Older rooster or youngin? I have young kids...

[Lil Mucket]

Hola!

Okay so here's my dilemma. I need a rooster. I have 5 hens that are free-ranged. Not too long ago my dog picked a hen up and was carrying her around. She wasn't trying to hurt the hen, it was obvious, but the hen did get injured. This particular dog is pretty wussy and will back down from our little kittens, but since the chickens just cluck and run away from her, she is just insanely curious about them. I am positive that if we got a rooster that would stand its ground she'd back down immediately. We haven't been allowing her in the backyard unsupervised since the incident, but I can tell she's sort of learning to keep her distance & I just feel like having a rooster would be a great reinforcement to that.

And then the other day I caught the neighbor's cat in our yard hassling the hens. So, we made the decision to get a roo. But here's the dilemma - I need a rooster that will not be aggressive towards my kids (ages 2 and 4), but will stand up to the dog and anything else. I could get one off craigslist or a local roo. Full-grown and all that. But with the number of people trying to get rid of roosters around here, I don't know if I want to risk it because I definitely don't want an aggressive or territorial one.

I also could just raise one myself, too. My mom has a chick that hatched about a month ago that is a rooster, so I could just take him and raise him up.

What are the pros and cons? What would you guys do?

 

[chickenmom1]

I would raise him up. At least you know what your getting and at the first sign of aggression you can get rid of him. I had a little roo that tried to jump on my back when I bent down to feed the girls. He was only a few weeks old. Got rid of that little helion quick. Now I have a new flock and I have raised up a roo myself, but I am still looking for any signs of aggression. So far so good. He seems to be coming around, but he is still young, only about 5 months old.
j

 

[equinelyn]

Can you borrow someone's roo for a day or so, let it teach the dog and cat a lesson, then return it. The dog and cat shouldn't forget.

 

[wren]

I would ask for a rooster from someone who has kids, a nosy dog and a rooster that is accustomed to protecting free range hens. Go to their house and see the roo in his environment. No training needed and you will know what you are getting.

 

[bryan99705]

What you need is a big roo off craigslist, it takes too long to raise one and train your pets before you start loosing birds to them.

A good rooster is the first one to the fight, will die for his girls and tend to be very watchful and protective of his hens. There is a interesting article on line from Hubline about roosters, Google: Taming a Wild Rooster, that may help control the bird but having grown up a farm kid you learn real fast what to mess with

and what not too

! Besides every kid needs to learn to respect animals

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you need a fence. A roo that will stand up to a predator, will more than likely see a quick moving child as a predator too. And most roos will lose the fight with a big dog.

I am not a believer in having children and a rooster in the same yard. You are risking quite a bit based on a very small brain that the rooster has. If you read this board, it is filled with stories of a rooster that was nice, and started viciously attacking with no warning. They almost always attack children first.

Mrs.K