Pros and Cons of keeping a roo

[talkinboutchickens]

Hi, I'm sorry about what you are going through.
After losing my hen Agnes last year, BYC users had informed me that roosters will not protect his hens, but rather alert them that there is danger before anything happens. So, if there is a predator, he will alert his hens and then run. Although there are some roosters that go above and beyond.
Now, if you're planning to eat all your eggs and not hatch any, then there really is no other uses to have your rooster around to be brutally honest, besides alerting your girls of predators. To be honest, hens are never really alert themselves and tend to be pecking at the ground more and are generally unaware, so a predator could catch them at surprise at any moment without a rooster.

But, even though my roosters aren't that useful, they are still very fun to have around

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

It was total madness, and like I said they were super aggressive about it. Told me I needed to get rid of all of my chickens and get 2-3 bantams instead. I left the group after that. I want the best for my chickens, I think we all do, but expecting people to have a 96 square foot coop is insane.

I get it.

I started here six years ago and there was one old-timer who came across aggressively pedantic to all newcomers. It was hard for me not to get defensive.

So I just left the site. I recently returned and I don’t see this OG active anymore, so maybe they found better things to do than berate novices.

 

[NewcoopNewpoop]

Hi, I'm sorry about what you are going through.
After losing my hen Agnes last year, BYC users had informed me that roosters will not protect his hens, but rather alert them that there is danger before anything happens. So, if there is a predator, he will alert his hens and then run. Although there are some roosters that go above and beyond.
Now, if you're planning to eat all your eggs and not hatch any, then there really is no other uses to have your rooster around to be brutally honest, besides alerting your girls of predators. To be honest, hens are never really alert themselves and tend to be pecking at the ground more and are generally unaware, so a predator could catch them at surprise at any moment without a rooster.

But, even though my roosters aren't that useful, they are still very fun to have around

Hi, I'm sorry about what you are going through.
After losing my hen Agnes last year, BYC users had informed me that roosters will not protect his hens, but rather alert them that there is danger before anything happens. So, if there is a predator, he will alert his hens and then run. Although there are some roosters that go above and beyond.
Now, if you're planning to eat all your eggs and not hatch any, then there really is no other uses to have your rooster around to be brutally honest, besides alerting your girls of predators. To be honest, hens are never really alert themselves and tend to be pecking at the ground more and are generally unaware, so a predator could catch them at surprise at any moment without a rooster.

But, even though my roosters aren't that useful, they are still very fun to have around

I have to disagree in my limited experience. Roo-less flock here. My hens are very vigilant. They probably are less vigilant if there is a rooster around to act as a sentinel or perhaps its a personality. But thats what i am seeing here.

 

[Raubkatze]

I have to disagree in my limited experience. Roo-less flock here. My hens are very vigilant. They probably are less vigilant if there is a rooster around to act as a sentinel or perhaps its a personality. But thats what i am seeing here.

One of my hens has definitely taken on a defensive role in the flock. I'm afraid she will be the first to go if something ever happens. She runs right up to my dog looking all fierce and starts pecking at him. Thankfully my dog either removes himself from her presence or looks to me for help with her shenanigans.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Hi, I'm sorry about what you are going through.
After losing my hen Agnes last year, BYC users had informed me that roosters will not protect his hens, but rather alert them that there is danger before anything happens. So, if there is a predator, he will alert his hens and then run. Although there are some roosters that go above and beyond.
Now, if you're planning to eat all your eggs and not hatch any, then there really is no other uses to have your rooster around to be brutally honest, besides alerting your girls of predators. To be honest, hens are never really alert themselves and tend to be pecking at the ground more and are generally unaware, so a predator could catch them at surprise at any moment without a rooster.

But, even though my roosters aren't that useful, they are still very fun to have around

In my experience, the rooster is not only always on the alert, but when the group is hiding he's the first to flush. The way I understand it, his goal with running first is to draw the predator away from where the hens are hiding. It is, in most cases, much more effective than turning to fight a predator, because that is a fight that a prey animal usually loses.

I also find the "roosters are useless" rhetoric a bit flawed. Sure, a group of hens will be fine without a rooster, becoming more vigilant and forming close bonds with each other, but I bet they feel a lot more safe and socially secure with a rooster. I feel like, for those who have the capabilities for it, keeping chickens in their natural social structure should always be the goal

 

[azygous]

People often fail to understand that they can set the rules on how much interaction their rooster has with the hens. They may be housed separately to no ill effect.

But expecting a rooster to be a good protector of the flock is not realistic. The safety of the flock is your job. His job is to be an entertaining yard ornament.

 

[Mrs. K]

I really think that the protection a rooster offers, depends tremendously on where you are at and what kind of predators you have. AND the rooster that you have, not all roosters are a good one.

I have really never had a hen rise up to take on rooster duties, and my flocks are much more prone to daytime predation without a good rooster. I have had fantastic rooster and so-so roosters and soup pot roosters.

Mrs K