Possible rooster babysitter for month old chicks?

[CollegiateChicken]

I am a new chicken daddy, and as such I will probably have lots of questions! But for now, my only question is: Would a rooster make a good babysitter for my month old girls? My neighbor (who I caught the chicken bug from) has offered me one of her roosters, as she has too many for her flock of hens. He is a Silkie/Rhode Island Red mix. I have heard that Silkie roos make excellent babysitters, but would a mix behave the same way? I'm getting them ready for their move outdoors to their coop, and I'm trying to figure out if I should wait until they are older to introduce the roo to my girls. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[emys]

I would hope your neighbor would NOT give you an aggressive rooster for your girls. I am guessing he is a nice fellow.

Even so, I would not just put them all together. If you want to accept her rooster, he should live separately for a least a week or two, able see and hear and talk to the chicks, but not boss or bother them. Then introduce them on a day when you are there to supervise. By then they should be fine (until he starts bugging them to mate in another month or two).

 

[mmaddie's mom]

I had a wonderful mixed rooster that LOVED babies... if a hen w/babies was around, he was with them. He would even give mom a break and take the babies and find bugs and good tidbits for them... he was a great roo!

 

[CollegiateChicken]

I think the reason why she offered is because he didn't get along with one of her other roosters. I am going to ask her today whether he is good with chicks. Thank you for the advice.

 

[LaStrawberryMom]

Sadly, I sometimes get stuck in mommy mode, not chicken mode, and I (for the life of me) couldnt help but think "Why on God's green Earth would someone think they could leave a rooster to babysit their children (girls)"

Man..... this has been a long day at the office!

So glad I quickly came to my senses and realized the "girls" are birds not children!

I would check with the neighbor to see how he treats her girls before putting him in with yours. She is likely just wanting to get rid of him because too (edited two; should be too) many roosters with too few hens makes for some fierce fighting. Good luck and keep us posted.