Roosters--to have or not to have

[sara]

Quote:
I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you on this at all. I think it is important for kids to be exposed to animals from an early age. It fosters a sense of responibility and a good work ethic. My kids have been around animals, helping me since they were born. Who cares if they step in stuff, thats what muck boots are for.

 

[BaronRenfrew]

You asked four q's : 1. RIR rooster's can be agressive as said above. I currently have an Old English game bantam that attacks me. I find it comical on a bird this small, he's the size of a freakin quail. I'd suggest a gentler breed than RIR's: I've always had big flocks: light brahmas, dark cornish, silver laced wyandotte, silver spangled hamburgs over 20 years and have never had an aggressive roo with the above breeds. Opinions are that buff orpingtons and brahmas are the gentlest. I wouldn't suggest dark cornish as a laying flock; they'll eat you out of house and home.

Personally I wouldn't have birds without a roo. They will gather a small flock with them and lead them around.

2. chickens are great layers for 2 years and then production drops; to buy new hens yearly is a waste of money

3. fertile or not eggs are the same: just make sure and have many nests, if free ranging put out two outdoor (covered) nest boxes to get the eggs from the birds that want to hide them. Be sure and candle eggs to sell as sometimes eggs will develop a bloodspot. This has nothing to do with fertility (all commercial places candle their eggs for this) and a blood spot in an egg will turn customers off, maybe permanantly.

4. For a self perpetuating flock you have a couple of choices: 1. incubator 2. a couple of silkies or dorkings as permanant broody mothers. This way you will easily see the different eggs and you will eat the dorking eggs and set the laying hens eggs. These mothers will die of old age at maybe 7 years. 3. a breed that occasionally goes broody (the wyandottes, cornish and brahmas had one in ten go broody on me)

If you go with something that goes broody, it adds to the fun of the flock and for the kids. You have to manage them differently so that other hens don't keep adding eggs to the nest they are sitting on.

 

[jjthink]

My roo is such a dear boy - I can't imagine not having him. He protects his hen friend (I only have the two of them) and finds her food and she comes running with such eagerness when he calls. He stands by her while she nests and she won't do it without him! She calls to him and won't settle down until he's with her, guarding her. Then he coos to her - a wondrous sound - and she goes about the business of laying an egg. He watches her, worries about her, won't let her out of his sight, and he is ever on the lookout for danger. Chivalrous to a fault actually, because he's taken the brunt of dog attacks and a fox attack all to protect his hen friend. He survived those attacks when I nursed him back to health with her by his side (he was fretting until I reunited them). I really love him. I've been around roos that are aggressive but usually the ones I've worked with are so dear.
JJ

 

[coopist]

Quote:
a) Usually, one rooster is all you need. Two will often fight--maybe not right away, but eventually, and birds can become injured. I know there are exceptions to this (especially if the birds were reared together), but I've raised chickens a long time, and this is good general advice. Not all roosters are mean (yes, some are quite mild) and not all will attack children, but roos generally will see unsupervised children as, well, a "manageable threat" so it's best to keep a close watch on the child when s/he's around the chickens.
b) Many, many people sell fertilized eggs. The only difference between a fertile and an infertile egg is that one can be placed in an incubator for 21 days and hatched. The other can't. That's about it. Otherwise, they look and taste the same. Most customers expect farm-fresh eggs to be fertile. Price-wise, with fertile eggs, you also have the option of selling them as "hatching eggs" and may get more money.
c) Most Roosters absolutely DO NOT encourage the hens to lay in the woods. Roos will usually encourage hens to lay in the nesting boxes you provide. Hens may "steal out" their nests, but that's the hen's decision, not the roo's. He'd rather she was around for easy access.

Having a rooster around provides you with more options. It also means you'll have to keep an eye on your child, but it should be manageable if you choose a good-tempered breed.

Here's a helpful chart that includes temperament per breed:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

Hope this helps.

