Thinking about getting a rooster...

[bp11chickens]

I have 11 1 year old black Australorp girls, and have been learning the whole year. So, in the beginning I tried to keep them in the run. That did NOT work to well

. So, I put up a fence so that the could have a bigger run when I was home, and a smaller, more secure run for when I was not. Well, even though I clipped one of every single chicken's wings, they still get out. Because of this I am thinking about getting a rooster for protection. I still don't know if I should or not though. If i do, I am thinking about getting a: Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Lavender Orpington, Buckeye, or a Blue Orpington. My question is, should I get a roo? And if I do, which one of the above breeds do you recommend? Also, if you have a favorite breed of roo, what is it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only real reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference.

There are many people that would not dream of letting their flock range without a rooster, while others are quite happy to not have a rooster with their free-ranging flock. I always have a rooster but that’s because I want fertile eggs, not for any protection reasons.

The dominant rooster has certain duties in the flock. His job is to keep all eggs fertile, watch for danger and sound the alarm, find the hens food, break up fights, and generally take care of his flock. In the absence of a dominant rooster, the dominant hen may take on some or most of these duties. Or maybe not.

Not all roosters do all these things equally well. Most will position themselves between their flock and danger, but once a threat is identified, most I’ve had are more likely to lead their flock to safety rather than stay in the most dangerous position. Some roosters will attack a threat and sacrifice themselves for the flock, but I’ve never lost a dominant rooster to a predator. I have lost other chickens, including 8 in one dog attack and 5 in another dog attack. In both cases the rooster was unharmed.

If you get a rooster the flock dynamics will change. The rooster will dominate the hens and mate with them. That really upsets some members on here as you can see from many threads about that. Some people will scare you with stories of human-aggressive roosters, over-mated hens, barebacked hens, many things that show a rooster is just pure evil. You can have problems with a rooster, that’s why I always suggest you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. But many of us have roosters without any of those problems. I do think space influences that. If your space is tight, you are more likely to see problems.

If you decide you will feel better with a rooster, go for it. Many people fall in love with theirs. Unless you want to hatch eggs, it doesn’t matter which of those roosters you get. How good a flock master he is will depend on the individual much more than the breeds you mentioned. Get one you think is pretty. Even if you want to hatch eggs it doesn’t really matter unless you are just in love with black. Even then, with most of those roosters with your black Australorp hens the first generation will be mostly if not all black. But in a couple of generations you could get some really interesting colors and patterns. And get a rooster that is a year old, not a young one. That will help with integration.

I don’t know what your fence looks like or how big an area you fenced in, so I can’t give any recommendations on how you might improve that. But you may gain more in security with a good fence than with a rooster.

 

[PrairieChickens]

A rooster for protection is a good idea. This time of year, you can usually rescue a lucky lad from the panfry bin for a real bargain, too. That's how we got our Easter Egger rooster "Gryffindor"--my mom saw him, fell in love with his unique coloring, and brought him home. As far as aesthetics go, EE's are without a doubt my favorite roosters, and Gryffindor does a fine job as flock protector--I once saw him try to take on a military helicopter that was flying overhead. Pretty much any breed will serve you equally well, however.

There are possible challenges with rooster ownership, but of the many roosters I've owned over the past few years, only two were people aggressive. The rest have been absolute gentlemen.

 

[red horse ranch]

I have 11 1 year old black Australorp girls, and have been learning the whole year. So, in the beginning I tried to keep them in the run. That did NOT work to well

. So, I put up a fence so that the could have a bigger run when I was home, and a smaller, more secure run for when I was not. Well, even though I clipped one of every single chicken's wings, they still get out. Because of this I am thinking about getting a rooster for protection. I still don't know if I should or not though. If i do, I am thinking about getting a: Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Lavender Orpington, Buckeye, or a Blue Orpington. My question is, should I get a roo? And if I do, which one of the above breeds do you recommend? Also, if you have a favorite breed of roo, what is it?

I would recommend that you only have one rooster to avoid male fighting problems. I have had a lot of really good roosters over the years. I think the best has been an Orpington. Color is just a matter of preference. I have a white Orpington rooster now that is 4 1/2 yrs old and he doesn't have an aggressive bone in him. But I've also had some very easy going Australorps. I have one now along with my 5 other roosters.
I agree that you should get a mature one between 9 months and 1 1/2 years old. By then you know what their personality is and whether they are aggressive. If someone is giving one away find out Why? Every breed has good ones and problem ones. A rooster will get a rush of hormones as he matures around 4 to 5 months old. And even good ones may go a little wild with it for a while. That's why it's a good idea to get one a little older.
I can't imagine NOT having my roosters. It's such a pleasure watching their courtship of the hens. My roosters are always watching for danger and will sound an alarm if even a bird flies over. Maybe they won't meet danger head on to protect their girls but that alarm call will send all the hens scurrying for cover. And I've never lost a chicken to a predator in almost 10 yrs of having chickens.
Hearing them crow is the sweet sound of country to me.

 

[Sarevan]

I wanted a rooster too, the first one we tried was a speckled sussex about 2yo. He was beautiful! After he was introduced to our ladies he became a demon, he was damaging the girls and beating them into submission. The last straw was when he went for my niece and went for my face, if it weren't for my hood he would've done damage. He wasn't a good protector, didn't sound any alarm, was a greedy pig didn't tell the girls about any goodies. He went to the pot.

