Tell me why you keep Roosters...

[buttercup95]

what a good boy, yeah if my boy ever turns aggressive i wont mind at all.. i'm used to aggressive roosters to be honest i find them alot of fun cause i will spurr with aggressive ones i will put my **** kickers on and strap my riding spurs on and fight along with them then usually scoop them up and handle them.. once an agressive rooster i've noticed is in somebodies arms they actually calm down.. i guess my roosters were aggressive to my mothers co-worker when he was watching over them at his house for me when i was in the middle of building there new coop all summer they had there tiff's but he said they ended up coming to an understanding and now i guess he misses my rooster.. he's the kind of man that doesnt like them but he fell for my boys

Yep I wouldn't keep a mean rooster. It's too dangerous and I like my chickens to be on the nicer side. It's one thing if it's fighting with another rooster, but the moment it fights with me it gets eaten. I figure why rehome a mean rooster if there's a possibility it could hurt someone else or hurt their chickens. I will sell roosters that I just have too many of if they're not mean and good breeding.

 

[Shabana]

I currently have 1 Rooster who is called 'Slipper'. He is a lemon millefleur sablepoot and a sweetheart.
When I went to buy the 3 of them (2 hens and himself) they were in a state. Slipper had been kept in a tiny tiny run with another rooster and was badly wounded and had scaley leg and one hen in particular was terribly ill and had lost her sight in one eye. I bought them anyway and got them out of there.
Slipper and Flipflop stayed together in my really massive poorly pen with their own coop and Mrs Boots who wasnt too badly off joined my bantam flock and soon became a happy little confident hen.

Slipper never leaves Flipflops side. He is devoted to her. When she was gravely ill he would fetch bugs for her and sit beside her, and now that they are both fully recovered they are always to be found together. Slipper likes to eat first and flipflop lets him and then he calls her over and she preens him.
They will both sit on my knee and chat to me

Based on witnessing this remarkable relationship between them I have decided to keep as many of my little baby boy chicks as I can as I have 3 flocks without a man around at the moment.
What if they become aggressive ? Well I don't have any young children, mine are all grown, and they have plently of space so I would say they are just doing their job. There's plenty of advice here to help you become the alpha of your flock.

I,m converted. I wouldn't be without them now

 

[old1953]

If a predator goes after the flock, chances are pretty good he'll take a rooster and leave you the egg layers.

 

[buttercup95]

If a predator goes after the flock, chances are pretty good he'll take a rooster and leave you the egg layers.

Why would he take a rooster? To shut him up?

edit- I only ask because I've never had that kind of luck. If there's a predator they eat my hens before my roosters

 

[old1953]

One fertile rooster should be plenty for a flock of 15 or 20 hens.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

I am so glad to see this topic as I too have a poor hen/roo ratio. I am trying to build it up but it takes time and money. I started with two adult hens that adopted me fromtheneighbors and bought four straightrun chicks. Go figure now have three roos but love each one. Yes they chest bump and hackle occasionally but like an idiot i yell at them tostop and so far sogood. Am hoping that because they are Cochin Bantam and purported to be one of the more docile breeds that maybe it will work out. My neighbor will take any excess roos gladly but they cull roos every year as they have over 30-40 birds and dont get attached. Am up to 6 hens now and trying to add more slowly but as i said it takes time and money. And some know how. i bought three at auction and was a mistake. Apparently one hen is "long in the tooth" and was a breeding hen so she has lived her whole life in a cage. The other two were supposedly good egg layers but upon looking atthem I would bet my bottom dollar that they are both still babies and haven't laid a single egg. So may try chicks again in the spring so i can get the Cochin type again as i love the four that i have. But yes I have three roos and so far at four almost five months they aren't mature but they are starting to try to be and are really adding to the dynamic of the group while free ranging. I hope that they will protect thegirls while out and so far they seem to. Knock on wood i have not lost a bird yet. Thank god for this forum though because its been a close call a few times

 

[backyardkenosha]

Other than they are almost as good as a dog around and they do provide tons of laughs I don't keep them

 

[mark18]

Should I keep my 3 rooster or move um away from the hens they don't need protection cause they never free roam and would I get more eggs

 

[andymacmacca]

I

Some of my mild mannered roos are 4 years old. Never had any people aggression with them. The moment they are they are stew.

If however you see aggression towards people in a roo deal with him before it breeds or your next generation will be just as nasty.

I once had an aggressive roo and he ended up producing a single rooster offspring which could not have been if different nature to the father he was a gentle giant he was bigger than his dad and at first I was a little frightened in the end I think the father may have been a bit disabled as he only lasted about 3 years and he started shaking and falling over whatever it was it wasn't contagious as the other hens lasted quite a few years longer. I also believe it depends on your interactions with the flock too and. How they are reared

 

[KodiPie]

My "Bill" is great! Most mornings when i open the run door to let him and my hens
out for the day he wants to attack the hens. I don't know why he is so mean in the morning
he is only 6 mos old and he is huge. I have had him since he was three days old and hand
feed him scratch every morning. I keep a squirt gun of water handy and he understands the word "NO".
I have 6 hens and "Bill" when he and the girls are out of the run, he is a great guard for them.
He warns them with a growl and starts flapping his wings. I am going to keep him, if he really gets bad
he knows what will happen to him as I do tell him every time if he is bad.


Have a great Day everyone! Kodi.........