New Roo Missing One Spur

[Bard Shamrock]

I bought my first chickens over the weekend, including a beautiful 3-year-old Barred Rock rooster.

I noticed yesterday that he only has one spur. Do spurs get knocked off? Do they ever grow back?

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Pro'bly lost it in a fight or something. It will grow back. Consider your hens lucky! 3 years old is kinda getting up there in age for a chicken though. He might not be much good for breeding, if that's what you want in the spring.

 

[Lollipop]

I dissagree about the age of the rooster. I`m certain that a rooster in good health won`t slow down until he`s past 6 years old. And, depending on how he lost it, spurs usually grow back.....Pop

 

[Bard Shamrock]

Thanks for the replies. The seller claimed that chickens (or his chicken) would live 7 years or so.

He's real nice rooster. And he was looking slam full up horny with one of the hens he had never met (or that was my perception, and I bet I was right) on the first day.

Do Barred Rock roosters ever get tame enough to handle? Or just the hens? They're beautiful birds, in my humble opinion.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

The birds can live a long time, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are fertile a long time. For example, I have two three year old banty hens, and neither one has laid an egg for a LONG time. I have a roo the same age, who has his turn with the ladies plenty, and only twice the whole summer have I gotten a chick that is obviously his offspring (out of about 40 chicks).

I think any kind of roo can probably be tamed. Lots of treats and such would help I bet. I've never had a full-sized roo.