Rooster Chat

[MarySue]

Does your friend feed their birds layer? I have found that roosters often die by age 4 when fed layer.

I have not heard this before. I am new to owning a rooster and I let mine eat with my girls. He eats what they eat...Layer feed with Omega usually but right now it's Feather Fixer. How do you keep them from eating it?

 

[the poppster]

I feed my flock game bird crumbles or pellets.. mixed with whole oats, a bit of wheat and cracked or whole corn....toss in a couple handfuls of black oil sunflower seeds about half and half...occasionally I will pick up a couple bags of our local feed mill broiler mix...I have oyster shell available to the hens in a separate container....my "fancy dancey" combination grit and oyster shell feeder....I took an old galvanized garage can lid, set it like a big tray on top of a two by four square frame....and punked an old heavy ceramic casserole dish in the center....filled the casserole dish with oyster shell and the surrounding area of the lid is filled with grit ...they seem to like it. I sift out and foul stuff and add grit and shell as needed. It's in their covered run. So far(3yrs) I haven't lost any Roos and the egg shells are nice and thick. I have lost two of my oldest hens this summer...but think it's more from old age...some breeds seem to live longer than others. So the losses don't surprise me.

 

[MarySue]

Is it too much calcium that is bad for them?

 

[microchick]

Yep. Hard on their innards, kidneys and such.

I've noticed something amusing about my 11 week old youngsters and my 7 month old cockerels. My 11 week olds like to come out at night around 45 minutes before dark and do their scratching around. Little devils do this every night. They seldom come out during the day but is seems the moment the older girls go to roost, out they come. When they come out, two of the 7 month old Buff O cockerels come out and stand guard over them. The two 7 month olds that are the flock masters don't bother but at least two of the three junior cockerels are always out standing guard over the little ones. The minute I show up to shoo everyone inside, the 7 month olds head for the roosts as if saying "You got this covered? Good, I can go to bed now!"

I feed my birds the Game Bird Finisher or Starter, which ever one I can get my hands on. I mix Sunflower Seeds in with it and am about to start mixing in cracked corn and oats for fall and winter. Oyster shell and gravel goes in separate containers for them. I know there are people who are really particular about the gravel their birds get but one day I figured that if they were outside or free ranging they would be picking through the soil looking for gravel to eat so I just scoop up a metal bowl of fine gravel from a pile that we had left over after re-graveling the drive and set it out for them. They love it.

One thing I've learned in the two years that I've had birds is that they aren't nearly as fussy about what they eat as we are.

 

[suchcutenails]

I love this thread! Lots of good info on keeping roosters without being anti-rooster! You've all been very helpful to me and answered all my questions with good advice...thank you!

Now I am looking for a little more:

I am trying to decide about my boys, and how to make life better for my girls...I have 2 young men (supposed to be girls) with my 11 pullets, who are just starting to lay...all 20 weeks old, raised together. The EE is clearly the #1, and a SLW as #2. They are not fighting, but if #2 mounts a girl, #1 runs over and shoves him off, and sometimes jumps right on her. They seem to be working out their aggression with each other ~ on the girls. I almost wish they would fight each other instead of what they put the girls through. I feel like it is too much on the girls; I know 2 with 11 is not a good ratio. So I'm trying to decide the best thing to do. Separate? Cull one?

We were not going to have a rooster, but when I realized we did, I decided to just see how it went. I hadn't planned to hatch eggs, but now that I have the option, I kind of like the idea. We also have lots of predators, including hawks, and we had a raven attack that #1 successfully kept them safe through. So, should I choose one to cull? I don't really know the right way to use a bachelor pad. Can someone talk me through how they work? If they have a bachelor pad, do they get to mix back in with the girls after they've had a break? Or do they kind of live in isolation forever? They don't free range, really, but they do get some "supervised" time out of their run in the morning and evening. Would the boys get to go out with the girls?

Out of the two, #1 is my least favorite, although he does a good job being a rooster, and #2 just sort of exists. I guess that is the way it should be. He isn't there to be my friend, but to do his job. #1 challenges me, a little, but the better I am at ignoring him, the better our relationship. I don't see him as aggressive as much as just protective. He doesn't come after me, but he is always on guard when I am in the run or coop. They both crow, but I hardly ever hear #2. #2 just sort of goes about his day. I assume if I cull #1, #2 will take his place, and likely be the same way?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have not heard this before. I am new to owning a rooster and I let mine eat with my girls. He eats what they eat...Layer feed with Omega usually but right now it's Feather Fixer. How do you keep them from eating it?

I only feed an All Flock or a non medicated grower. No more layer used here. There's not enough protein in it in my opinion for backyard flocks who get extras. The extra calcium needs are made up with oyster shells.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I also noticed my mature Barnevelder rooster, who's 2 years old, was escorting the immature roosters around the yard just like he does to the hens. The young boys are about 3 months old. So it was interesting to see.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Any other mature roosters around? I have three young 5 month old Buff O cockerels who have yet to crow. The three Welsummer/Buff O cockerels from the same hatch started crowing at 12-13 weeks. They are with a flock master who is 16 months old. Sometimes in the presence of more dominate roosters, junior roosters don't crow. or crow later.

When my rooster Zeus was young I would have to bring him in the house and sit him on my lap only way he would crow.He did bot like to crow infont of other roosters.
Now he is the flock master.Not sure how my new cockeral and him will get along.

 

[All Ball]

Hi folks,

Right now my 15-month-old roo is the only chicken molting - and so far he's still interested in covering. Do roos tend to give the girls a break when they are molting? Or does it differ based on the particular rooster?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

New feathers coming is uncomfortable and even painful for some, so it's not unusual for a rooster to stop mating during it. Usually roosters molt first before the hens.