Nasty rooster is gone

[brown egg 25]

I culled my nasty rooster today. Im just wondering how it will change things with my hens. Can someone who has done this before tell me the positives and negatives of doing this.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Positives:
It will be quieter
It may be more peaceful
you won't get attacked any more

Indifferent:
The hens may seem a bit out of sorts for about 3 days

Negatives:
No more fertile eggs
No flock peacekeeper
No flock guardian
Hens will be more vulnerable to daytime predators

There are others but those are the highlights

 

[brown egg 25]

Will one of my hens take over as leader of flock? Will it just be 5 hens that do there own thing

 

[ChickenHermit]

Usually one of the girls will end up being "the boss"- whoever is at the top of the pecking order, most likely. Some particularly dominant hens even go so far as crowing and other roo behaviors in the absence of a roo, but that's not common. Usually one hen will be the leader, but might not be as dedicated/involved as a good roo would be.

 

[Pork Pie]

Girls have their own hierarchy, roo or not. I can't see anything but good coming of getting rid of a nasty roo. I no longer have a roo and my flock is much more seemingly content and I know I am for sure. As for protection from predators or at least acting as sentry, I'm not convinced- my flock uses squirrels as a sentry and they whoop the butt of any roo (where I live, at least).

And possibly most importantly, I don't get any earache from my wife about crowing!

Ct