New @ all related to hens and roosters in Vermont

[klillie]

We have 2 female silkies, 4 male silkies,6 female leghorns, 4 partridge rock hens, 1 male partridge rock rooster, 6 Rhode Island red hens and 1 New Jersey Giant rooster. All are in temp coop except for Rocky who is in a large dog kennel still healing.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad to have you in our flock. Sorry about the problems you are having in your flock. TwoCrows and Kelsie2290 have given you some very good advice. Too many roosters leads to aggression, fighting, battered and over-bred hens, and injuries (even serious and fatal ones). Unless you intend to get fertilized eggs for hatching, you don't need any roosters. Your hens will lay (likely even better) without them. I have 25 hens (no roosters) and have no non-egg laying mouths to feed, no fights, no jumping at visitors to the coops and runs, no crowing in the middle of the night, and no battered hens, and I get loads of eggs. Just a thought to consider. Whatever you end up deciding, good luck with your flock.

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to the flock. Unless you plan to have fertile eggs for hatching - you really don't need any roosters. Things generally quiet down when they are no roosters bothering the hens.

 

[Southern Dad]

Welcome to BYC! Glad to have you in our flock. Sorry about the problems you are having in your flock. TwoCrows and Kelsie2290 have given you some very good advice. Too many roosters leads to aggression, fighting, battered and over-bred hens, and injuries (even serious and fatal ones). Unless you intend to get fertilized eggs for hatching, you don't need any roosters. Your hens will lay (likely even better) without them. I have 25 hens (no roosters) and have no non-egg laying mouths to feed, no fights, no jumping at visitors to the coops and runs, no crowing in the middle of the night, and no battered hens, and I get loads of eggs. Just a thought to consider. Whatever you end up deciding, good luck with your flock.

Michael, I've been reading on here that the rooster is the protector of the flock and he's the one that keeps the chickens in line, getting them all into the house each night, etc. I agree that the klillie has a mix of rooster to chicken that won't work out well, not unlike myself but would eliminating all the roosters be a bad thing, overall?

Welcome to the flock. Unless you plan to have fertile eggs for hatching - you really don't need any roosters. Things generally quiet down when they are no roosters bothering the hens.

Diva, after yours and Michael's posts, you've got this newbie really thinking. I'll be the thread starter is wondering a bit, too.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Sorry to hear about the troubles! As the above posters said, too many roosters can cause a lot of problems. It's better to keep them separated and not keep too few hens with each rooster as they may overbreed and injure the hens. Roosters are a bit of hassle, aren't they? Good luck!

 

[Michael OShay]

Michael, I've been reading on here that the rooster is the protector of the flock and he's the one that keeps the chickens in line, getting them all into the house each night, etc. I agree that the klillie has a mix of rooster to chicken that won't work out well, not unlike myself but would eliminating all the roosters be a bad thing, overall?


Diva, after yours and Michael's posts, you've got this newbie really thinking. I'll be the thread starter is wondering a bit, too.

There are going to be BYC members who disagree with drumstick diva and myself, but in my experience and opinion, the only reason to keep roosters is if you're going to hatch fertilized eggs. I have not found roosters to be effective protectors of the flock. They might be with some of the more aggressive breeds, but not with the docile layers that I raise. The predators that take chickens from the flock do so whether there are roosters or not (sometimes it's the rooster that gets taken). I also haven't observed that hens go back into the coop each night any better with roosters than without roosters, and while there may be an occasional benefit (like egg fertilization) to having a rooster, I'm of the opinion that the negatives of having roosters usually far outweigh the positives.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

There are going to be BYC members who disagree with drumstick diva and myself, but in my experience and opinion, the only reason to keep roosters is if you're going to hatch fertilized eggs. I have not found roosters to be effective protectors of the flock. They might be with some of the more aggressive breeds, but not with the docile layers that I raise. The predators that take chickens from the flock do so whether there are roosters or not (sometimes it's the rooster that gets taken). I also haven't observed that hens go back into the coop each night any better with roosters than without roosters, and while there may be an occasional benefit (like egg fertilization) to having a rooster, I'm of the opinion that the negatives of having roosters usually far outweigh the positives.

Well, it certainly won't be me.

 

[klillie]

Help again! Yesterday afternoon/evening, we had a violent storm with sky to ground lighting with intense rain and hail. Does this scare chickens to the point of them pecking at each other? We came home to 4 bloody chickens and 1 badly pecked at rooster.

 

[Southern Dad]

Help again! Yesterday afternoon/evening, we had a violent storm with sky to ground lighting with intense rain and hail. Does this scare chickens to the point of them pecking at each other? We came home to 4 bloody chickens and 1 badly pecked at rooster.

That sounds like a scary situation. My chickens are not afraid of storms. I've got a camera inside the coop and I've watched them sit there peacefully even when there is thunder. Maybe the hail, what kind of roof on the coop? I'll bet that would sound really rough on a metal roof.

 

[klillie]

Their temporary coop has a wooden roof. We'll never know what occured - their permanent coop is almost complete and will have 3x the space. We don't know whether to shingle or put an aluminum roof on their 8ft x 12ft coop.