 

[farm_mom]

I've had multiple flocks of free range birds, and I've always had a rooster. I wouldn't want it any other way. They are great at protecting the free range flock and I've had them around my 2 and 4 year olds as well as my lab w/o a single incident. I do have a suggestion. We did have a mean rooster once, but he was the only one we ordered and our only option. He was a brown leghorn and a bit too nervous to handle the responsibilities of free ranging. For my last flock I ordered a large batch of straight run Buff Orpingtons. This gave me larger pool of roosters to deal with and I would go in the pen often and check personalities. Any roosters that charged, or demonstrated any type of aggressive behaviors toward me or anyone else here was dinner. We ended up with a very large, very sweet rooster who was a great protector/provider for his ladies and nice and gentle with our family. Having options helps when it comes to finding the right fit in a rooster, I think. And having a rooster is a must, IMHO!!

 

[pattycake]

My BO rooster is rather aggressive. He's a wonderful caretaker of the hens, so I'm going to keep him, but even though I handled him from day one his mind is on the protection of the ladies, period. He'll fly at anyone except for me who approaches them too quickly. And he's not terribly bright, so if I wear sneakers instead of my farm boots he'll peck my feet.

If my kids get too close to the hens, he'll chase them, which might get to be a problem this summer... hope I don't have to get rid of him. I enjoy his crowing, which he only does in the mornings.

I didn't want a rooster, but he came as a packing peanut from Meyers...

I've had no problems with the fertilized eggs, and all my hens come back to the henhouse to lay, and except for one crazy hen who lays on TOP of the nest boxes, they all lay right where they're supposed to.

 

[da-cajun-angla]

i have a black tailed japanese bantam roo. he's small, doesnt have a loud crow, and does his job. hes like 1.5lbs and my dark brahma is like 11lbs, and neither one of the girls mess with him..lol...its hilarious to watch him "put them in line"...and when we walk around the coop, he runs to scare us away, but my 7yr old holds him all the time, and he never tried to jump on us or anything. so if u have any worries, get a banty roo, small but have the coolest personalities! i guarantee you'll love him.
heres a pic of spike the roo (spike like big girls!)

spike the chubby chaser

http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh14/da-cajun-angla/?action=view&current=hh28mychicks.jpg

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I would suggest a single rooster. If you sell hatching eggs and have too many hens for one rooster, then you can look at getting another. I have one rooster with my free range hens, and I have a couple 'back-up' roosters in rabbit hutches, just in case something get the freerange roo.

I would stay away from the breeds that are known to have a tendency to be aggressive. The main breed that comes to mind is the Rhode Island Reds(RIRs). The 'majority' of these will be aggressive even with handling and gentling. I'm sure their are other breeds that have an aggressive 'tendency,' no others come to mind right now(tired, sorry).

You can always replace an aggressive rooster, people ALWAYS have extra cockerels and roosters. Just keep trying until you find one that suits you. Once you find a good rooster, you will NEVER be able to be without one again. LOL

Roosters typically help keep the girls rounded up and in the coop to roost at night. The hens will trust and follow a good rooster faithfully. Roos are more aware of predators than hens and will sound an alarm call the whole yard can hear.

Keep the spurs on all the roosters trimmed, especially if you are worried about the small children. I keep all my roosters spurred trimmed for the sake of the other roosters, hens, and me if my good roo ever goes bad(LOL).

I would really suggest a rooster, keep trying until you get the good one that's just waiting for you. Once you find him, you will not regret it. It also leaves you open to sell hatching eggs or even hatch your own, to replace older hens or losses to predation.


-Kim

 

[Oblio13]

We have three roosters. My six year old carries them around. My only complaint is the crowing. It doesn't bother me, but I'm afraid it'll disturb the neighbors. Handle them a lot when they're young.

Most people couldn't tell a fertilized egg from an unfertilized egg if they had too. They taste the same.

Just don't keep too many roosters - say, one for every eight hens or so - and everything will be fine.

 

[vanillachicks]

I got my first 2 chicks last summer. Turned out to be a hen and a roo. Since my hen started laying, my boy started challanging me daily.

But I've found a solution!

Cattails!!

I showed him a cattail and he pecked at it once. The fluff expanded in his face, and he SQUAWKED and ran to the other end of the pen in fright!! He never challanges me when I've got a cattail in my hand!!!

...fear the fluff...