Thinking of getting a rooster! Advice?

[Henriettamom919]

I'd really like to get a rooster for several reasons:

1) Chicken math!
2) Protection
3) Have increased our flock size
4) Eventually chicks!

Ideally he'd eventually be in charge of all seven. My hens are 11 months old and consist of 2 barred rocks and one Buff Orp. My pullets are about 10-12 weeks old and are 1 blue Andalusian, 1 EE, 1 RIR & 1 Ameraucana.

My biggest concern is integrating him into my layer flock of three, initially. Am I better off getting a young roo and letting them accept him before his hormones kick in? Would an older roo come to accept my pullets once I integrate them or will I need a rooster just for them?

Breed ideas? Or maybe just "No, Heather, don't do it! You're crazy!"

 

[Mrs. K]

If you can get your druthers, I would want a rooster that is as close to a year old as possible. By then, you can kind of see what kind of rooster he is going to be. The rooster you want is one that has been raised in a multi-generational flock, and was so nice, they could not quite cull him.

Thing is, having a rooster should also mean having a sharp knife. Roosters are a crapshoot, and a lot of them do not work out. If you have a good one, they are the most wonderful thing, if you have a rotten one they are a nightmare, and they can go from one to the other, in what seems like a blink of an eye. You need to be able to dispatch a violent, human aggressive rooster.

Juvenile roosters tend to be brave and out going. People often mistake that for friendliness as in a puppy. They tend to think if they are nice to the darling, he will be nice back. But those birds have no respect for humans, and can become aggressive as they have no or little fear of humans. If you do get a young rooster, do not make a pet of it, and make sure it respects you enough, to stay about 5-6 feet away from you. Watch for sneaky behavior, such as always getting behind you, excessive crowing, or fluffing up or flapping his wings at you. All signs that he is thinking of taking you on.

I would wait until your current pullets are close to laying. Adding a mature rooster, is the easiest single bird addition there is, you put him in, there is great excitement, a few skirmishes and they are all in love before morning. Although a mature rooster will mostly ignore pullets, until they start to redden up in the combs and wattles, a juvenile rooster will harass the pullets. A juvenile rooster will want to breed anything, and will tend to bully the pullets, as the older girls will not allow him to do anything.

Adding a rooster really does change the flock dynamics, they no longer look to you, they look to him, and he will tend to stand between you and the girls. They seem to become a little more stand-offish.

If you have children under the age of 6, I would not recommend you getting a rooster. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of kids. Get down on your knees, and you will quickly see that a flying rooster will be at face level. And most people seriously underestimate how violent a rooster attack can be.

There are many aspects to this hobby, and adding the rooster is a good step two. It does change things. Do measure your set up. Too small of a coop and run area can cause problems, and will multiply problems with a rooster. I think roosters need a bit more room.

If you hatch, you need to consider the new roosters that you will be hatching, what will you do with them.

Mrs K

 

[Chickassan]

Crazy girl
I'm not normally a breed thumper, but Faverolles, young Faverolles.
You have a small flock, they aren't humping machines so you're good there.
Aggression iv'e hatched quite a few and only one semi-bad, he was overly hormonal so not bad just double baggage and half brains.
Protection, they won't fight a dang thing BUT they do sound a mean alarm and will lead the ladies away from trouble.
Chicks, this is the best part they tend to care for the broods iv'e never had one rough up the babies.
If you want to chance a rooster a young fella your hens could mold into a proper functional dude and you aren't experienced with roosters this is my recommendation.

 

[cheekychick3]

Hi and you have had, the best advice from, Mrs K. But thought i would add this. lol
Years ago when we had our farm, we also had our girls, free ranging with 3 cockerels.
The boys, got on great together, as they all had their own groups of the girls. So they
did not fight with each other. I think it was because we bred them, and they grew up
together, also made a diffrence. Unless we got lucky. But ROCKY was a huge sussex
boy, he was great with everyone on the farm, bar myself and Mother-in -law, when she
visited. We done nothing to him, but if he saw me coming up the track, in the jeep, he
would hide, anywhere. Then wait until we were in open space, and attack. I mean attack
lol. We were both petrified of him. Many a time i had to run in our greenhouse, stables
pigsty ect. Cause we knew if he could he would cause us damage. So many times i
was locked in anywhere, and my family thought i was either still shopping, or mucking
out ect. There was no way i would dare come out.lol As a few times he attacked me,
and marked me. He would jump on my head, and even yank my hair. lol He was one
crazy boy. But the joke and mainly the cheek of him, there was times, he would be
be loving to us. Reason being our muck heap outside, always had lovely worms. All
our chickens would cluck away, asking me to get the fork, and dig them worms. Of
course i did everytime. lol But soon as Rocky filled his belly, he would give me his special look, as if he was telling me take cover. As i am coming for you, even after digging for
them all. My Mother-in-law would always wear a skirt, and he would creep up behind her,
and jump under her skirt, she be screaming. Wahhh He was a crazy cockerel, but all
said and done, we loved him. Reading your question, brought it all home, my memories of him. Truth is he was always a gentleman to his girls, which mean"t a lot. So we kept
him, (lucky boy) had him for years, and he passed with old age. bless. Like i said Mrs K
has given you the best advice, just wanted to share my memories. lol Hope you do not mind. lol and also thanks for thinking of him. We had a few after him, but there was only one of Rocky. lol Good luck, on what you decide.
R.I.P. ROCKY,

 

[Henriettamom919]

This article may help you decide and work out how you will handle him once you've decided.
@Mrs. K has covered a lot of the factors.
I would go for a rooster over a year old and as Mrs. K mentions, one that has been brought up in a multi generational flock
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

Thank you @Shadrach . I've decided to do some more research and wait until my pullets are a little older. My youngest kidlet is now 13 and I've been caring for my terminally ill mother for 5 years; she passed this last October and I'm looking to go back to work over the summer. I'll try to plan for when I literally won't be here to look after them and try to enjoy my "pet" chickens a little longer while I have the option.

