Should I get a Rooster?

[BigChickenLittleChicken]

We got a mixed run of 12 this April, ended up with seven roo's and five hens. We gave away six of the roo's and kept our favorite, a very gentle, quiet, dark brahma (standard). We have neighbors on both sides. My coop and run face away from both. No one has been woken yet by him and he doesn't seem to bother them, they mostly like to hear him. He has not hurt any of the hens yet, and they seem to be happy with him, occasionally one will not want anything to do with him, but as they have a large yard, they can always get away or distract him to go after another hen who is not so unwilling. We'll see how they neighbors feel this spring when their windows are open and he crows at 5:30. I still like my neighbors, even though their dog barks, I'm confident they'll put up with my roo.
I couldn't imagine our flock without him, he runs to us when we come out the back door hoping for treats, and all the hens follow. He'll sit on the deck, 2' from our dog, and just relax in the sun, watching his girls. He's never been aggressive, and he's gentle when taking food from my hand (unlike the barred rock hen, ouch!) I've had three stray cats in the backyard and by the time I got outside, the cats were running for their lives, though I'm not sure if it has been the rooster who has driven them off.
I think my experience would be entirely different, if the flock was limited to their coop and run. I think he would go crazy if he didn't have so much space, and my hens would be his outlet. So my take is, if you want a roo and just a few hens, they should have lots of room.

 

[churchx3]

I got a rooster early this year when I started my flock...he was a BR rooster and grew into a beautiful rooster...he did crow off and on through out the day but I did like hearing it...my teenage girls who slept in late, not so much! I did rehome him once he started to mate because I did not want babies and I did not like the girls being terrorized constantly by mating...I have had no rooster now for several months and the girls do just fine without him.

 

[lauriej57]

I like to have a rooster, not only because I like to hear them crow, which some of them will do at anytime of the day or night, but because i do free range my flock several times a week, and a good rooster is a great protector. I have had 2 now, that have given their life protecting their flock.

It's also really hard to find a good rooster, and very hard to rehome a rooster. I had a Rhode Island Rooster who was ok, but rough on the girls, never attacked me, but looked at me in a way that gave me chills, I was always waiting for that first time to attack me. Took me 3 months to find him a new home. I have a really great roo right now, a speckeld sussex, easy on the girls, loves me, but he's only 7 months old, and I know that by spring, that could all change.

I would wait on getting a rooster if I were you, especially being a new flock owner. Get used to and enjoy your flock, then make the decision next year. find out if your ordinances allow you to have roosters, and make sure your neighbors won't mind the crowing. They will often crow in the middle of the night, but my experience has been that something has disturbed them, whether it's something they should be distrubed about, or we should be, is a question. I know if I hear mine in the middle of the night, I always get up and check it out.