach]

No. Because my inner dialogue doesn’t cause any harm to my flock, which really would be the only reason to be sarcastic or dismissive of a new flockster just sharing thoughts and getting info.

My apologies if I've come over condescending, sarcastic, or dismissive.
I have read so many 'kill the rooster' posts here in their various guises that I'm prone to overreacting.
I should probably ignore them.
It's true your inner thought processes don't cause your flock any harm, but the decisions you draw from them might. Contempt, which is the best description I can think of for your feelings for the rooster at that moment is a very powerful emotion and does ime influence
the decisions one makes.
I'll let those with a less passionate view respond and hope you accept my apologies for any offense caused.

 

[MROO]

My apologies if I've come over condescending, sarcastic, or dismissive.
I have read so many 'kill the rooster' posts here in their various guises that I'm prone to overreacting.
I should probably ignore them.
It's true your inner thought processes don't cause your flock any harm, but the decisions you draw from them might. Contempt, which is the best description I can think of for your feelings for the rooster at that moment is a very powerful emotion and does ime influence
the decisions one makes.
I'll let those with a less passionate view respond and hope you accept my apologies for any offense caused.

Please don't stop responding, though! You have one of the best understandings of flock dynamics I've come across, here. You've definitely helped me understand my roos better and as a result, they are happier (and longer lived!)
Oh ... and I have to add a goofy thought that has had me chuckling over the "Kill The Rooster!" description. Anyone remember that old Bugs Bunny cartoon where Elmer Fudd is stalking Bugs singing "Kill the Wabbit!"? I now have this visual/music worm stuck in my head of Elmer, carrying an axe instead of his oversized shotgun, singing "Kill the Wooster, kill the Wooster, Kill the WOOSTER!" I won't be able to walk past my coop with a straight face for DAYS!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How useful is a rooster? In my opinion the only reason you NEED a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. They are kind of essential for that. As far as I'm concerned everything else is personal preference. Personal preference can be pretty strong, there are valid reasons some people like a rooster around but others are quite happy to not have one.

Each chicken, male and female, has its own personality. Each flock has its own dynamics, which can change if you remove or add an individual. You are going to get different results with different individuals, that's just the way it works with living animals.

Some roosters, not all, will help a hen take care of her chicks or might help take care of young brooder-raised chicks if you integrate them. From what I've seen most won't but it can happen. When my cockerels harass mature hens they run to the mature dominant rooster who stop that harassment, at least temporarily. If you don't have young chicks or immature cockerels in your flock this doesn't matter.

A good mature rooster will keep peace in his flock. As always some are better than others. A rooster might break up fights between hens or he may just watch. He may or may not protect a weak individual. If he thinks a weak individual is endangering his flock, either disease or a weak animal can attract predators, he may run the weak chicken away or even kill it.

Some roosters tend to keep a flock of hens together with him. Others allow the hens to wander around as they will. Keeping them all together may make it a little harder for some predators to pick one off. Some roosters make sure all their hens are on the roost before they go to bed but most of mine don't.

Many roosters call the hens when they find food and allow the hens to eat frost. I'm not convinced this actually helps the hens, they are usually capable of finding plenty of food on their own. It does make it easier for him to mate a hen.

If something suspicious is happening, a rooster will often go to investigate. It might be a predator, it might be a piece of plastic flapping in the wind. It could be me holding a camera. He puts himself between the hens and whatever it is and checks it out. I think this behavior generates a lot of the stories about a rooster sacrificing himself for his flock. Sacrifice is not his intention but if he checks it out he is at more risk.

Some roosters will attack other animals. I've seen a rooster keep crows away from food I've put out for the flock. I personally haven't seen it but I believe the stories where a rooster attacks a small hawk that has attacked one of his flock. A rooster may scare a cat or squirrel away from the flock or he may ignore them. Mine avoid big snakes.

If you do not have a dominant rooster in your flock the dominant hen may take over some of the flock master duties. Usually not all the duties and usually not as well as a mature dominant rooster would. As I said each flock has its own dynamics.

The behavior you saw with the fox is pretty typical. Once a threat has been identified my roosters tend to attempt to lead the flock to safety instead of forming a rear guard. I think you are more likely to get a broody hen to protect her chicks than you are to have a rooster try to protect his flock from most predators. Before I got my electric netting I had two dogs attacks. One time I lost 8 chickens, one time 5. Both times the dominant rooster survived unmarked.

Some people just like the eye candy, roosters tend to be prettier than the hens. Some people like the personality, roosters are usually bolder than the hens. This starts when they are young chicks. Some people like the sound of the crowing, some don't. We are as individual as our chickens.

How useful are roosters? Even if you don't want fertile eggs they are not totally useless. But if I did not want fertile eggs I would not bother to feed one.

 

[Shadrach]

A good rooster does a lot of things that help to protect their flock that often go unnoticed.
As others have correctly ime, mentioned; cockerels are pretty all round hopeless. That's youth in any species. If they don't die and grow up in a mixed age flock with a senior rooster, but often more important, a senior hen then the survivors will learn. It seems to me the poor cockerels aren't in with a chance with some people and are expected to know what to do and when to do it because they are males.
What about your hens? Maybe they feel safer having him around. Maybe the hens like how he stops the usual hen bickering, maybe while they're busy stuffing their faces while he stands guard they feel more secure. Maybe when they go to look for nest sites they like to have a cockerel, or rooster accompany them. Maybe they like the mating knowing that if that big predator on two feet doesn't steal their eggs they might be able to hatch some chicks.
Maybe people who want to keep chickens should learn a bit about what motivates a rooster and what he actually does for his hens.
Of course, if you just want to keep a few hens and not really keep chickens at all, then by all means don't have a rooster.