My hen is a rooster

[easunshine]

One of my "guaranteed female" pullets came out of the coop this morning and started crowing at the back door. We've had our suspicions for weeks due to her aggressive behavior, thick legs, and abundance of red on her head, so I can't say this came as a huge surprise.

The issue is that we've been sure from the beginning of this journey that we didn't want a rooster. Mostly because we don't want baby chickens, and I don't want a large flock. I've been reading that the baby chickens part can be avoided. But I really don't want to have to get more hens. I have 3 other hens, and I'm fairly certain they really are hens. In browsing through here I've read that it's actually not necessary to have a 10:1 ratio, something I'd previously been told.

If I don't want to get more hens, though I'd consider getting maybe 1 more, can I keep this rooster? If it wasn't my 8 year old's bird, I'd not even consider the extra headache, but it is and she is pretty torn up about having to get rid of Captain Lizzie.

 

[auburn]

Personally, I think that it sounds fine to keep the rooster with so few hens, but it all depends really. Do you plan on letting your flock free range? If so then a rooster would be a great protector.

I have a friend with one rooster and only two hens. The thing though, is that her rooster is an excessively sweet and friendly boy. I think that you should just keep an eye on your rooster to see what kind of roo he becomes. Some really aggressive roosters can't be kept with such a small flock because they'll be too much for the girls to handle. If he becomes too hard on your girls, it's probably time to get rid of him, but it'd be really nice if you'd be able to keep him.

Just make sure to have a lot of interaction with him. In my experience roosters start to mellow out a bit after "puberty," but some need to be constantly reminded of who's in charge. Hand feed him and hold him often. Good luck!

 

[donrae]

A rooster is not a pet for an 8 year old. I say get rid of him. Yes, she will be sad for a while, but she'll really get over it. If you keep him and she tries to make a pet of him and gets spurred, she may not get over that. Roosters can do a lot of damage, physically and psychologically.

Even with 4 hens, you're going to have bare backs. Plus, chicken lovin' can be pretty violent, especially when they're learning the ropes. Maybe not what you want in your back yard?

 

[brezlynsmom]

I have 10 pens of different chickens. Some ratios are 2 hen 1 roo. I don't have any problems with my roosters. It's just like anything you can get good ones and bad ones.

 

[cafarmgirl]

A rooster is not a pet for an 8 year old. I say get rid of him. Yes, she will be sad for a while, but she'll really get over it. If you keep him and she tries to make a pet of him and gets spurred, she may not get over that. Roosters can do a lot of damage, physically and psychologically.

Even with 4 hens, you're going to have bare backs. Plus, chicken lovin' can be pretty violent, especially when they're learning the ropes. Maybe not what you want in your back yard?

I agree. Technically yes, you can keep him, though the hens will get a lot of attention, especially while he's young. To me the bigger issue is your daughter. Roosters and small children are a poor mix. You might be lucky and have a very sweet rooster but a high percentage of roosters act like, well, roosters! They are naturally protective of their hens and small children often seem to set them off even more then adults. And a lot of roosters just turn plain nasty and mean when the hormones hit. With firm, everyday work, some of them learn to be respectful but that also is not a job for a small child to attempt. If you decide to keep him it will require a lot of close supervision when your daughter is with the chickens. Even then, a rooster who was fine one day can suddenly attack the next day for reasons not apparent to most people. It hurts like the dickens to get spurred by a rooster and children are at a big disadvantage being closer to the ground. A face full of rooster is a very bad situation.

As a side note... if you did decide to get more hens, don't get just one, get at least two. Integrating a single new bird can be a huge headache for you and very hard on the new bird. I have done it in the past, I will not do it again.

 

[easunshine]

Just to clarify, it's her bird as in she picked it out and handled it and cared for it as a chick. Since it's gotten bigger and moved outside, I do all the caring, but she is still attached, naturally, even if not hands-on involved in the care.

Also, when I say aggressive I just mean it is less skittish and more "in your face" than the other birds. It hasn't tried to get anyone or anything. Not saying that means it won't, just that that isn't what I mean by aggressive. He likes to eat out of my hand and sits with me often.

Sounds like it's worth keeping an eye on him and see how it goes.

 

[donrae]

If you intend to keep him, you need to curb the "in your face" behavior now. He needs to respect you and only enter your space when you invite him, and readily move away from you when you move toward him. Again, roosters are not pets and should not be treated as such, or expected to act as such. If he's approaching you without respect now, it means he will be very confident approaching you on his terms when he's older, and that leads to a dominance challenge.

 

[cafarmgirl]

You will also need to have your daughter work with him on a daily basis and be part of the process as he matures. You will need to teach her how to watch him and how to curb the start of any aggressive behavior. It's tough to do if you are not familiar and have not owned a rooster before. They tend to only respect the people who show them dominance. So if you work with him and she doesn't, she will be the one he goes after. It's a tall order for a child, it's hard for them to read a rooster's body language and not get distracted as she is doing things around the coop, but it will need to be done if she is to be at all safe around him. And believe me, a mature rooster is very good at watching human behavior and picking the right time to pull a sneak attack! How old is this bird now? The hormones usually raise their ugly head around 6 months or so and the ugly can last until around a year old or more.

Edited to add: Just so anyone else reading this is not confused by the above comments: I personally do not believe any small child can ever be truly "safe" around a mature rooster.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I agree wholeheartedly with everything donrae and cafarmgirl have said. The fact that your rooster is already showing signs of aggression worries me. An "in your face" rooster does not sound encouraging.

We have had many different roosters over the years, usually up to three at a time. We've only had to cull a couple for aggression. They were all "in your face" as cockerels. Our calm, non-aggressive roosters could be mistaken for hens, if you just judged by behavior towards humans.

I would get rid of this one.