New to Chickens - Just Rescued a Game Rooster (and have questions)

[harmonyp]

Hi all. I've never had chickens before, but makes sense since I live on acreage. People down the road from me participate in bad activities, and an escaped rooster was wondering around my gate for a few days before I decided he picked my house as his next home, and grabbed him up and put him in a safe enclosure.

So - looks like I'm now the proud owner of an incredibly sweet boy. I need to post pictures to see what he is. His comb and waddles were removed, he only has about 2/3rds of his upper beak, and two of his toe nails are missing (I need to learn the correct vernacular).

I'd like to get him a few hens for company - thus the question. Is it reasonable to take a game rooster and breed him with laying hens to get edible eggs? I have read about slow acclimation of a rooster to hens - hopefully that would go well.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, harmonyp, and

! Great to have you here! Nice rescue on that rooster!!! Some folks just shouldn't have critters - your neighbors!! As to your question....a rooster isn't necessary for eggs - makes no difference in making the hens lay. However, f you want to have fertile eggs in order to hatch some chicks, then you'll need a rooster. But hens will lay with or without him. And fertile eggs taste the same as non. Good luck to you!!!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Poor boy, I feel so sad for him. I'm glad he escaped and ended up by you! I unfortunately do not know much about game birds, but I found a thread on them that may get you in touch with other owners:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/106767/show-off-your-games

Also for a quick course in chicken keeping have a look here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

And some more questions and answers here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/204/backyardchickens-forum-faq#post_1198 (second post)

Best of luck and keep us posted!

 

[TOP KNOT]

Hi all. I've never had chickens before, but makes sense since I live on acreage. People down the road from me participate in bad activities, and an escaped rooster was wondering around my gate for a few days before I decided he picked my house as his next home, and grabbed him up and put him in a safe enclosure.

So - looks like I'm now the proud owner of an incredibly sweet boy. I need to post pictures to see what he is. His comb and waddles were removed, he only has about 2/3rds of his upper beak, and two of his toe nails are missing (I need to learn the correct vernacular).

I'd like to get him a few hens for company - thus the question. Is it reasonable to take a game rooster and breed him with laying hens to get edible eggs? I have read about slow acclimation of a rooster to hens - hopefully that would go well.

Thanks for any advice.

I would say yes you could do that if thats the type of chicken you would like to produce. You could cross him with some heavier breeds to get a larger (size) egg producing chicken. That is all personal preference. I an assuming you meant to breed to get egg layers. All chickens will lay eggs, some lay more or less than others. You can research breeds to see what suits you.There are so many to choose from! To get everyone used to each other keep him or them in a pen or have a fence divider where they can see each other but can't fight. Then over time they will be ok to turn out together. (as long as they are hens) Good luck with your adventure!!

 

[harmonyp]

Thank you so much for your prompt replies. I see I've come to the right forum for questions!

So, now that I know hens don't need a rooster to lay eggs (seems amazing for someone who doesn't know anything about chickens)

If I leave him alone, will he be lonely? Right now I have him in a 12x12' stall in a horse barn full of horses, so there's activity in the barn. He has a window to the outside (which I now need to cover with chicken wire) for light. And I can put in fun chicken'y things - like a roost, and steps, and bales of hay, and whatever. If I go in and visit with him a few times a day and he hears horses all day, does he need additional hen company to be a content guy?

I'm attached to him already. He has an extremely docile temperament towards humans. From looking at the breed list, he's clearly an American Game rooster. He's shy about me picking him up, but is completely non-aggressive and when I do pick him up and start petting him, he falls asleep in my arms.

We're naming him "Paulie", as in the boxer Paulie Malignaggi who we love, and think looks a little like a chicken (in a very nice way) himself.

Thanks again!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!

 

[sumi]

Your roo would love some hens for company. Chickens are social creatures and do better with company of their own kind. Go get him a girl friend

 

[Chicken Girls]

Welcome to BYC! The rooster was lucky to have found you! I hate people who are cruel to animals of any kind. I am always rescuing one animal or another. I remember when my son was about 12 years old he brought me a small featherless chick and asked me what it was ? Of course, I asked him where he got the baby bird. My son said he rescued the baby bird from our cat. Well, this was the ugliest baby bird I had ever seen! I took the bird to a couple of Vets. and they did not know what it was or what to do with it. I finally went to the local Pet and Feed store and they told me it was a baby pigeon! Well I asked what I should do with this ugly baby bird? The clerk handed me a syringe and some baby bird food and he told me to keep the baby warm and feed him every 2 hours by syringe. I feed the baby and he grew up into a very handsome pigeon. I tried to free him after he was able to fly but pigeon flew back to the house and his behind the bathroom door shaking. He did not want anything to do with the "great big out doors...". Needless to say, 15 years later pigeon dies of old age. He would not leave me and someone told me that since he was a male pigeon, he may have thought of me as his mate. You have done a very good thing in rescuing that little tattered rooster. You may have a very close friend for the rest of his life.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC!

The rooster was lucky to have found you! I hate people who are cruel to animals of any kind. I am always rescuing one animal or another. I remember when my son was about 12 years old he brought me a small featherless chick and asked me what it was ? Of course, I asked him where he got the baby bird. My son said he rescued the baby bird from our cat. Well, this was the ugliest baby bird I had ever seen! I took the bird to a couple of Vets. and they did not know what it was or what to do with it. I finally went to the local Pet and Feed store and they told me it was a baby pigeon! Well I asked what I should do with this ugly baby bird? The clerk handed me a syringe and some baby bird food and he told me to keep the baby warm and feed him every 2 hours by syringe. I feed the baby and he grew up into a very handsome pigeon. I tried to free him after he was able to fly but pigeon flew back to the house and his behind the bathroom door shaking. He did not want anything to do with the "great big out doors...". Needless to say, 15 years later pigeon dies of old age. He would not leave me and someone told me that since he was a male pigeon, he may have thought of me as his mate. You have done a very good thing in rescuing that little tattered rooster. You may have a very close friend for the rest of his life.

What a sweet story!

 

[nikki1]

Thank you so much for your prompt replies. I see I've come to the right forum for questions!

So, now that I know hens don't need a rooster to lay eggs (seems amazing for someone who doesn't know anything about chickens)

If I leave him alone, will he be lonely? Right now I have him in a 12x12' stall in a horse barn full of horses, so there's activity in the barn. He has a window to the outside (which I now need to cover with chicken wire) for light. And I can put in fun chicken'y things - like a roost, and steps, and bales of hay, and whatever. If I go in and visit with him a few times a day and he hears horses all day, does he need additional hen company to be a content guy?

I'm attached to him already. He has an extremely docile temperament towards humans. From looking at the breed list, he's clearly an American Game rooster. He's shy about me picking him up, but is completely non-aggressive and when I do pick him up and start petting him, he falls asleep in my arms.

We're naming him "Paulie", as in the boxer Paulie Malignaggi who we love, and think looks a little like a chicken (in a very nice way) himself.

Thanks again!

Yeah, the whole eggs without roosters thing...You can think about it this way. The hens are just ovulating when they produce their eggs. Lots of other animals ( dogs, horses, people) ovulate when there's no male around. Chickens are the same way.

That having been said, chickens are social flock creatures that like to have company. If you got some nice laying hens or chicks that would grow into nice laying hens, your boy would be very happy. What male in the world would NOT be happy with a harem all to himself?

Congratulations on adopting your way into the chicken-loving world. We've had our girls for a year now, and we've loved every minute.
--Nikki