rooster information

[EggHead107]

hello everyone. i have 12 laying hens and I am looking to getting a rooster so that I can hatch my own chickens. I really have researched a lot and I cannot seem to find anything that I really need to know. Can someone help me with some information. What do they eat. How do I raise them all together. I do not want him to breed every chicken. Do i need a specific rooster for the types of chickens that I have. how do i know which eggs to incubate. i really just do not know a lot about this and I really need help!!!!! thank you!!!!!

 

[RodNTN]

 

[RodNTN]

Glad you joined the flock! Roosters are just about the same as hens. They eat the same stuff (usually layer feed) What kind of chickens do you have? Roosters do fine with other breeds. And you can't control how many hens he will breed. He will usually have his favorite hens.

 

[RodNTN]

And when you look for what eggs to hatch, look for normal shaped ones. Make sure they are not dirty or contaminated, they can't be too small or the chicks will be abnormally small. If you have a broody hen, (broody hens are hens that want to hatch their own eggs) they will be impatient and sit on the nest all day, growling and will peck your hand. If you do have a broody hen, she can hatch the eggs. But you will need to separate her from the rest of the flock if her eggs hatch so the rest of the flock won't kill her chicks. If you don't have a broody hen, you will need to buy an incubator.

 

[RodNTN]

Hope this helps!

 

[chickencraz]

What do they eat.
As chicks- same as hens. as adults: They can eat the same food as you feed your hens, although they don't need the extra calcium that's in layer feed. you could switch to all flock or something similar and give oyster shells to supplement calcium for your hens.

How do I raise them all together.
You can raise a roo with hens fine, although they do tend to harass pullets when their juvenile hormones kick in.

I do not want him to breed every chicken.
If you want him to breed with specific hens, you will need to seperate them together, otherwise he will mate with most of them (as you have 12 he might go for all of them, but he will most likely choose some of them) and choose HIS favorites.

Do i need a specific rooster for the types of chickens that I have.
Depends on what you want. If you want a purebred chicks find the same as the hens you want to breed. If you want lots of eggs, get a roo from a breed known to lay good eggs. If you want a certain color of eggs, find a roo from a breed that lays the color you want, ect.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have found layer to be hard on roosters so I feed an all flock. The extra calcium seems to shorten their lives.

 

[carlf]

My rooster had 9 hens and mated them all over the course of a day or two. I think one rooster with 12 hens will work.
They don't need to mate every day to produce fertile eggs, so odds are, once your rooster is with the flock and doing his job for more than, 2 weeks all eggs from your hens should be fertile.

If you only want him to mate certain hens, then you will need a separate coop & run for those hens & the rooster.
Give them a week to settle in, then start gathering the eggs to put in the incubator.
Dont wash the eggs, just keep them at room temp until you have enough to incubate. They can sit at room temp for over a week and still be fertile. Get as many as you intend to hatch & then put them in.
If a hen goes broody, try to get a clutch under her within a few days and she should set them. Broody hens hatching peeps is soooo cool.

If you buy a mature rooster, you should be able to just pop him into the flock.
An immature rooster may be at the bottom of the pecking order so you will have to watch to see how he is received.

what kind of hens do you have? What kind of rooster are you considering.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Glad you joined the flock! Roosters are just about the same as hens. They eat the same stuff (usually layer feed) What kind of chickens do you have? Roosters do fine with other breeds. And you can't control how many hens he will breed. He will usually have his favorite hens.

I don't feed layer feed, I use "all flock" or "flock raiser". Too much calcium will cause kidney damage long term to the rooster as well as the chicks. Provide oyster shell on the side for the layers, they will only take what they need.

 

[Peeps61]

There's a lot of good information provided here. I did read in one of the posts about separating a broody so that the rest of the flock would not kill the chicks. I don't think this is correct. Most hens will hatch out their brood, then take the chicks over to the rest of the flock once they abandon the nest. Mine did this, and the hens just looked at the chicks (thought it was new and different) but did not DARE to approach the brood with the hen present. The rooster didn't give them a second glance as they were his offspring. The chicks have been fully integrated into the flock since day one and I've not seen any issues whatsoever. In fact, the hens pretty much ignore them as they have gotten older and range farther from the mama hen now.

Hatching eggs is fun! This is my first broody hatch and she did it all with no interference from me at all.