Tell me why you keep Roosters...

[gimmie birdies]

I have roosters in my flock I plan on keeping some they are this years roosters. I did make the mistake of culling a rooster I liked, because he was chasing and beating up the other roosters, but after I culled him, then the other roos became a problem he was keeping the peace.. So I culled all the roos. and just have babies now. I have more time to spend with them and will cuddle them make them tame this works for me and if it doesn't the roosters are soup.. I have a rooster bedtime box that I put my roosters in at night, it keeps them quiet, and the light out so I never have a problem sleeping at 4:00 am good luck with your boys!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

A breeding trio in a pen is common. It's when you have a whole flock all together and the rooster/hen ratio is off that you may get trouble.

The 10 hen, 1 rooster ratio is to assure fertility across several hens; any more and you might have some eggs not fertilized.

For sheer flock management by the rooster, not people or for breeding, necessarily, you could have fifty hens and one rooster and he would be a very happy fellow. The gals would be happy, too. Not all the hens would be guaranteed to lay fertile eggs, though. And some hens might wander a tad too far away for the roo to protect, if they range freely.

We have 60+ hens and one adult rooster right now. There's a cockerel in there too, and he's juuuust getting to be mature enough to mount hens. All the hens are doing just fine, but we don't know which eggs are fertile and which aren't. The rooster ignores the cockerel completely, and the youngster hasn't even tried to threaten the big guy, who outweighs him by several pounds right now.

When we want fertile eggs, we pen up the hens we want to hatch eggs from for three weeks, then toss in the rooster we want for a couple of days, and assume that the eggs are fertile 24 hours after the roo has been introduced. Then we can remove the rooster and continue to collect the eggs for hatching for at least a week and they'll still be fertile. If we're not sure, we'll crack one and check.

 

[newbie32]

We have 60+ hens and one adult rooster right now. There's a cockerel in there too, and he's juuuust getting to be mature enough to mount hens. All the hens are doing just fine, but we don't know which eggs are fertile and which aren't. The rooster ignores the cockerel completely, and the youngster hasn't even tried to threaten the big guy, who outweighs him by several pounds right now.

When we want fertile eggs, we pen up the hens we want to hatch eggs from for three weeks, then toss in the rooster we want for a couple of days, and assume that the eggs are fertile 24 hours after the roo has been introduced. Then we can remove the rooster and continue to collect the eggs for hatching for at least a week and they'll still be fertile. If we're not sure, we'll crack one and check.

HOLD ON! So you are saying that the eggs not yet laid will be fertile in the hen for a week after the rooster has mated?! Why has no one told me this before?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

HOLD ON! So you are saying that the eggs not yet laid will be fertile in the hen for a week after the rooster has mated?! Why has no one told me this before?

Actually, they can store sperm and the eggs can be fertile for three weeks or more. That's why you have to separate the hens from the flock (if you have multiple roosters) for three weeks to empty them out, so to speak, so that you know the resulting chicks are fathered by the rooster you want.

 

[Fancychooklady]

In my breeding pens I keep the ratio 1 - 5 or 6, just to keep the fertility rate up. My Roos always seem to have a favorite hen, when they are free ranging .

 

[newbie32]

Actually, they can store sperm and the eggs can be fertile for three weeks or more. That's why you have to separate the hens from the flock (if you have multiple roosters) for three weeks to empty them out, so to speak, so that you know the resulting chicks are fathered by the rooster you want.

YES!!!!

I only need one roo but I am happy that when I get a broody hen I can just plop however many eggs I want under her!!!

 

[Hinotori]

I keep roosters so I can hatch chicks. My good roosters also keep watch out for hawks. Somehow the silkie rooster sees them first. I think he's psychic. I can use my head rooster to get the hens into a pen from free ranging fast. Just pick him up and put him in the pen and put some scratch down in front of him and he starts calling the girls. The silkie rooster earns his keep by helping raise chicks. He's worth his feed just for that. They can warm under him, and he feeds them long after the hens are tired of them and send them off.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I am saving a baby roo from my last hatch he is 1/2 maran and 1/4 silky/EE bantam mix. here's the mom "Baby Gaga"

he will be a smaller/med. sized roo but not to heavy on my hens and won't rough up their backs so bad. the grandfather was my best roo ever! when he died I pulled an egg out of the fridge, and I got this beauty you see above. She lays blue-green eggs so blended with my other birds the off spring will also have a shade of green. I also plan on keeping any grey roos I have. I have to wait on some of my babies to get older.
I borrowed the dad

he is a blue splash/coo coo maran mix

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

YES!!!!

I only need one roo but I am happy that when I get a broody hen I can just plop however many eggs I want under her!!!

Just remember that the "three weeks or more" is an outlier. Most only store sperm for two weeks, so that's why we separate them for three weeks to make absolutely sure that the male we want is the father of the chicks.

If you're planning to go the broody route, it's great. I highly recommend Dark Cornish. All of mine are from Murray McMurray, so they're hatchery birds. Each goes broody multiple times a year, they can cover 12 eggs at a time, and they are FIERCE protectors of their babies.

I've also found that I get a really good hatch rate under broodies even from shipped eggs. 9 of 12 of my last batch of shipped eggs hatched, and they were badly scrambled in the mail. I would have expected less than 50% to hatch in the incubator.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Just remember that the "three weeks or more" is an outlier. Most only store sperm for two weeks, so that's why we separate them for three weeks to make absolutely sure that the male we want is the father of the chicks.

If you're planning to go the broody route, it's great. I highly recommend Dark Cornish. All of mine are from Murray McMurray, so they're hatchery birds. Each goes broody multiple times a year, they can cover 12 eggs at a time, and they are FIERCE protectors of their babies.

I've also found that I get a really good hatch rate under broodies even from shipped eggs. 9 of 12 of my last batch of shipped eggs hatched, and they were badly scrambled in the mail. I would have expected less than 50% to hatch in the incubator.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing a 50% hatch rate in the bator. I have 4 broody hens hard at work ATM .