Pros and Cons of Roosters

[BonnieBlue]

If there is a good thread, I hope someone will guide me, as I didn't find with a search.

I would like to hear from people the pros and cons of having a rooster. My dad had one with his girls, but they free ranged.

Mine don't/won't free range, primarily because of predators, not the least of which would be my weimaraner who has a strong prey drive. It would be a disaster for everyone. I have a nice sized covered run (16x60) and the chicken side of my coop is 88 sqft. I have two 2.5 year old hens, and six what I hope are all pullets who are 8 weeks old.

If one of this group, or a future group turns out to be a male, I want all the info I can get on pros and cons of having a rooster.

Have at it. Let me know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

[Sally PB]

Bad: Your cockerel might go through a hormonal idiot stage as he grows up. He might not outgrow it.
Ugly: He might terrorize the pullets by wanting to mate ALL THE TIME to the point that they will hide anywhere they can get away from his unwanted attentions.
Good: He may grow to be a total gentleman, taking care of his ladies. He may sire wonderful, healthy chicks. He might be the most beautiful chicken in your flock.
Toss-up: He might crow a lot. You might like this. Your neighbors might not.
Another toss-up: he will eat a lot of food and not give you any eggs (if that's the main reason why you have chickens).

The only reason you NEED a rooster is to have fertile eggs to hatch chicks.

 

[BonnieBlue]

Bad: Your cockerel might go through a hormonal idiot stage as he grows up. He might not outgrow it.
Ugly: He might terrorize the pullets by wanting to mate ALL THE TIME to the point that they will hide anywhere they can get away from his unwanted attentions.
Good: He may grow to be a total gentleman, taking care of his ladies. He may sire wonderful, healthy chicks. He might be the most beautiful chicken in your flock.
Toss-up: He might crow a lot. You might like this. Your neighbors might not.
Another toss-up: he will eat a lot of food and not give you any eggs (if that's the main reason why you have chickens).

The only reason you NEED a rooster is to have fertile eggs to hatch chicks.

The part of your reply is a big thing that makes me hesitate. That happened to a friend and she would have to search high and low for his "favorite girl".

I know I don't need one for protection for them since the don't free range. I'm not at the point that I would even think about hatching chicks. I keep looking for an upside, and in my situation, I don't see one. At least not yet. I just want to have all of the info I can, in case I am missing reasons that would make one beneficial.

 

[DobieLover]

Your cockerel might go through a hormonal idiot stage as he grows up.

Not might... WILL. He can be crated until he comes to his senses.

He might terrorize the pullets by wanting to mate ALL THE TIME

I know a lot of boy-men like this

Good: He may grow to be a total gentleman, taking care of his ladies. He may sire wonderful, healthy chicks. He might be the most beautiful chicken in your flock.

Uh... GREAT!!

Toss-up: He might crow a lot. You might like this. Your neighbors might not.

100% Good. If you are permitted to have roosters where you are, your neighbors have to deal with living in the country or move to the city. Me and all my neighbors missed hearing crowing after Fabio died and we are all now enjoying the 3 new boys crows.

The only reason you NEED a rooster is to have fertile eggs to hatch chicks.

EEK!! Eye candy. MAJOR eye candy!!!

In all seriousness (most of why I replied was deadly so), a males behavior is often learned but sometimes he is hatched with a bad attitude towards humans. I have literally had dozens of boys run through my flock and just one was 'human aggressive'. Fabio. The one I kept as my flock leader until his death at over 7 years old. I rehabilitated him so the last 5 years of his life he never tried to flog me.

It was the way I moved and behaved in the flock that triggered him along with the fact that the first batch was raised by me. His sons and all subsequent cockerels hatched into my flock, which were all raised by broody hens and went to the school of hard knocks taught by mean old hen instructors, were exemplary boys. Not a single one was human aggressive.

They've run the full spectrum of hormonal retardation from "I'm not even going to try" to "I'm going to run that girl into the ground until I catch her". Any bird leaning to the aggressive breeding end of the spectrum got isolated from the flock until he was rehomed. It's that simple.

If you want to introduce a male into your flock the absolute best way to do that is to hatch him in under a broody hen and let the flock raise him. Rehome his brothers that you decide don't meet your pre-defined standards and manage the chosen young guy only as needed and you should end up with a delightful addition to the flock that completely changes the flock dynamics. It is normal and natural to have a male in the flock and he does serve many purposes. I saw a dramatic, negative shift in my flock when they lost their rooster. Balance has been restored with the maturation of the new head cockerel.

 

[Three Stents]

My 2 reasons why I do not want a rooster are:
1. I'm only going to have 4, maybe 5 hens. A rooster will hurt them from mating
2. I don't want chicks

 

[Sally PB]

Listen to @DobieLover! She has WAAAAAY more knowledge and experience than I do!

 

[BonnieBlue]

Not might... WILL. He can be crated until he comes to his senses.

I know a lot of boy-men like this

Uh... GREAT!!

100% Good. If you are permitted to have roosters where you are, your neighbors have to deal with living in the country or move to the city. Me and all my neighbors missed hearing crowing after Fabio died and we are all now enjoying the 3 new boys crows.

EEK!! Eye candy. MAJOR eye candy!!!

In all seriousness (most of why I replied was deadly so), a males behavior is often learned but sometimes he is hatched with a bad attitude towards humans. I have literally had dozens of boys run through my flock and just one was 'human aggressive'. Fabio. The one I kept as my flock leader until his death at over 7 years old. I rehabilitated him so the last 5 years of his life he never tried to flog me.

It was the way I moved and behaved in the flock that triggered him along with the fact that the first batch was raised by me. His sons and all subsequent cockerels hatched into my flock, which were all raised by broody hens and went to the school of hard knocks taught by mean old hen instructors, were exemplary boys. Not a single one was human aggressive.

They've run the full spectrum of hormonal retardation from "I'm not even going to try" to "I'm going to run that girl into the ground until I catch her". Any bird leaning to the aggressive breeding end of the spectrum got isolated from the flock until he was rehomed. It's that simple.

If you want to introduce a male into your flock the absolute best way to do that is to hatch him in under a broody hen and let the flock raise him. Rehome his brothers that you decide don't meet your pre-defined standards and manage the chosen young guy only as needed and you should end up with a delightful addition to the flock that completely changes the flock dynamics. It is normal and natural to have a male in the flock and he does serve many purposes. I saw a dramatic, negative shift in my flock when they lost their rooster. Balance has been restored with the maturation of the new head cockerel.

Thank you for all of the info.

Some good food for thought.

 

[Mrs. K]

I like having a great rooster in the flock, but a lot of them are only fair, and some are awful. I used to have a lot of theories about human behavior, about how one raised them, and now, well now I think it is a crap shoot.

I kind of, sort of go with the idea of a chick raised in a multi-generational flock, with an owner that would cull if he needed culled, and is about a year old....well that is generally a good rooster.

However, I really don't think that very small flocks which tend to be in smaller set ups, do well with a rooster. Or families with small children just learning about chickens do well with a rooster, especially kids under the age of 6. They can take the attacks in the face.

Or people just starting out with chickens. IMHO, roosters take more space than hens and more experience. This forum is filled where the darling became the nightmare in an instant. Probably not true, but inexperienced people make excuses or do not recognize signs of aggression.

An all hen flock is very nice to start with.

Mrs K