Tell me why you keep Roosters...

[wasntme]

I had a Bantam roo up until about a week ago. We had to cull him. He was about 17 weeks old. When he was a chick he was so adorable (when I thought he was a she). The older he got the nastier he got. I at first thought things could work out keeping him around here as my chickens free range, but, he went after my miniature schnauzer and kept challenging me. He got worse by the day so he had to go to roo heaven. I feel horrible but he was getting mean.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I keep my WLH rooster for fertile eggs and he is a pet ( raised him from a chick ).

 

[americanmutt1]

Why we keep them? Hahaha well our first rooster "Mr. Woods" came from the woods behind our house and found our 12 hens
in their coop and decided to stay and be their man! We don't know if someone dumped him or left him and moved away.He looks extremely similar to a black copper maran but I really don't know. Our second rooster baby (huge white rooster with a couple of black spots) came to us as a egg which our little japanese silkie (Tina Turner) sat on until it hatched. Boy were we surprised! So we got Baby 6 red pullets for his own little harem. We keep them seperated after the 2 roosters had their one and only horrible fight. We never wanted them but now that they are here we make the best of it and they are all spoiled. In the future I realize I like having a rooster for the hens. It makes them feel safe and both roosters are great protectors.

 

[BackYardChknLvr]

I agree with people that live in the area's that Roosters arent allowed, to be honest i live in that area. we are only allowed to have 6 hens and no Roosters i have 14 hens and 1 Rooster i lock him up every night in my garage so my neighbors dont hear him crowing at ungodly hrs in the morning.. and all my neighbors are ok with it as long as he is let out after 7am.. I love having my rooster cause he is just a character he is so sweet he's a Silver lace Bearded Polish he had a twin brother but he got sold cause somebody wanted him so bad they were willing to pay a nice price for him.. He takes great care of his girls always keeping an eye on them and protects them so well.. cause i've never seen a hawk before around my house till a few weeks ago and he let out a warning call to the girls and they all headed in to the coop area for cover... pluss its just so funny to watch him every morning when i let him out of his cage from the garage he runs to the pin cooing at the girls like he has been away for a life time every day.. I just love roosters i so want more and i'm hoping someday i can sell my home and move to an area that allows me to have more as i want more roosters.. i dont eat the eggs they just sit in my fridge till family members want them or somebody offers to buy them..

Over all Roosters are great and soooooo pritty

 

[harvestmoonGal]

I have read that you should have 1 rooster for every 10 hens. If they have a large area to live in and there is plenty of hens I don't think it will hurt anything. Try to let them free range as much as possible! It will make them happy and will cut the cost of food down.

 

[BackYardChknLvr]

I have roosters for breeding purposes and for their role in the flock and I LOVE to hear them crow. Some breeds are more agressive than others but the main reason that roosters usuallly turn agressive is because the owner made a pet out of them. When we make a pet out of them they loose their fear of us then when the hormones kick in the attacks begin.

I find that not always true.. my two roosters when i had two i just have one now, i raised both of them from eggs and there both over a year old hormones have kicked in at high intensity and there both sweet as can be. well the one i have still is a sweet heart he will come sit on my lap with one of his favorite girls all the time and coo up to her and me. he's never shown any aggression to me what so ever. he only try's to hit on me by dancing around me i will take him on car rides cause he loves to put his head out the window he's just like a kitty cat and falls asleep as i pet and scratch him all over.. and he is my PET..

 

[dutchbunny83]

Thanks!

Roosters are definitely pretty and I would love to make my own egg combinations.
But we are in the city, so no roo's for me!
(Besides the meat birds of course)

 

[SunnySkies]

Small children and roosters don't mix well. I'd never hold my kids prisoner on their own property due to the possibility of an animal attacking them, roosters gotta go. Day old chicks are a great way to add to a flock, that way you (usually) get all females and don't have to deal with this rooster thing again down the road. Chickens in a backyard flock are meant to be enjoyed, not stressed over.

I have two roosters I will never get rid of....they both will chase off the younger roosters if they are too close to my kids! Even though they are just mutts, and I have to be careful to not mix them with my purebred birds, these guys have a home for life after they defended my younger two from a rooster that has since met the crock pot.

I keep roosters because we free range, I like them, and I like how the hens are looked after, with the roos offering the best treats and making sure they all stay together. If my birds were kept penned, I might forego the pleasure of looking at a lovely bird.

I have four delightful boys right now, with two more growing up, and one going to freezer camp with the meaties for aggression. He was never handled, but from day one was always kind of aggressive.

 

[Bjamin]

I just started our little flock in May, we bought 10 sexed day olds, they gave us 11, all hens. Then we went to the mt Forest fur and feather show and picked 8 more, choose at your own risk , 4 of 4 Arucana turned out to be roo's, 2 of 3 welsummer morans roo's, and one tiny little brown silkie called Daisy. My father in law picked up a 2month old silkie roo "Reggie" aka little big guy , who ended up at my place once he figured out how to crow.

So I now have a 7 to13 ratio of frisky teens in one very large run, so far it's not to bad. One of the arucana hops the fence on a daily to wander the whole yard and a bit of the forest, or hang out with the horse.

 

[Bjamin]