Tell me all about roosters

[IamRainey]

Good advice! I think I'll draft a letter and drop it in the mailboxes of the neighbors who will likely hear him.

I've already e-mailed one set of next door neighbors we're known for 15 years. I know 2 of the neighbors who abut my back fence (closest to the coop) but I don't know them really well and a high fence (not mine) has gone up that prevents direct communication. One of them has chickens himself. He might appreciate some fertilized eggs.

So there are just 2 neighbors I don't really know at all. One is the farthest from me, across my back fence and one property over. Less close than others. The other is my (new) nextdoor neighbor whose actual house isn't too close to the coop. They haven't expressed any interest in having a relationship but we'll see how open they are to a rooster.

I'll draft something that explains how I came to have him and hope for the best.

BTW, once several years ago someone nearby had a rooster. I rather liked the sound myself. Like the horse and the coyotes, it added a note of the natural world to our suburban life. It worked for me. I hope it will for my neighbors.

Thanks for encouraging this approach! I think it's my best bet. And, if it becomes a problem they'll know how to contact me and we'll at least get to deal with it before it gets serious.

 

[aart]

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it...do let us know how it goes.

 

[IamRainey]

Here's my letter. I'd like to know what you think and if you can add some note that might encourage my neighbors to give this a go.

I’m your neighbor at [adress]. I have a small chicken coop with a handful of chickens. They were all intended to be hens and I paid a premium to ensure that all my chicks were female. However, I’ve just discovered that one of them is, in fact, a male.

He’s still young and just beginning to crow. I doubt you’ll hear him at this point. But I don’t know how loud he’ll eventually get.

As I said, I never intended to have a rooster BUT we’re zoned to permit him and he’s actually kind of gorgeous. We also love him.

There are also advantages to having a rooster. He protects his hens and with various predators like coyotes, hawks, raccoons, etc. that’s a big plus. He also fertilizes eggs so we could eventually get chicks with a mama hen to protect them. If you know chickens and how painful the process of integrating new chickens is, you’ll understand what a blessing that is!

All this is to say that I’d like to keep him.

I’ill do what I can to keep the noise factor down. And you can contact me if you find it really intolerable. You can also let me know you’d like to have some fertilized eggs if you think you’d like your own chickens.

Hoping Monsieur Maurice will add a pleasant note of rural life to your suburban one. Fingers crossed!​

 

[New2Chicks97]

Good luck with your boy. I think roosters must be kind of like gambling as you never know whether you have a winner or a loser.

We had a Buff Orpington that we raised from a chick not suspecting that it was a boy. He was awful, aggressive and just plain mean. He went away because I wasn’t going to keep a rooster if he was attacking us.

I wanted a rooster for flock protection when they go out to free range though so so decided to try again. This time I got a 4 month old Swedish Flower Hen cockerel that had been flock raised from a breeder. He is so mellow and hasn’t shown any aggression at all. Half of my girls have put him in his place and he doesn’t mess with them at all. He doesn’t try to breed anyone that isn’t receptive. He always moves out of the way for humans, even my daughter. So far so good. And he is quiet......not a crow out of him yet.

Fingers crossed that we both end up with sweet Roos

 

[IamRainey]

When would I see aggression if it's going to be a problem? At 15 weeks when it's apparent that he's a male and he's beginning to crow, he just walks among the hens or me, if I'm in the coop, without taking undue notice. Is that a good sign?

And if a rooster isn't aggressive will he be valiant in defending his hens?

Here's to wishing you get the right combination of traits! As for me, I think this will be my only rooster experiment. If M. Maurice can't work out I'll stick with hens because that was my original plan.

 

[New2Chicks97]

When would I see aggression if it's going to be a problem? At 15 weeks when it's apparent that he's a male and he's beginning to crow, he just walks among the hens or me, if I'm in the coop, without taking undue notice. Is that a good sign?

And if a rooster isn't aggressive will he be valiant in defending his hens?

Here's to wishing you get the right combination of traits! As for me, I think this will be my only rooster experiment. If M. Maurice can't work out I'll stick with hens because that was my original plan.

All hens was my plan until I had a Hawk try to attack my girls while they were free ranging and I had to chase it off. I think given the right rooster the Hawk wouldn’t have bothered them.

Our previous rooster started out attacking my daughter then slowly moved his way up the human hierarchy to me then my 6’2” husband. He was relentless with my daughter though. To the point where she hated going outside if he was out free ranging. He started his aggressive behavior at around 4 months.

 

[Folly's place]

A cockerel who ignores you and still moves out of your way is being good. May it continue!
There's a big difference, in usefulness and genetically, between a rooster who spends his time stalking and attacking humans, and one who devotes himself to the safety and wellbeing of his flock mates! While he's after humans, he's not watching out for predators, or tidbitting the ladies, or doing any thing useful.
Mary

 

[Fishkeeper]

One thing that can help with young, hormonal roosters is having older hens around who won't tolerate his misbehavior and will keep him in line.

 

[KingTorta69]

A month ago I had a sweet 10 week old little Black Copper Marans pullet named Maude. Maude was pretty and she was developing the prettiest amber colors among the black feathers. So...about a week ago (with the assistance of folks here) I discovered that she was actually Monsieur Maurice.

Today M. Maurice crowed for the first time! Things are moving fast around here! And he had the good manners to do it at about 10:30. Whatta mensch!

So now I need to know all about roosters. I assume he'll become dominant in the flock/s. I have 2 hens that are already about 18 months old. So far they've been the dominant ones. Then I have a second flock of 15 week olds which includes M. Maurice. They've all decided to live together nicely BUT they are 2 distinct flocks inhabiting the same space. What will M. Maurice's relationship to each flock be like?

If he's a late riser -- at least for this morning -- is that likely to be his habit? Because I could live with a bird who crows at 10 and I'd expect my neighbors to learn to live with it too. Even when his crowing achieves it's full volume and resonance.

What does this new talent mean about his maturity and readiness to make natural women of my 2 laying hens?

What else will be new and different or what else should I know to take good care of him and recognize typical rooster behaviors?

Thanks in advance to everyone who shares their expertise so generously!

What we did is we tried to make the coop a little more sound proof so the neighors wont hear it as much, I Have some roosters that are very dominant like lions they will kill any other rooster they see besides hens so if you have any other roosters keep a close eye on them so nothing will happen.

 

[Chickassan]

If he's paying you no attention and going about his day that is a wonderful sign! And yes a non agressive male can still be a wonderful protector. The flock rooster here is extremely non agressive, but that changes towards threats. Smart ones know what is and isn't a threat so they aren't stupidly agressive.

When would I see aggression if it's going to be a problem? At 15 weeks when it's apparent that he's a male and he's beginning to crow, he just walks among the hens or me, if I'm in the coop, without taking undue notice. Is that a good sign?

And if a rooster isn't aggressive will he be valiant in defending his hens?

Here's to wishing you get the right combination of traits! As for me, I think this will be my only rooster experiment. If M. Maurice can't work out I'll stick with hens because that was my original plan.