Rooster in the Hen House...Yay or Nay?

[crazychickenldy]

I love the look of Roosters and I am a member of the vast minority who actually LIKES to hear the rooster crow. In the latest crop of hens that are about 3 months old, it appears there is a rooster present, but I dont want fertilized eggs....

I have a soft spot for roosters...in the last flock, also had a rooster who ended up in the freezer, so I am looking for a alternative. I have heard that a rooster helps keep the hens in pecking order which leads to happier hens... but I have also heard that roosters will pluck out the hens tail feathers. and again, I do NOT want fertilized eggs, because I sell the eggs.

I dont know how difficult it is to capon a rooster, or if there is even anyone out there who does this. Are there any drawbacks? Any input would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks
Anna

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Why does the eggs being fertile affect anything if you're selling? They won't develop unless you have a broody hen and forget to collect the eggs from her.

 

[crazychickenldy]

I was told (and I am new at this) that fertilized eggs often have blood in them. I was told for this reason, they are "unsellable"...is this not true? Help!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Technically it's only true if they have started developing. Even then, if they've only been incubated a couple days the most you will see is blood vessels and *maybe* a tiny speck of an embryo. As long as you collect the eggs daily or every other day then you should be fine. Even un-fertilized eggs can get blood spots, but that doesn't happen as often.

Oh and they are still edible too.

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
Not true ~ blood spots are caused by a bit of blood in the hens egg duct during production and has nothing to do with having a rooster. Unless your buyers are knowledgeable about fertile eggs they will not know if they are fertile or not.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Untrue. Blood spots and meat spots happen, with or without a rooster. I have two roosters, one in each coop, and I rarely see a blood spot.
I do sell my eggs and the majority of my egg customers know that I have roos and couldn't care less. It's not a concern. Chicks won't hatch unless you have a hen go broody or incubate them in an incubator.

Here's some more info. on blood spots and meat spots:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/28/blood-spots

Roosters are no more likely to pluck out tailfeathers than the other hens are. Roosters are good for three things: Protection, procreation and peacekeeping. I will never have a flock without a rooster.

 

[crazychickenldy]

Thanks for the info! It appears I was misinformed and I appreciate the knowledge from all you veterans! I think Ill keep him Time to give him a name!! Yay!!!

 

[gryeyes]

The major egg-sellers candle all their eggs looking for any odd things like meat spots or blood spots or ANYthing, so the consumer only gets the very nicest looking eggs. It keeps down complaints. From this rises the popular and uneducated belief that fertile eggs have blood spots in them, or even worse, EMBRYOS.

But any hen can throw a blood spot in an egg during its "construction." And fertile eggs need to be incubated to develop at all, they can sit on your kitchen counter for two weeks, unrefrigerated, and there will be no chick or any embryonic development whatsoever. Only broody hens incubate eggs, and if you gather eggs daily or even every other day from under a broody, they'll still be just regular ol' eggs without any development.

Keep your rooster.

 

[Staceyfeindt]

I Agree! Eggs that have been fertilized are no different that non-fertilized ones. We eat them everyday. I sell (but mostly give away!) eggs and no one ever knows any difference, they all LOVE the eggs. As far as a rooster pulling feathers out...in my experience it really depends on the rooster, some are more gentle than others. You just have to watch and see how ruff he gets with your hens. A few feathers ruffled are normal in my hen house from our roosters, yes we have 3 roosters! But we once had just one rooster and he was such a ruff guy that the hens had alot of bald spots from him, he got re-homed.

 

[teach1rusl]

Now that you know the scoop on the blood spot thing, I say give him a chance. We have a rooster just for the sound of a nice crow...we do not raise chicks. Now, it took us two tries to find a roo that was not rough on the girls. By the way, other than staying stressed out when we had the rough rooster, I noticed no more "happiness/unhappiness" with my girls with or without a rooster.