Thank you for the answer(s) to my question. Very informative. My parents did raised flower beds at their place when they moved to KY. They were in a trailer park, and rented the lot they lived on, which was low, and stayed flooded most of the rainy season. They didn't want to sped a fortune bringing in dirt to elevate it, since they didn't own it. I know their soil was more of a clay, and totally different from what we have here in our area of FL. I didn't really consider the temperatures as a factor, since we don't get the cold temperatures down here, like you do up there, but it makes sense.
It would be foolish to lend a rooster to someone, for a multitude of reasons. They might consider Artificial Insemination. It's my understanding that A.I. is not very difficult. You are correct that hens don't always readily accept just any rooster, and vice versa.