Pros and cons of keeping roos

[Tala]

I love my roosters, they have so much personality compared to my hens (or maybe I Just have dull hens??) but anyway, I'd only keep one personally
DUE TO THE FACT that they will tear up your hens' feathers. Even with the best of manners - it's just a fact of life. I have 1 roo with 8 hens, which should be a good ratio but they're still half bald

When I had 2 roos, one would do the deed and the other roo would come up and yank feathers off the hen's head "just because" I guess. I won't be free ranging with multiple roosters ever again.

BTW, my number one roo is a RIR and he doesn't like dogs or strangers, but that's OK with me. He likes me a little too much, but I maintain his respect anyway. He got out an open gate yesterday morning and to get him back in I just went out and got him to follow me right back in.

Of course then I gave them a piece of bread reward, spoiled little kids!

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
i have about 10 roosters and they all free range and get along together. none are aggressive to us... we do take up alot of time with our chickens. i need to get rid of some but don't want them to go to homes where they are kept caged or to someone who might try to fight them. two of mine are rirs and none of them fight. when if first started raising chickens i had a rooster that acted aggressive. if he came up to me in an aggressive manner i would catch him even if i had to run him down and i'd put him under my arm and go about the yard with him, it only took a couple of times and he longer did this. i really think though that it is the amount of time you spend taking care of them is a major factor.

 

[AlaskGirl]

GREAT thread, I was wondering if I was missing out with 20+ hens but I think this is best for now. Thanks! I'm glad someone asked what I'd been thinking!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You will never know how a rooster will turn out until he fully mattures. The flock dynamics also plays a big part. A rooster can be well behaved when he is second in command but become a terror if you remove the top one and he becomes the dominant rooster. Or he may remain fine.

Part of a rooster's job is to protect his flock. It is not a matter of being good or bad but instinct and learning. If he perceives you, your kids, strangers, or anyone else as a threat to his flock he will attack. Some learn that people are not a threat but some don't. Another thing that can happen is that a rooster can get the impression that people are chickens. If they are chickens, he either needs to dominate them to protect his position as dominant rooster if he thinks they are roosters or he needs to dominate them and bring them into his flock if he thinks they are hens. Again, it is instinct.

I grew up on a farm with a free ranging flock, always with two or three roosters. We never handled our chickens and none of us, kids, adults or visitors, were ever attacked. We did our chores with the flock walking all around us. We also played in the area where the chickens were. I don't know what teaches a rooster what is a threat but ours obviously accepted us same as the cows and horses. Sometimes we would even chase the chickens, especially when we wanted a chicken dinner, and we were never attacked. I can't explain it.

As far as your plan for three roosters with 25 hens, it sounds pretty good to me. Two would be enough, but three gives you the chance to deal with a problem rooster if necessary. Since they were raised together, they will probably get along fine. Some occasional fighting but mostly just enough to reinforce who is on top. When you do decide which ones to keep, if you keep the current dominant one there should be less fighting to determine who is dominant. When you take out a less dominant rooster there will still be some jockeying for position, just usually not as much as taking out the dominant one.

 

[Unclebean]

Well I didn't expect this decision to be this difficult! You guys sure give a lot to think about. Thank you all for the good advice!

 

[jarcoo0153]

I would keep a RIR and a BA. I have a RIR Rooster and he is a BIG baby! I know that everybody else dissagrees with me, but at least give him a chance. From reading other posts, it sounds like any breed can have nice and mean roosters. So good luck!

 

[NYRIR]

I can see from all the info that it's definitely a "wait and see" thing. Boy....chickens teach patience! Wait to see who's a roo....wait to see what feathers will look like....wait to see behavior....

. My one question not answered yet though is...what age do they become mature? Mine as I said are about 3 months and don't even crow yet!

I can see Ridgerunner is educated on chickens....Thank you for all the info...I hope to be able to keep 3 because of the fact that they are (right now) all very well behaved and I feel responsible for them as we picked them from a bin.I would like to give them a chance to live but will cull if need be.I am not able to tell yet who's top roo but am watching.

Chickbird....We also spend a lot of time with our chickens. They are handled ALL the time.They are so spoiled they won't eat cracked corn!! They prefer birdseed thank you! And they will beg for it

Tala....if they start tearing up the hens...I would definitely deal with that situation. I think not only does that look painful...but who wants a bunch of naked birds running around!?

 

[buckabucka]

Quote:
Not to mention waiting so long for the eggs!

I don't know what age roosters mature. I have an EE rooster that started crowing at 5 weeks, and now at 8 weeks he is attempting mating. Our 3 dark Cornish (also 8 weeks) are just beginning to crow. We're going to send all of the roosters to freezer camp in the fall, but are playing the waiting game also, - to see if they will get along that long and to see if the 16 hens are not too harassed.
Why not try to hang onto yours if you want all of them. If things start to go wrong, you can remake your decision. Good luck!
Robin

 

[NYRIR]

Oh yes...I am going to try...My coop will comfortably house (according to 2 square foot per bird) 28 total. Right now I have 15 3 month olds in the coop. I also just today put 9 (that the kids and I hatched 4 weeks ago) into the coop in a brooder.Of which I believe at least 4 are roos

(They are red mixes) Then....in the brooder in the house, I have 10 2 week old ,hopefully all hens, ( 3 BR,3 BJG,2 NH, 1 Welsummer, and 1 GLW) I ordered those from MPC so I HOPE they were sexed correctly.So you see...I am already past my limit by 6. Sooooo.....I figure if 4 of the month olds are roos , I will get rid of them either cull or give away ( I would rather give away) and if I can find a home for one of my RIR roos (so far very well behaved) then I am only ONE above my comfort zone so not too bad. I know a lot of people say even more space is required but mine range all day on 3/4 of an acre and have a lot of room.They are only really in the coop at night of course.I can see chicken math is really easy to get out of hand!! I hate to cull any but definitely can't have all those roos..wouldn't be fair to my neighbors or my hens. I have a little while though since the younger ones are only 4 weeks.In fact...today was the first time one of my 3 month old Reds tried to crow! VERY FUNNY!

If that's all they could do....NP with the noise!

and yes...*sigh* ....waiting.......... and waiting.......... on eggs.....not for a while yet...

After everything we've done and spent to start this..DH says we'd have to have GOLDEN eggs to pay it back, and LOTS of them

 

[TrystInn]

We're in the process of trying to keep our first roo, a fairly quiet Blue Splash Cochin, who so far is only crowing once at 5:30am. Now I'm thinking one of the Black Silkies may be a cockerel - I wouldn't mind keeping another guy, but if I do will he crow, as well? Or does only the alpha rooster crow? Heck, I'm not even sure how loud a Silkie Rooster crows.