Looking to add a rooster? Looking for advice...

[JulieBeth07]

Hey y'all! New flock owner here and looking for advice on roosters. We didn't think we wanted any.. but now we're rethinking

Flock info:
We pretty much have 3 flocks. Our older girls are 4 months and we just got our first egg the other day and they've been consistent since! There are 13 of them (we had 16 but lost 3) - we have 4 white leghorns, 4 barred rock, and 5 red sexlings. The younger flock is ironically also 13 - 4 silver laced wyandotte, 4 black australorp, and 5 ameraucanas. They're a little over 2 months. We also have 6 ducks - 2 pekin, 2 buffs, 2 gold star hybrid. One of the pekins is from the original flock and has started to lay, the other 5 are the same age as the younger chicken flock. So far we've got all hens.

Housing/range
The hens all stay in their coop that opens up to secured and predator proof run at night/early morning. The ducks also have a separate pen. Everyone free ranges together during the day.

We're looking to add a rooster. We spend quite a bit of time with them ... so I'm looking for a "mild mannered " rooster ( if that's possible) would it be ok to just introduce 1? So he can rule the roost to say? Will he just kind of take his place at the top of the pecking order? What breeds should I look into?

Thanks in advance for your help!! ❤

 

[NatJ]

would it be ok to just introduce 1? So he can rule the roost to say? Will he just kind of take his place at the top of the pecking order?

That will probably work just fine.

We spend quite a bit of time with them ... so I'm looking for a "mild mannered " rooster ( if that's possible) ... What breeds should I look into?

If you want to hatch chicks, think about what traits you want them to have, and then look at appropriate traits. If you just want to have the rooster as a flock member, it comes down to the individual more than the breed.

Sometimes people have roosters that are nice, but they just have too many, so they want to rehome some. If you watch the posts here (sale forum, state thread) you might find one, or you could look on craigslist or similar sites.

The other way I know of to get a good rooster is to buy several cockerel chicks, raise them, and eat all but one. (Only works if you're willing to eat birds you raised.) Having several gives you a better chance of having at least one good one. And having several also lets you learn more about normal cockerel behavior. For example, if you pick one up and he pecks you: do all roosters do that? Or if you pick up a hen and a cockerel attacks you: is that normal, unavoidable behavior? If you have four cockerels, and only one does those things, the answers are pretty obvious. Also, watching how they challenge each other makes it easier to recognize whether one is challenging you.