New Flock Owner in Colorado

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Chickeree

Chickeree

Hatching
Jun 20, 2015
4
0
7
Colorado
I was given a small flock of chickens and a chicken house, thus began my chicken raising journey. At first all went well except having to go out early on cold Colorado mornings to let the chickens out, but I thought, "that's good for me. I get outside more and notice the morning more." Then a friend convinced me that the chickens would be happier and lay more eggs if I got a rooster. I don't know why I did that because they were already laying more eggs than I could eat, but I got on craigslist and found a free rooster. I happily drove out and got the rooster. He was gorgeous - a big golden rooster. The biggest rooster I had ever seen. He was three times the size of my hens. They seemed to like him, but I was afraid of him. He attack me every time I came into the chicken yard. Finally I was fed up and gave him along with two of his wives to someone who responded to my ad in craigslist.

The remaining hens were devastated. They wandered around the hen yard acting lost and forlorn, and they stopped laying. I let that go for about a week and began to feel guilty. I got back on Craigslist and got another free rooster. He was beautiful also. At first this one seemed okay, but he quickly got comfortable and began attacking me. After he left me bleeding, I decided to give up on chickens, but a woman who knows more about chickens convinced me to keep trying so here I am waiting to get rid of the rooster and learn to raise my hens.
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! Sorry to hear you have had trouble with aggressive roosters :hugs They are really not worth keeping if they are that bad to the point of attacking you. You don't need a roo to make hens lay more eggs this really is a myth, they lay just as many without one. Often happier too from not being bred all the time. I think your doing the right thing by getting rid of the one you have now. Yes your hens may be upset for a while as the flock dynamics change but they will settle in time. Here is an article on dealing with Roos ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/dealing-with-roosters-roo-behavior

Wishing you the very best of luck in the future I hope you do continue to keep chickens it really is a great hobby.

Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.

Enjoy BYC :frow
 
Welcome to BYC!

@Yorkshire coop is right...you don't need a rooster to get more eggs and when they are aggressive it's not safe to keep them around. There are nice roos out there but unless you want fertile eggs, you don't have to have one.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And if you haven't already, check out the articles in the Learning Center...lots of good info there.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Hope you will enjoy keeping chickens. Nice to have you join us!
 
You have to realize a lot of people are trying to unload their roosters, some because of HOA restrictions but, a lot more because of aggressive nature etc. Craig's list can be one of the largest for recycling unwanted roos and they tend to go for someone's dinner. You have to be very careful taking in roosters - although you can also be tricked into getting hens that are to old to lay anymore.

If you want to find some decent stock try the Backyard chickens Buy,sell,trade forum. Many birds offered are purebred show or breeding stock. and the roosters will be reasonably priced but GOOD ones. You have to have 20 posts in order to participate. Often there are photos of the birds and you can communicate with the seller and ask about temperament, age, etc. before committing to purchase. Wish you luck
 
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