Rooster or no rooster?

[MamaB]

I have two 1 year old roosters, who have fully become the quinticential roosters. Since they were young one of them had taken all the hens for himself and the other just kind of hung in with the crowd. Welcome Spring.....so the one with no hens hangs outside the run, looking in (no more free ranging for them or I will have one dead rooster...) and attacking people who try to hang with the goats. So, he has got to go. He needs some hens. I have been thinking about getting rid of the other one, too. There are only 9 hens and their backs are getting pretty naked-poor girls. Not to mention, I am kind of tired of getting jumped at whenever I bring in food or water. I loved the idea of having a rooster (even though I thought I was getting all pullets...), and I love to listen to them crow, but......will the girls miss having him around? Also, I am brooding 8 more ( so far!!) and am anticipating a challenge integrating these girls (I hope they are girls...) into the flock....would a rooster make it harder? What to do!! Keep one..let them both go?

 

[roostersandhens]

Keep one. The hens are more likely to die from a predator with no rooster. The roosters protect the girls!

 

[DavidandEm]

I had the same problem with my roosters (had two in my coop with my 11 girls), with the girls getting pecked at and their backs and heads getting 'plucked'! I prompted threw the boys out. They were not very happy about it, but they are out with the other roosters 'free-ranging' it in my horse fields, where they can see the hens (my wire mesh horse fence separates them), but not hurt them. I would love to keep one rooster in with them for protection, but don't want my hens getting pecked. Any thoughts on how you deal with that?

 

[missnu01]

Hmm. You guys have some terrible roosters. Old roosters are the ticket to easy street. I have a big old white rock that is so easy with hens..and he keeps everyone else from fighting. I have 3 roosters and only 7 hens and everyone looks great...I actually have so many roosters that nobody is fertilizing any eggs...they boys are all so busy making sure the other 2 aren't breeding the hens that nobody is breeding the hens. I will keep my big roo til he dies, just because a rooster that breaks up any squabbling is invaluable to me. The other 2 myeh whatever...they're fine, or not...nobody is fighting or getting over bred so I'll keep saying I have too many, but take forever to get rid of a couple. I want all standard chickens, but I got a barnyard mix and her chicks that Are bantams and one rooster from them, and a silkie rooster, and then my white rock. The silkie was an alright rooster before the barnyard rooster grew up a little..but the white rock would never let the silkie breed the hens...the big guy really doesn't like the silkie at all...and he attacks me. The silkie does..anyway the barnyard mix is very attentive to the hens..more so than the big roo. When a hen starts frantic clucking he always runs to check on them...the big roo doesn't do anything but keep looking for treats...he's old and loves treats way more than hens anyway...lol I was wanting to eat the barnyard mix, but instead I think I'll list the silkie free on Craigslist... If nobody gets him then I will have to figure something else out. Don't want to process a silkie... The plucking seems like it would be terrible, and not enough meat to be worth the trouble

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

MamaB, your problem is not that you have a rooster, it's that you have this specific rooster. A good rooster will not flog you or any other human. Cull this one and get another one. There are so many non-aggressive roosters in the world that people need to re-home that you could get a good rooster for free. And if that one turns out to be aggressive, cull that one and get another one.

We have had many roosters, but only one that had to be culled because he was aggressive to people. Right now we have three roosters (a 3 year old RIR, a year old Ameraucana, and a year old Marans). None of them is aggressive towards people. Right now they are fussing with each other a bit since it's spring and we're having our annual rooster tiffs as they jockey for alpha position.

DavidandEm, you are not going to be able to have a rooster that doesn't peck your hens at least sometimes. A rooster's job is to keep the hens in line, so if they challenge him, he'll peck them. Here is a link to a recent thread on rooster behavior that you might want to read--Ridgerunner gives a very good description of normal rooster behavior. If your rooster is acting like that, then he's doing nothing wrong. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...o-how-will-my-hens-handle-it/10#post_10853306

 

[Mattemma]

I got my rooster off of craigs free.He was a year old and he is GREAT. Good to me and to the ladies. Keep trying.

 

[DavidandEm]

Walking> Thanks for the link and info. After reading it all, my roosters are just immature and young, so I will try to introduce one back later ( I have two favourites that I am not selling,......).
However, I am not OK with my hens getting pecked and missing all the feathers from their backs and heads, especially since I use them for photography as well as learning centers, they need to look well cared for, so I will have to give the guys a chance on their own to settle and mature some before that happens. I also have 4 new young pullets I just introduced to my hens, so once they get a little bigger and older, I'll introduce my roo back. Oh well.

 

[MamaB]

Is there a chance that they will out grow this behavior? Being aggressive to humans? I hate the idea of culling one if all he needs is some hens and the other if he just wants the second one gone. In the mean time, I have the hens and other rooster in the run all day. Should I let them out and see how it goes?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Is there a chance that they will out grow this behavior? Being aggressive to humans? I hate the idea of culling one if all he needs is some hens and the other if he just wants the second one gone. In the mean time, I have the hens and other rooster in the run all day. Should I let them out and see how it goes?

I would not expect him to outgrow aggression. Usually roosters start out non-aggressive then get aggressive at sexual maturity. If he's aggressive to humans, giving him hens will not stop that behavior and may make it worse.

As far as letting the others out, why not? I guess I'm not clear on why you have them in the run and the aggressive rooster outside of the run.

 

[MamaB]

I have the hens in the run with the rooster (a SLW) that claimed them from the start...the aggressive rooster is kept outside so I don't have any cock fights. (The second is an EE). If I am going to keep any rooster, it would be the SLW. He has jumped at me from time to time bringing in food or water, but nothing like the other. Keeping a rooster sounds like the plan. How much aggression is too much? Any?