Rooster Or No Rooster

[Granolamom]

Quote:
If you intend to free range your chickens, a rooster can be the best investment you ever make. BAR NONE.
I love my girls, but I love my rooster for keeping the girls safe, showing them where to find food, keeping things running smooth, i.e., breaking up fights amongst the girls....I LOVE MY ROOSTER!

Ditto! I have 6 hens, and one roo who does everything he's supposed to, and then some. No pulled out feathers here, either. He "spreads the luuuuuv" evenly among all 6, and they all look like the picture of health.
He walks them around the yard all day, finds the best treats for them, then steps back to let them eat. Same, if I bring treats outside: he always lets his girls eat first. I know you think I'm making this up, but it's the honest truth.
He warns them, if a hawk flies overhead, or if the neighbor's dog gets too close. He makes sure they all march their fluffy butts back into the coop at nightfall, and yes, if one doesn't move fast enough, he will raise holy heck with her. There have been several incidents where I had to run outside to either rescue a hen who had gotten out of the yard, or chase away a dog, or just to fill up the bowl of water, that had gotten knocked over, and in ALL cases it was our rooster, who yelled his butt of until I came running.
Plus, for me personally, a flock is not a flock without the crowing of a rooster. Just my personal opinion.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I for one know you're not making it up. That's the sign of a good rooster.
I've been getting a real kick out of watching my roo, Thor lately. He's just became the alpha (and only) roo last week after I gave my other roo to friends trying to re-establish a flock.
Before Thor was the alpha, he watched out for the girls but didn't worry about feeding them because that's the alpha's job. He wasn't often getting lucky with the girls back then, again because he wasn't the alpha.
Thor loves to eat and his size shows it. He dearly loves treats. Now that he's alpha he calls the girls to eat the things he's found and always let's them have the treats that I hand specifically to him. I don't think he's eaten a single piece of his favorite - honey wheat bread - since he became the alpha. When I hand him a piece of it (and he turns around and gives it to a hen) you can tell by the look in his eyes that he's not sure this alpha business is all it's cracked up to be. Still, he's an excellent roo and I love him.

 

[Attack Chicken]

They can make good cuddly buddies to

 

[Palmetto]

Thanks everyone for some great insight on my rooster "roo" question. I am anxious to actually "lay" hands on some chicks so we can have our own great tasting fresh eggs. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[mjdtexan]

We have 20 sexlinks that are 14 weeks yesterday. All pullets. We chose no rooster because I really dont want to feed a non egg laying chicken. That being said, I've been wanting a rooster now that I dont have one. It might be nice to hatch our own eggs and not have to buy from hatcheries. 6 one way ½ dozen the other I expect.

Mike D

 

[Akane]

Roosters do more than fertilize eggs. My jap roos call the girls over whenever the feeder or waterer is refilled or whenever they find treats. They wait until the hens start to eat before eating. Occasionally one of them holds out bits of food in his beak to show the hens what he found. They let out a call when there is potential danger, crow when they hear or see something odd, and Dameru will come running up to see what's going on if he hears his favorite hen making unhappy noises. He's landed on the dog more than once for upsetting the hens. He hasn't harmed anyone or the dog but he's right there ready for it if something should happen. If something does go after my chickens Dameru will be the first one eaten and that's his job. They've all been wonderful roos so far. Taking care of their hens without being aggressive toward me or doing more than necessary to deter the dog and cats. I will never have a flock without my roos even if I'm not hatching eggs.