Newbee

[Rescue Rider]

I have 5 baby chicks. Lost one last night. Found it dead in the brooder. Everyone else seems fine. My question is do I need a Rooster. I keep getting 2 different stories. Yes and No. Right now just raising for eggs and weed control LOL for my garden. Never raised anything but my dogs. Stating on my coop tommorrow. Have some ideas in mine. I have 6 wooden crates that are 8 foot long and 3 feet wide. Have the tools but lacking the knowledge. The brooder will be finished today. Hope to meet you guys on lineand I might even get the wife interested.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I have 5 baby chicks. Lost one last night. Found it dead in the brooder. Everyone else seems fine. My question is do I need a Rooster. I keep getting 2 different stories. Yes and No. Right now just raising for eggs and weed control LOL for my garden. Never raised anything but my dogs. Stating on my coop tommorrow. Have some ideas in mine. I have 6 wooden crates that are 8 foot long and 3 feet wide. Have the tools but lacking the knowledge. The brooder will be finished today. Hope to meet you guys on lineand I might even get the wife interested.

OKay, for your rooster question. NO, you don't "NEED" a rooster. I'm not sure why anyone would tell you that you have to have a rooster? It would depend on if you are wanting fertilized eggs to hatch, then yeah, you need a rooster for that.

If you are just wanting fresh eggs and happy girls, they are probably better off without a rooster to harass them and chase them down and scratch them up and pluck out their feathers. (ie the creation of the hen saddle to protect their poor backs from rowdy roosters) If you are free ranging your birds out in the open on quite a bit of land, then I know people do like to have a rooster in their flock to send out the alarm for predators or hawks, etc and the roosters are usually the ones that just stand there while the hens scatter.. they're also usually the ones to get eaten because of that. There is a general rule of thumb of 10 hens per 1 rooster, since they can really run the girls ragged otherwise. Depends on the boy, though. Not all of them are going to do that. I have 2 cockerels right now that do nothing but chase the girls around all day. I think my girls would love to have a break from those two. I have another cockerel that is in a different pen and he's more laid back and easy going. He doesn't chase anyone around. He's the minority, though, for sure. If you are now down to 4 chicks--- I'd seriously skip the rooster unless you are wanting to hatch eggs.

Good luck on your coop! Be sure to check with the coop section often if you run into troubles. There are usually pictures to help you solve any problem. I used no plans on my own coop and built it by just googling my questions or using this board or the pictures to solve issues.

 

[fireguy56]

Hi, and welcome to BYC. As far as a rooster.....no, no, and no ya don't need a rooster for hen to lay eggs. If ya gonna want fertile eggs for hatching, then yes. The only positive about having rooster in with hens is protection and early warning from bad guys if your girls won't be totally enclosed. You are along way from worring about that. Good luck on building your coop and definitely use the resourses here to help if needed. I did as a newbie and it helped immensley. Now have two coops and over 50 birds.....and yes, a few roosters. check out my page if interested. I did my homework and built two coops that some say are " over the top".
Erik