Roosters Pros and Cons

[DucksandClucks]

I have an accidental rooster that knows he's a duck. I have 3 hens and also 5 ducks. I'll keep him until he starts to crow.
He's very friendly and knows his name. He's literally pushing the ducks out of the way when I'm dumping duck pools or turning on the water to give them all a shower. He's so weird. LOL

 

[Karen323]

I have a rooster and 11 chooks (I like a dozen hens). I now have 3 chicks. I suspect two are boys and it is going to be interesting to see what happens with them. I am guessing I will get rid of the boys. I have heard that if I advertise, people will happily take roosters if you advertise? Especially if they aren't properly crowing yet? Dad roo is awesome. Handsome and gentle (so far). The parents were sold to me as eggs and as pure Austrolorps. I DON"T THINK SO. lol. These three chicks are the weirdest, ugliest poor chicks I have ever had. Poor things.

 

[highdesertsun]

Half my first flock died of what appeared to be Mareks. We currently have 4 large fowl hens, 1 bantam hen and 2 bantam roosters left in that group. Everyone seems to work out their differences safely. No one appears overbred, and all eggs appear to be fertile. We have 5 chicks out of 6 eggs set. Our boys did a fantastic job of defending the girls against "invading" curious chickens from neighboring flocks.

I think a well chosen and managed rooster can be beneficial, even if the ratio is off. In my experience, it works.

 

[chicken110]

A major positive with roosters (aside from breeding) is that they act as good guardians of the flock of hens. Whenever there's danger such as aerial or ground based predators roosters will sound the alarm and they'll take cover. Plus they also find new food sources too. So yeah I'd recommend keeping at least one rooster (though you may want more than 4 hens).

 

[Michael OShay]

A major positive with roosters (aside from breeding) is that they act as good guardians of the flock of hens. Whenever there's danger such as aerial or ground based predators roosters will sound the alarm and they'll take cover. Plus they also find new food sources too. So yeah I'd recommend keeping at least one rooster (though you may want more than 4 hens).

In 50 years, among the docile egg laying breeds I've raised, I've never had a single rooster that was worth a dime as a guardian or food finder. The rooster is just as apt to end up as dinner for the predator as the hens. A much better flock protector would be a WELL-TRAINED (with emphasis on well-trained) guard dog or dogs.

 

[bantyhen]

I love my boys!

 

[Devon07]

Agree with chicken110 110%.

 

[Americano Blue]

Roosters are good if you plan to breed and they protect the flock, but i have a dog so i never found a need for roosters

 

[chicken110]

I don't know about your situation. In my experience roosters do make very good flock guardians. Though so does a well trained guard dog too.

 

[Americano Blue]

I don't know about your situation. In my experience roosters do make very good flock guardians. Though so does a well trained guard dog too.

I prefer dogs cause they can take a raccoon better then a rooster