Our second current try is our Dino, he is a year old buff orpington rooster. Same age as our girls we have a mix of hens, california greys, welsummer, leghorn, and EE's. They LOVE him, listen to him, gather around him, keep him in sight when in big run. He is a wonderful roo. It is a HUGE difference! He is still getting his technique down, he had been an extra roo so was chased away from breeding from the alpha roo. The previous owners had him from egg, but didn't want such a large roo, so we got him.

Dino sounds alarm, has even alerted when stray dogs were around the run and he placed himself between the hens and dogs. (Heavy wire fencing they couldn't get in but barking and attempting to dig in) I chased the dogs off, and one will never leave. Dino, calls the girls for treats or when he finds a tasty bug. Has arranged a nest for them, sings when they lay an egg, sits and grooms with them. Hasn't really picked a favorite for his attentions, spreads it around equally.

He doesn't mind when the girls have to be picked up and given the weekly beak to tail weekly exam or checking for an egg problem. He doesn't throw a fit when it is his turn to be checked over, will lay calmly on his side to have his feathers checked for parasites, lets us open his mouth for exam, lifting his tail to check vent area causes some clucking but no flapping. Checking his feet and spurs, even trimming his claws has been no problem. I have been able to trim his claws solo with no one holding him still.

He has impressed us so much we went and got some buff orpington chicks so he will have a total of 20 girls when they are mature. We will divide the coop in half so the new ones will have a side of their own and a run that is seperate. We will switch him between the two groups so he isn't overworked all at once. I think he will be in Roo heaven. We are hoping the chicks will have some broodies so they will reproduce on their own with no incubator.

If you really want a roo, try them out, but be prepared for a bad one, when you find a good one you will be so happy, besides the girls!!

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Good points ridgerunner.

I think alot of the rooster success has to do with his temperment, and of course, varying other factors. I keep 5 roosters.....2 in sep breeding pens, and the 3 in the main pen. There are only 2 I have to keep separated. The are the breeding roosters....so they are dominant to their hens and territory. But, only to each other. With the main roo, in the main flock...they do defer to him.
It is interesting to watch flock dynamics. Especially since I myself had never been around chickens till 2011. I had no preconceived notions or previous experience about anything chicken!

I have noticed they all work jointly to sound predator alarms. The roosters keep their little flocks apart on our acre, for the most part. I can let most of them our to free range at the same time. All except those 2 boys

But they are mostly comical to watch. And none have been people aggressive so far.

Oh...those roosters?..... the aggressive ones..... were mighty tasty.

 

[GD91]

I couldn't imagine not having a rooster.... but I've never not had a roo!

My story:

I live in a town & was told "You can't keep roosters, they'll wake the neighbors up first thing in the morning!"

But there's always a loophole, right?

My first 4 cockerels I slaughtered before I could get complaints. It was a terrible shame, 3 of them were very sweet & well behaved & would have done well if managed properly.

We moved home & I had one cockerel left. He was another sweet boy, a medium "mutt" cockerel that randomly hatched in the incubator with another cockerel (already slaughtered).

And I felt very annoyed. WHY was I having to kill all of my cockerels? Surely there was a way to manage these boys? I don't mind slaughtering unwanted cockerels, but these cockerels WERE wanted. I wanted fertile eggs in the future & for that I NEEDED a cockerel unless I was going to fork out on Ebay for fertile eggs.

So DH asked when I was planning to slaughter Alvin (our roo). I replied soon & retired to the PC to research. Alvin was shut in a shed outside with the hens & I needed to search for some answers.

I discovered birds can be trained. Not quite dog trained, but trained non the less. Also I read about keeping them in a dark, quiet space.

Then an idea came to me, What if I brought Alvin indoors every night at 9pm & put him in a cat carrier under the stairs where it is pitch black & then the neighbors won't hear him even if he did crow?

So I did. I also began catching him & telling him off for crowing & rewarding quiet behavior.

I'm pleased to say it worked, my cockerel is now a happy rooster who knows that bedtime is when he is put under the stairs. He doesn't crow at all until midday the next day if you drastically oversleep & my friend commented on how quiet he was compared to 2 months ago.

I just open the back door & then open his door & the carrier door & say "Good morning Alvin!" & he bobbles out making happy sounds & walks happily up the garden with you to let the hens out.
If I forget about him at night he leaves the hens in the coop & makes his way across the garden (in the dark!) to the backdoor & taps on it until you let him in. If not, THEN he will crow to be let in.

My rooster protects his hens, sounds the alarm, feeds them & keeps order, fertilizes the eggs, puts the hens away at night (otherwise they just stand in the garden) & at night he has a personality change, becomes a house pet & generally sits on your lap or tries to wriggle up your jumper if he's cold.
Also, my neighbors love him & love how they don't hear a thing at night!

For me, all the good birds I had far outweighed the bad & a rooster is a big ball of feathered personality.

Keeping a rooster indoors at night is very easy if you need to keep them quiet & all you need is a small dark space to put them. I would love for people to have a respite from having to slaughter their town hatched cockerels....

Also my DH is now very fond of him to.... You just have to love those birds.

However my roo has lead my hens OVER the fence before now..... terrified my neighbor because she nearly let her dog in the garden & just spotted them hanging out on the fence. Having a roo won't keep your hens in.

I know from experience!