I really appreciate all the honest input!

 

[sealer39]

If your chickens are for egg production, consider a rooster from a breed that produces well. Before you decide on a rooster, google cross breed results to see what your future chicks will be. Ie. Rhode Island Red Rooster x EE hen.

 

[aart]

Another option is to buy some straight run chicks of whatever breed(s) you fancy, and raise a few cockerels, and then pick one or two to keep. Your older hens will keep the younglings in line, and it's helpful in raising good boys for the flock. And fun!
I agree that finding an adult will be very possible, and a very good choice, if you are picky and careful.
Mary

....except that you also risk buying a problem that the sellers(want to get rid of'ers) are not honest about. Not to mention the pests and disease risk.
Straight run chicks would be the best bet...easier to integrate as chicks too.

just double baggage and half brains.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Hi and you have had, the best advice from, Mrs K. But thought i would add this. lol
Years ago when we had our farm, we also had our girls, free ranging with 3 cockerels.
The boys, got on great together, as they all had their own groups of the girls. So they
did not fight with each other. I think it was because we bred them, and they grew up
together, also made a diffrence. Unless we got lucky. But ROCKY was a huge sussex
boy, he was great with everyone on the farm, bar myself and Mother-in -law, when she
visited. We done nothing to him, but if he saw me coming up the track, in the jeep, he
would hide, anywhere. Then wait until we were in open space, and attack. I mean attack
lol. We were both petrified of him. Many a time i had to run in our greenhouse, stables
pigsty ect. Cause we knew if he could he would cause us damage. So many times i
was locked in anywhere, and my family thought i was either still shopping, or mucking
out ect. There was no way i would dare come out.lol As a few times he attacked me,
and marked me. He would jump on my head, and even yank my hair. lol He was one
crazy boy. But the joke and mainly the cheek of him, there was times, he would be
be loving to us. Reason being our muck heap outside, always had lovely worms. All
our chickens would cluck away, asking me to get the fork, and dig them worms. Of
course i did everytime. lol But soon as Rocky filled his belly, he would give me his special look, as if he was telling me take cover. As i am coming for you, even after digging for
them all. My Mother-in-law would always wear a skirt, and he would creep up behind her,
and jump under her skirt, she be screaming. Wahhh He was a crazy cockerel, but all
said and done, we loved him. Reading your question, brought it all home, my memories of him. Truth is he was always a gentleman to his girls, which mean"t a lot. So we kept
him, (lucky boy) had him for years, and he passed with old age. bless. Like i said Mrs K
has given you the best advice, just wanted to share my memories. lol Hope you do not mind. lol and also thanks for thinking of him. We had a few after him, but there was only one of Rocky. lol Good luck, on what you decide.
R.I.P. ROCKY,

This story has me cracking up! Thank you for sharing the adventures of Rocky the Rooster with me

You all, especially @Chickassan and @Mrs. K have given me a lot to think about. I'll be doing more research before making a decision.

I was, naively, thinking of him as an addition that can watch out for my girls when I'm not around but it doesn't sound like it works that way; either he is the guardian or I am. I'm not opposed to that but my girls are my pets, too, and I'm not sure I'm willing to give up that relationship yet.

Thank you all so much!

 

[Henriettamom919]

I hope life shows a brighter side for you in the future.

Thank you! It's already pretty great, even with the sad patches. Helps me to appreciate each and every day with those I love (both feathered, furry and people varieties!) And be grateful for life's little joys!

 

[Biddybot]

Here's another option... Since you have a mix of popular heritage type breeds, there's a pretty wide range of breeds your wanna-be rooster could be that would prove suitable. Why not check around to see who's breeding for the show pen in your area and see if they mightn't have a nice older rooster who's done his part in their breeding programme and who's due to be culled and replaced by a younger, hopefully better-quality bird? If he's been kindly kept with access to the outdoors, his owners should know exactly what he's like as a flock rooster and to handle in general, and if he's REALLY nice, they'll be saddened by the practical need to 'move him along' and will jump at the chance to rehome him to an ideal pet home. You get a beautiful, excellent representative of whatever breed he is and a proven breeder...the former owners feel good about being able to retire an old favourite to someone who'll appreciate him and let him continue doing his rooster thing. I see lots of birds like this offered sporadically throughout the year as show breeders evaluate their new stock and start choosing replacements. An 'old' breeding rooster isn't necessarily all that old, either...often no more than three or four years old. Roosters like this are usually a chinch to integrate, too. They're used to having been caged when shown and switched around between hens. Just make sure you see proof that it really is a friendly rooster and actually in charge of a flock--and something like his owner sending one of his young kids off to where the chickens are foraging to go grab 'Harvey' and bring him over for you to look at and handle for yourself would do it for me--and he should be a good one to try out. Anyway, just another possibility, with fewer risks than usual IMO when it comes to finding a good rooster to add to an established hen/pullet flock. Good luck whatever happens. I have eight roosters myself right now, which is five more than I need, but hey, why not? They're just fun birds to have around--or SHOULD be.