New to the site and chickens help and advice needed

EstTN

Hatching
8 Years
Jan 15, 2012
7
0
7
Well I've been struggling with the idea of having chickens just for the sole purpose of eggs for all of my family. Problem is I know nothing about them, I have pigs cows and horses but never had any chickens. So I have my coop & run started, pretty large set up so I will have room to expand in the future. I plan on going with leg horns I know they can be flighty so I will cover their run. Here comes the dunce part, rooster ? How many or at all. I plan on starting out with 6 to 8 hens. Ok now I will make myself really sound like an idiot... exactly what roll does a rooster play does he make the hens be able to lay or does his roll come after she lays? I don't want to raise chicks just want eggs to eat. With that being said do I even need a rooster if not will it hurt to have one in my flock because I would like to have one regardless so I can have some one outside crowing in the wee hours of morning. Any advice is appreciated guess I'm a dummy but none of my live stock lay eggs...
 
You only need a rooster to fertilize eggs. Hens will lay without him. He does play a role as protector to a point and if you like the morning crow thats the only way to get it. And its not dunce thats only for those that arent smart enough to ask.
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Fantastic thank you well I definately plan on a rooster maybe two if they won't fight a lot and I guess as long as I collect the eggs daily and keep them cold I won't need to worry about having some chicks running around right ?
 
Lol no if you collect up the eggs the hens surely cant hatch them. If you get you a couple roo chicks and raise them together you probably wont have alot of fighting with have 6-8 hens.
 
Thank you very much definately apreciate this site and peole like you. Bless you
 
If you have two roosters in a small flock, one becomes dominant and one is his first lieutenant, so to speak. With that said, at some point, you might consider adding a few hens so the non-dominant rooster can have his own mini-harem. I know you're only after eggs, not chicks, so you don't need to worry about fertility for hatching. That general rule is 1 rooster for each 10-12 hens, to ensure fertility. You CAN have a flock with two roosters handling less than 20 hens. They will work it out in the pecking order.

Not all roosters growing up together "make it" amicably. But many, many do. I have quite a few roosters in my flock, with far fewer than 10 hens per roo.

And has been already said, you don't need a rooster at all for hens to produce eggs. I just cannot imagine having a flock of my own without at least one rooster.
 
Thanks I will probably be expanding my flock once I get this adventure sort of figured out
 
I have 14 girls and 2 roos...one alpha and then my 2nd in command. Mine free range all day, a few girls break off and go with the alpha and the rest hang with the other roo. They keep the peace between the girls, call them when a treat is found, fertilize the eggs (I hope I have a hen go broody this summer and we have some babies....) they warn of danger and are the prettiest chickens strutting around!

Even with a rooster, if you have a hen go broody, (the only way to get chicks unless you use an incubator) you can still collect them daily and get no chicks if that is what you want...you just have to pry them out from under the broody hen!

Don't get too many roos to hens, that causes fights, and girls with sore backs....(basically skinned down and featherless from roosters riding them too much)

Good luck...have fun and enjoy those girls! They are hilarious....
 
I would not have roo in an inclosure with only 6 or 7 hens, maybe if they were free to run from him. It might be ok if the roo is yonger than the hens. I think a roo needs 10 to 12, but can have more. I have never had more than one at a time.
 

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