rooster with hens or not?

[GreatGranny]

I will always have roos! You don't need them to have eggs but if you want more chicks and eggs then yes, you do need them...but he needs to have some contact with them for that to happen!!

I have had some bad roos, very bad roos... but then that special one comes along and I am sold! He is Poli and he is a black, white-crested Polish! keeps the peace in the coop and will always wait to eat after his girls have eaten. He is kind and forceful when there are stragglers at night because he knows we close them in for safety! He protects them, and me from them! I have a couple of barred rock hens that are holy terrors and he has even gotten between me and them to protect me! He protects the young ones from these very same hens that would kill them if not for our roo! We purchased 8 chicks of his breed hoping we got roos, and we did! We have a lot of hens, more than enough to go around, and I can't wait to have more!

 

[bobbi-j]

Your hens are going to lay whether there is a rooster with them or not.

 

[RWise]

My findings are that a good rooster will increase egg production slightly. The hens will certainly lay without one in the flock.
I would not be without a rooster in my flock, he does good things like feed the girls and the chicks. He will call alarms for hawks (even airplanes) unknown dogs/cats etc.. The girls feel safe to go eat, eating makes eggs,,
I also want chicks, so I need a rooster in my flock.

 

[fluffyme]

As far as the base of your question, just having a rooster in with the hens doesn’t have any affect on whether or not they produce eggs.

this is what I had always thought so I asked why and this was her response

really if you don't keep the rooster away from the chickens than the eggs would be fertilized eggs and you risk cracking open an egg with a chick instead in it instead of just a yolk.

If you don't want eggs every morning then yeah having a rooster around you'll just end up with more chickens. But if you do that you can't end up with eggs to eat because well as baby chicks in them.

so I responded with this
as long as you gather eggs often you will be fine with the rooster in with the hens. and a lot of your laying breeds aren't very broody

her response was

Yes until the hen lays not in her nest and a week goes by before you find what you think is a fresh egg.

 

[bobbi-j]

I’m guessing she had a bad experience. You were right - collecting them daily and making sure you know where your hens are laying will prevent this from happening. Eggs don’t just magically turn into chicks. The hen has to be sitting on them day and night (with a couple of short breaks daily) for that to happen.

 

[fluffyme]

I’m guessing she had a bad experience. You were right - collecting them daily and making sure you know where your hens are laying will prevent this from happening. Eggs don’t just magically turn into chicks. The hen has to be sitting on them day and night (with a couple of short breaks daily) for that to happen.

This is what I thought from my experience but wanted to check anyway.

Also maybe this is just me but if I find 1 or more eggs just laying around not in usual place I wouldn't eat anyway just for the fact you never know just how old it is. I would rather open a egg stating to develop over a rotten one.

 

[bobbi-j]

This is what I thought from my experience but wanted to check anyway.

Also maybe this is just me but if I find 1 or more eggs just laying around not in usual place I wouldn't eat anyway just for the fact you never know just how old it is. I would rather open a egg stating to develop over a rotten one.

Exactly!