Should I be concerned about my rooster?

[Hope Hughes]

It was hard for me too but I picked the one the gens always flocked to and had the best trates for the girls. He is so protective over them and they always ran to him for anything or to get away from the other roo. I had 3 that grew grew up with my hens. All from different hatched. 2 had to go. Glad we picked "Marlin" to stay he is stuch a good roo to the girls. Had good hatches from him too.

 

[rjohns39]

Well we're known as enablers. Keep the roos and get more hens.

 

[Hope Hughes]

Well we're known as enablers. Keep the roos and get more hens.

Lol if able I would vote this too!!! Haha but be careful I ended up with 50 chickens at once.

 

[Parront]

Brother+Sister mating not the best plan anyway. Unless the breed is special, you do not need any roosters to have a happy laying flock. Small flock, even 1 male could be too many! Roosters taste pretty good at that age!

 

[Hope Hughes]

Brother+Sister mating not the best plan anyway. Unless the breed is special, you do not need any roosters to have a happy laying flock. Small flock, even 1 male could be too many! Roosters taste pretty good at that age!

I agree... We eat all of our roos that we can't rehome or get out of the hatches.

 

[Parront]

Lol if able I would vote this too!!! Haha but be careful I ended up with 50 chickens at once.

Don't I know! I ordered a box of 50 hatchery chicks, ask me how I know what to do with the roosters!

 

[MageofMist]

I have two mature roos and 1 little Scruff who's kinda getting there, but isn't quite there yet. Scruff only crowed once, and when he tries mounting a hen, he gets pecked by said hen. I have 9 hens but oddly enough they don't get over-mated and the roos don't fight over the hens and are very laid back. Though I do have Silkies, so it may depend on breed in the flexibility on how many hens to roos you can have.

Plus I started with a mature hen and rooster, which may have influenced things as they are all related to the starter two. Though it is hard telling who is the top rooster, as Rooroo and Peep-Peep both seem like equals... I am still a tad nervous over how Scruff will shake things up when he reaches full maturity, but so far things are going smoothly.

 

[Hope Hughes]

Don't I know! I ordered a box of 50 hatchery chicks, ask me how I know what to do with the roosters!

Lol we all learn real fast with the roos... we had two and they crowed from like 2 to all day lol and i was pregnant... i was so not having it... and started getting mean...spurred my husband one morning....can you guess where they ended up?

 

[aart]

They are both so nice, one is literally sitting on my lap as I'm typing this lol. Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated

That's the one to get rid of.....'familiarity breeds contempt' can be very true in the chickeneering. Human aggressive males are often the ones who were 'cuddled'.

If this your first flock, might be best to get rid of both.... and maybe get a male with next years chicks.

 

[MageofMist]

That's the one to get rid of.....'familiarity breeds contempt' can be very true in the chickeneering. Human aggressive males are often the ones who were 'cuddled'.

If this your first flock, might be best to get rid of both.... and maybe get a male with next years chicks.

I may be an exception as I have silkies and raised two of my boys from eggs and the other was mature when I got him... But mine are total marshmallows and I snuggle them on pretty much a daily basis. Heck, Peep-Peep who I raised fully from egg to cockerel even defends me when the toe-biting hen attacks my feet. Though I have set myself as above them in the pecking order and lightly poke them, akin to a mother hen's scolding peck, when they misbehave.

Rooroo, who I didn't raise, used to attack me if I handled his hen and she started flapping about. He doesn't anymore with me, but my dad does get attacked by one or two kicks if he messes with the hens and youngsters when they don't want to be handled. My dad finds it amusing though and doesn't correct it like he should when it happens, so I don't see that changing with him.

Scruff, the youngest was co-brooded with me and Hen-Hen and is a little nippy, but I am getting him out of that habit before it sticks. He doesn't like his legs and feet being touched and I know if he ever has mites or any claw and spur problems, I will have to do it... So I pet his legs and feet and lightly poke him on the head when he pecks me, or 'peck' his beak, a thing I learned from my flock as they interacted as another way to show dominance.

He went from biting hard and occasionally trying to mount my hand, trying to show his own dominance, to doing soft little nips that could barely be felt, to just awkwardly standing there and letting me touch his legs and feet. He still nips, but I am making progress.

He still likes being around me even with me messing with his feet every now and then, as this afternoon when I was sitting out with them, Scruff hopped up on my lap for some fussing... Only to get shoved off by a bossy older hen that also wanted a fussing. I eventually got the two of them to co-exist on my lap.