Rooster personality and integration questions

[TX Chick Noob]

So I am thinking of getting a rooster. I have 12 pullet chicks. 10 are almost 8 weeks old, the other 2 are 5-6 weeks old. The rooster I have found is almost 15 weeks old. The person who has him says this:

EEs personality toward people is, he doesn't care about people and is skittish. He is like this because I purposely did not hold him when I was sure he was a cockerel. The reason I did this is because when you hold a young cockerel a lot he sees you as his equal and as he will get older he will attack you. (not always) When he was younger he did try to peck me, but I corrected that behavior and he no longer tries to peck me. His behavior toward the other chicks seems ok so far. I have 1 other cockerel and 5 pullets. He is a bit mean to the other cockerel, and that cockerel is scared of him, so I think the EE cockerel is alpha. His behavior toward the pullets is looking ok, I don't think he's being mean to them at all, at least that I'm aware of. He is 14.5 weeks old as of today, he hatched on February 23rd and is from Ideal Poultry.

Do you think that sounds like a Rooster who would be good for my flock? How hard would he be to integrate and how should I do it? My coop is 10x12, no run. I want to make sure I get one who will be good to my girls and who is also good for a first time rooster owner. Should I get him as soon as possible or would it be good to wait a little longer? Will there be issues with him reaching sexual maturity before the girls?

Thoughts/Advice/Suggestions?

 

[DonyaQuick]

When I was looking into getting a rooster earlier this year, I think the single best piece of advice I received was to wait and get an older rooster that went through his hormonal phase and emerged on the other side with a good personality. That allowed me to get a rooster that was safe for me and safe for my year-old hens.

While I have no personal experience with cockerels, I have heard/read some bad stories about cockerels that are larger than the pullets they're being raised with turning into big bullies with the pullets even before the hormonal phase sets in, simply due to the cockerels being larger and bolder. That seems like it would be a risk in your case given the cockerel you're looking at is older than all of them and more than twice as old as the youngest.

 

[3KillerBs]

Roosters are always a gamble.

It's often recommended to not get a rooster your first year with chickens in order to gain chicken experience and in order to let your then-adult hens raise the rooster and teach him chicken manners.

A problem with this boy, regardless of his temperament, is that he's older than your pullets. Cockerels already mature faster than pullets so he'll be ready to mate long before they are ready to be mated and, while they will eventually mature into it, things will be unhappy for quite a while.

If you have reason to want a male in your first flock -- and there are good reasons for that -- you should probably wait to get one until your girls are at or approaching Point-of-Lay.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I agree with everyone above, I would wait until your girls are older to introduce a cockerel. We waited until our oldest group was over a year old to get a cockerel and they have been wonderful about teaching him manners. He had to earn the respect of the older girls and they have made sure that he respects the humans too.

 

[Mrs. K]

No this will more than likely not work. While pullets can be with an adult rooster, they really tend to be harassed by younger cockerels. Your pullets won't be ready until they begin to lay eggs, around 20 weeks +/-.

I strongly recommend no roosters the first year. And I am in favor of an older rooster that was so nice, he did not get culled to get some experience with.

Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people.

Mrs K

 

[TX Chick Noob]

The main reason I am considering getting a rooster is to help protect the hens when I start to let them free range. I don't plan to do that until they are full grown. I had been thinking it would be good to get one about the same age and let them grow up together and that is what I was looking for when I found this one. I thought integration would be easier when they were all younger. But it seems like what y'all are saying is either wait until the girls are mature and get a young rooster, or at some point get a mature rooster. That makes a lot of sense, I was just hoping to give this guy a home.

My husband raised/showed chickens when he was in school, but that was a long time ago. I know they had young roosters they showed but not sure if they ever had a mature one.

 

[aart]

The main reason I am considering getting a rooster is to help protect the hens when I start to let them free range.

I sure wouldn't count on a rooster for protection while ranging.

But it seems like what y'all are saying is either wait until the girls are mature and get a young rooster, or at some point get a mature rooster. That makes a lot of sense, I was just hoping to give this guy a home.

There will always be free roosters around.

 

[Anne-Marie S]

I wouldn’t count on a rooster to protect his girls while free ranging, they’re pretty lousy at it. The best you can hope for is he “may” set off a series of cackles along with his girls at perceived danger. You better get running boots on if you hear them all shrieking ‘cos the roo is not gonna keep danger at bay.

I’m with everyone else, I don’t think that now is the right time for a cockerel. I’d recommend waiting until your girls are bigger. In fact, I much prefer an older, experienced roo any day. If given a mix of hens and pullets, an experienced roo will mostly ignore the pullets.

You may be lucky to find someone wanting to get rid of their older roo, nobody wants to interbreed their flock so roos tend to get replaced a lot. Bonus is that they’ve experienced fatherhood a few times and know how to behave around chicks.

I’ve not had a lot of trouble introducing a roo to a flock of older hens, the hens usually put him in his place. Pullets don’t really have much chance of doing that though.

Best wishes and good luck

 

[Shadrach]

Much as I love roosters they are not really cut out for flock protection, or even very good at being flock providors despite all the fuss and struting about when they do actually find something worth eating for their hens.

If you are new to chicken keeping and have limited space then I would wait at least a year before you consider adding a rooster to your tribe.

Roosters can be quite challenging to keep under the best of circumstances. They can and do in my experience make wonderful pets if that is what you are after but it takes a lot of work, sometimes blood and tears to get to there.

 

[DonyaQuick]

The main reason I am considering getting a rooster is to help protect the hens when I start to let them free range.

What predators do your hens need protection from? If it's something bigger than a modestly-sized house cat or very small hawk, a fenced area with a dog may do better at actually avoiding casualties (which could include the rooster if he puts himself between his flock and something like a coyote).

That makes a lot of sense, I was just hoping to give this guy a home.

I had the same feeling with a couple of cockerels that were listed back when I was first looking. As others have said though, there are always roosters looking for homes of a variety of ages.

Although I haven't had my rooster for very long, he has already taught me a lot about what one can/should expect from a good rooster. I feel like I would actually be better prepared to raise a cockerel now that I've seen what they should turn out like if all goes well.