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.
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.
