Just how useful is a rooster anyway?

[Curnow]

Unrelated to post, but I just wanted to say that your happiness and kindness is contagious! Thank you for bringing a smile to my (and others) face!

I second that!

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 1674191 View attachment 1674192 View attachment 1674193 View attachment 1674194 View attachment 1674199 View attachment 1674202 View attachment 1674206 Here you go...pictures!

They are beautiful

 

[BY Bob]

Good Post, good Thread.

So, to add my 2c on this. The best answer i can give you, and ive seen this in other responses, is: IT DEPENDS.

It really does. You will absolutely get mixed responses anywhere you go and anywhere there is a novice or experienced chicken keeper. All animals, including roosters, and individual creatures with individual "skills" and personalities.
Some roosters are better at defending the flock than others
Some only defend by "alerting" the girls of potential threats, and that is OK for some chicken keepers
Some wont even to that, theyre just pretty to look at and are for fertilizing eggs ONLY. Which is great, too, if thats what you care about.

Some DO sacrifice themselves for their girls.
Some will (try) to fight off smaller predators, only
Some will run from predators
Some dont care what size you are, theyll fight you. And theyre good at it, and scary

This is what you, and everyone else will inevitably find, with different breeds, sized, temperaments of roosters.

I think most chicken keepers do tend to cull out the aggressive roosters. And they have every right to do what they find proper with their flock. Likely, they were getting attacked by that rooster and wanted nothing to do with it. But, then again, maybe that was the boy that Would have attacked large predators and sacrificed himself for his girls.......who knows

Anywho. Just my 2c. Take it for what it is

Cheers~

M

You said it perfectly. I agree.

 

[MROO]

The blue "birdie" in the bathtub is a Blue Heeler aka Australian Cattle Dog pup. Her name is Finnigan. She has only 3 feet. She came from a breeder of show and woking dogs, but one of her front paws was badly injured in a gate at about 14 weeks old and had to be amputated. We gave her a home rather than the breeder putting her down. It slowes her down some, but the drive and natural instinct is still quite intact. Oh, and she loves water and sitting in the kiddie pool! She is just over a year old now and quite the dog for sure!

"Rescued" is my favorite breed of dog! We have two rescues, both of whom/which were found wandering the streets. Our youngest - about 16 months old, now, was found wandering the backroads of Georgia at just about the same age your Finnigan was when she lost her foot. She's currently offering me her favorite toy as I type one-handed ... not spoiled at all, right? That's her in my avatar pic. We can't keep Skye out of the water, either!

 

[BY Bob]

The greatest rooster I've ever heard about is Nardole the Brave. You can read his story here. Don't stop reading until you read the hawk story. All roosters should be like him.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nardole-the-brave.1273623/

 

[Trish1974]

Putting youngsters in with a patient, older roo has definitely worked for me.

At what age do you put them in with the rooster?

 

[MROO]

At what age do you put them in with the rooster?

My current youngsters were pretty much raised in the flock, but they were in an extra large dog kennel. Their only contact with the older birds was through the wire, but they "shared" a feeder up against the wall. They were in that "look, don't tackle" situation until they were almost four months old. Adult Nankin roos are generally very good with youngsters they see as part of their flock, protecting and sharing "mama duties" as they grow. Luckily, The Captain saw them as "his" well before they had free access to the coop/run. He was also the only rooster with three hens, and there were six youngsters (now four, since we passed along a breeding pair,) including my youngest cockerel, so they mingled pretty easily. I'm lucky that my coop is big enough to accommodate a kennel comfortably. It's an oversized wooden playhouse, so there is lots of room inside to move around - for both people and chickens!

 

[Trux]

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

BINGO! Best statement I have seen in this thread!

https://ts5.anglosphere.travian.com/hero.php?t=1



https://ts5.anglosphere.travian.com/hero.php?newdid=12556&

 

[meetthebubus]

Lol sounds like my rooster roo who runs crying with his girls but my hen turned roo China is so full of testosterone she fought off 2 rottweilers while Roo ran with his girls so depends on the roo but as long as he is good to them he will support them in other ways, plus he will be more alert to give them warning from predators

Awwww! By the way I just saw this as a feature thread on the homepage and that picture is my Roo, the one I said runs away too but is good for his girls he is sleeping with them, the hen pictured is Goldie I will post it here so anyone can see it

 

[Mimi13]

View attachment 1674291 My Woodpile Pheonix.

He looks a lot like my Welsummer.