Sad hens, lost our Roo should I get a mature Roo or a younger one?

[CAjerseychick]

Sooooo.. long story but now we have no Roo. And Big Roo (splendid Jersey Giant) really took care of hens, herded them about and let them know where the treats were.
He was from a batch of 6 two week old breeders chicks we picked up and then mixed into a dozen day old hatchery Jersey giants,,,,(over time of course)...
There are 9 18 month old hens and 2 pullets from the July hatch left.
Of the original 6 from the Roos hatch, only one big girl is left and she is sitting despondently out back with 1 other little hatchery bird that was the broody mama to his chicks... these two seem really lost ... the others are foraging about in little groups of 3 and 4 about our 2 acre yard (this is worryisome to me, we hadnt had predation - except from our 80lb puppy... before)....

SO anyone? pros and cons? I see alot of 1 and 2 year old Roos advertized, and some that are just a few months old as well...
all I know is I want some sort of standard size breed (saw a Maran roo advertised and that appealed to me, it would increase the eggs right and not so huge.. his size was an issue as he could not fly or get to feeder the other hens ate from)....no unusual looking birds for me....

Or should I get a pair of Roos? To increase the odds for my hens getting protected?- they free range about the coops is always open for them if they choose though....

 

[saltandpepper2]

Sooooo.. long story but now we have no Roo. And Big Roo (splendid Jersey Giant)  really took care of hens, herded them about and let them know where the treats were.
He was from a batch of 6 two week old breeders chicks we picked up and then mixed into a dozen day old hatchery Jersey giants,,,,(over time of course)...
There are 9 18 month old hens and 2 pullets from the July hatch left.
Of the original 6 from the Roos hatch, only one big girl is left and she is sitting despondently out back with 1 other little hatchery bird that was the broody mama to his chicks... these two seem really lost ... the others are foraging about in little groups of 3 and 4 about our 2 acre yard (this is worryisome to me, we hadnt had predation - except from our 80lb puppy... before)....

SO anyone? pros and cons? I see alot of 1 and 2 year old Roos advertized, and some that are just a few months old as well...
all I know is I want some sort of standard size breed (saw a Maran roo advertised and that appealed to me, it would increase the eggs right and not so huge.. his size was an issue as he could not fly or get to feeder the other hens ate from)....no unusual looking birds for me....

Or should I get a pair of Roos? To increase the odds for my hens getting protected?- they free range about the coops is always open for them if they choose though....

I'm so sorry that you lost your rooster! Well, if your chicken free range, I would definitely recommend another rooster. My experience is that they really do help. I would go for a rooster that is similar to the age of your hens, and no smaller than they are. This should help the integration of the flock. I would not get two roosters. I have 15 chickens. 3 of those are roosters. Though they do work well in protecting my flock. My hens have taken a beating from over mating, and the roosters are always getting into scuffles. As for breed of rooster. I have a ten lbs marans rooster. He is my fav by far. He is large, sweet tempered, and takes good care of my hens. I also have a 12 lbs buff orpington rooster. While he is large, he is the most timid of the roosters, and the toughest on the hens. Size does not mean that it will be a better bird! Hope this helps ,

 

[Mrs. K]

I really don't think a rooster is very good at flock protection until he is about a year old. So if flock protections is what you want, you might go with an older flock. Don't get a mean one, and by getting an older roo, people tend to know how he behaves to people.

 

[CAjerseychick]

We dont really need a flock protector (the dogs do that, the only chickens we have lost in 2 yrs have been while training new dogs to chicken and currently we have an 80 lb puppy going thru this transitition, I gave pup more freedom and we lost the Roo, so lesson learned (sad face)...).....

I was just seeing that my Flock misses their roo for cohesiveness, etc....plus we want to hatch out chicks in the spring (no incubator)....

Maybe I will go for the Maran Blue Roo (he is a year old so inbetween the ages of the hens) I saw advertised, he is $15 but it may be worth it, thx for the input....

 

[BrickWall Honey]

I would go for a 4-6 month older then your current hens for a new addition.