Roosters

[katie4]

A suggestion...ask around for someone wanting to re-home a rooster. Take some time to observe him. If he's a quiet gentleman you've saved a rooster from the stewpot and his faminly some sadness and gained a lookout for the hens.

My Giant Cochin rooster is an amicable giant. He's never been aggressive toward his hens or my little kids, dogs, etc. Rather he acutely observes and warns with body language and noises when there is danger around. I'm so very glad he's calm becasue his 1.5 inch spurs could do some damage. And he's handsome and endearing.

Check out literature on breeds that are noisier or quieter, aggressive or passive.

Or you can get 3-5 guinea hens or a llama or alpaca!

Good luck.

 

[turbodog]

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That might depend on the rooster. Some roos are loud, some aren't. Some are constant crowers, some aren't.

Gonna just have ta see what you end up with. I'd say the crow is louder than the egg song. It's intended to be loud and challenging to other roosters.

 

[allpeepedout]

I am an unplanned rooster keeper. He is now 20-21 wks, Barred Rock, and very good. He went through a phase of aggression at about 15-16 wks, pecked me 3 times very hard, and I used the techniques on the BYC to do a little rooster-wrangling, along with a good article in Mother Earth. Worked like a charm. I pick him up every day, enter the pen with no concerns even though he guards the door, cram him into a little dog carrier for the short trip to the pen and back to the coop, etc. I realize that he still is not fully mature and that we may have more challenging behavior ahead.

He was also very aggressive initially mating, including pulling out neck feathers with pullets screaming bloody murder, but his technique is improving and now the pullets know what's happening and what to do. I think, and I've been told by more experienced chicken keepers, that if you can get through adolescence they settle down into more gentlemanly behaviors. Two pullets have just started laying and he guards/tends to them very tenderly at the nest box.

He is on the job all of the time, ever alert and watchful, and the pullets really do seem to take comfort in his presence and literally hide under him, if I am late in the evenings moving them from a temporary separate pen into the coop.
His crowing is VERY LOUD and increasing. He does much more daytime crowing than early a.m. He especially shows off his crow for visitors, who find him absolutely fascinating and beautiful, an unexpected bonus. Distant neighbors find the crowing charming.

Very limited experience, but I have come to regard roosters like other intact male livestock I have been around: bulls and stallions. I think you need knowledge and specific skills and techniques to work through the inevitable period of "testing their power" when the male hormones turn on. And you must REMAIN VIGILANT about behavior that needs to be nipped in the bud BEFORE it becomes a habit (like pecking) and to what they are capable of doing, regardless of how safe they appear to be. I am happy I have mine. So far. There is a lot of great info on the BYC about handling roosters, and I'm very grateful.

 

[crawfordmama]

Roosters are like a box of chocolates...

My EE roo is very good to his ladies, despite their bare backs. It took him about 6 months to figure out his role in the flock. However, he wakes up every day at 3:30, almost on the dot. Non-stop crowing throughout the day. I guess the bright side to this is that we no longer need an alarm clock. He also takes part in the egg song with the girls, and is quite a bit louder than they are. His voice seems to carry throughout our yard. He's never flogged me, but he's gone after my hand a few times when I pet the girls on the roost. We got him when he was about 6 months old, and he had never been handled before. He's not a people roo.

If you end up with a roo in your batch of chicks, you may be at an advantage, since he won't be frightened of you. You could always rehab him with Gritty's method if he becomes a little too big for his britches.

 

[2overeasy000]

Thanks again for all the great info and advice. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens and what kind of chocolate I get. Although, I do not think I will be able to take much 3:30 am crowing.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Of all the roosters I've had I find the Buff Orpington to be the most endearing. The first one was a sort of rescue. He was a gentle giant and about a year and a half old. He was very gentle with the ladies. Unfortunately a bob cat got him defending his girls. I have 6 of his sons and they are 18 wks old. One I moved in with the 20 pullets 16 that are laying and two older hens. He started taking care of business about 2 wks ago. Even the older BO hen has accepted him. The worst roo I had was a RIR. He would attack me, inanimate objects like the hay cart or the next boxes and anything else he didn't like. An eagle got him. All his son's were rehomed and the two that looked like him were just as bad as he was. I no longer free range. All roos are different. Hope this helps

 

[lizzy14]

I've been wondering these same things and was trying to put those thoughts into questions to post when I can across your post, 2overeasy000! My husband and I just decided a couple of months ago to get chickens and we will be picking up a dozen straight-run chicks in a month. I have been saying I don't want roosters, just hens, because like you I don't want our neighbors to hate us - we already have some mouthy dogs. But some of the people we know who have chickens are like, You've got to have one rooster! Which they don't really mean we have to, but that they wouldn't consider a flock of chickens without one.
So that's gotten me thinking of the benefits, as with your situation, and with 12 chickens, we may just find a friendly rooster of few words among them....
Thank you for posting these questions and to everyone who responded! I think I've read on here somewhere that some night-time crowing roosters respond well, or don't respond I guess

, to darkened coops that keep out light from passing cars and from early sun. Am I remembering incorrectly? Can anyone share an experience like this? Also, does anyone have a link to methods for dealing with aggression in young roosters?

 

[2overeasy]

Even if I didn't want babies, I would want to have a rooster around. As all the other posters stated, it certainly depends on the breed, of course, and there are so many nice ones. I've got a Barred Rock roo and he is definitely the "man of the house!" I hand raised him so he is very sweet, too. I've heard BO's make nice roosters, too. I'm expecting some BO hatching eggs this week and I believe I'll probably keep a roo with the right temperament. With upwards of 30 hens, I can afford another rooster.
Yes, there is alot of crowing (and he always seems to know when I'm on the phone, too!). But, I love the sound.
Another thing I love about roosters and they are usually more beautiful than the hens of their breeds so it's nice to look on a manly specimen of your fav breed!
Nice user name, by the way!

 

[turbodog]

Quote:
There are lots of threads about dealing with problem roosters. Just do a search.

Someone else here posted this link. maybe it'll be useful to ya.

http://shilala.homestead.com/roosters.html

 

[2overeasy000]

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Haha. We were actually thinking about alpacas.