Life with Roosters?

[wendychicklawyr]

So bee kissed what do u think is why? I'm excited to get Roos

 

[Beekissed]

I'm not sure what you are asking? Why what?

 

[flo12345]

I would start with one since it is your first rooster. I love my roo to death! He is the sweetest roo I've ever had! But, since you're getting 45 chicks if you want to 2 would be fine as well! With that many hens it's possible one roo might get over whelmed, but probably not. 1 or 2 roos would be best I think. Because with that many chicks there is the possibility of one being a roo. Hope you have an awesome time with your 45 baby chickies!

 

[wendychicklawyr]

Sorry bee I misread your post ur saying don't baby them they are there to do a job. Some people say they love their roosters so maybe some depends on the breed?

 

[Beekissed]

Sorry bee I misread your post ur saying don't baby them they are there to do a job. Some people say they love their roosters so maybe some depends on the breed?

Exceptions to the rule, level of nurturing, and maybe a little to do with breed. As a whole you'll find more roosters out there attacking the hands that feed them than those that do not...stick around on this forum for awhile and you'll soon see that.

 

[wendychicklawyr]

Yes I have seen that ..an attacking roo will probably go to freezer camp. I've had it with aggressive animals it's taken me 10 years to get a poodle I rescued from abuse to stop nipping at me. Pinning him down gently by the neck does the trick ..I don't think that will work with a roo

 

[Beekissed]

Probably not but you can start out with being the flock leader from the start and it's likely you will never get attacked. Just being assertive in the way a person moves in their flock and how they act towards the chickens would save many, many roosters from the stew pot in this world. Folks just don't want to have to take responsibility for the fact that most problems of that nature could be avoided if the human was just calm and assertive(to borrow a Milan phrase) when dealing with their roosters. Particularly when one has a chance to raise a rooster from a chick....if that bird attacks people then the problem could very well lie with who raised the bird.

 

[chicksurreal]

This is Hephaestus, our SS Hamburg cockerel. He's a little over 5 months old and has 13 pullets in his harem. He is already showing signs of being a good roo. He finds food for the pullets and calls them to it, he is always watching out for them and letting them know when he thinks there might be danger around. He did have a week or two where he was pretty aggressive with them while trying to mate with them, but he's already got it figured out and they are getting to the age where they are accepting of it too, so things have settled down (thank goodness!)

He will take treats from me sometimes, but he almost always gives them to the pullets. We really only handle him to check for problems, he's not one that likes being held or coddled. My son came for a visit recently (he's never been around them at all) and I could tell that Heph was thinking about challenging him, but he didn't do it.

I'm glad we have him, he's a great addition to our small flock.

 

[wendychicklawyr]

Wow he's soooo beautiful!!! So basically don't force affection and get their respect. I love to hear my hens squawking so I think I'll love the Roos too. Do you have all hamburg hens? Does he mate all of the hens?

 

[chicksurreal]

Wow he's soooo beautiful!!! So basically don't force affection and get their respect. I love to hear my hens squawking so I think I'll love the Roos too. Do you have all hamburg hens? Does he mate all of the hens?

Thanks! Yes, right now we have all Hamburgs. We want to get more chicks in the spring in a variety of breeds, I can't wait!

He has a few who seem to be his favorites, one in particular that he loves to chase around. I don't think he has mated all of them, but they've only been active in this way for a short time, so we'll see what happens in the future. From what I understand 13 hens is not too much for one roo to handle.

They make the most amazing sounds, I don't know if it's just this breed or if all chickens have such a range of sounds, but they are so communicative, it's really amazing. You can tell their mood by just listening to them.