Thinking of getting a rooster! Advice?

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

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

I second Folly’s thoughts, especially about the disease risk. As someone who was burned big time by the introduction of birds with Marek’s to our flock and the subsequent loss of many beloved chickens, disease prevention and biosecurity have become foremost on my mind.

 

[CannedMonster]

Please please consider a bantam rooster!
I find them easier to handle, very alert with excellent instincts and they don’t ruin the hens feathers from breeding.

Many people are looking for half & half (half standard/half bantam) chicks too.
They like that they lay a larger egg than a bantam but eat less feed than a standard sized bird.

My best rooster was a bantam Dark Brahma.
Hector was amazingly sweet and totally unaggressive.

I currently have a bantam porcelain D’Uccle cockerel and 2 bantam Cochins. These guys are young and the hens are teaching them some manners lol.

 

[Folly's place]

Because I'm paranoid about biosecurity, only chicks hatched here, or bought from good hatcheries, ever come here. I enjoy raising the cockerels, and selecting the keepers. You will need a plan for the other ones though. Still safer than an outside bird...
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Next time, EpiPen and immediate hospital trip; what does his doctor say about it? Now he has a history, and should have actual directions from his specialist.
Mary

 

[Henriettamom919]

Please please consider a bantam rooster!
I find them easier to handle, very alert with excellent instincts and they don’t ruin the hens feathers from breeding.

Many people are looking for half & half (half standard/half bantam) chicks too.
They like that they lay a larger egg than a bantam but eat less feed than a standard sized bird.

My best rooster was a bantam Dark Brahma.
Hector was amazingly sweet and totally unaggressive.
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I currently have a bantam porcelain D’Uccle cockerel and 2 bantam Cochins. These guys are young and the hens are teaching them some manners lol.
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Next time, EpiPen and immediate hospital trip; what does his doctor say about it? Now he has a history, and should have actual directions from his specialist.
Mary

@ChooksNQuilts , what BEAUTIFUL boys! What kind of cross is the buff gentleman at the bottom of those pictures?

@Folly's place He had an epi-pen; his condition was known. My mother in law was him and his brother, my nephews, while his parents were visiting family in Florida. We all got together for dinner and I was playing with the boys and he kept complaining that his throat and belly hurt. I asked mother in law and she said he'd had "too many scratchy foods, a granola bar followed by wheat thins." She kept trying to make him drink ice water. I noticed his cheeks were splotchy and checked the ingredients on both snacks and was peanuts were the THIRD ingredient in the granola bar!!! I called his mom (she's a nurse at Seattle Children's hospital) and she stayed on the phone while I did the epinephrine shot. He got better quickly but an hour later had rebound symptoms so I called 911 and rode in the ambulance with the poor little guy. They did an IV and pushed more epi and benadryl. The hospital doc. Added steroids because he was developing hives like crazy even after the epinephrine. Thank God his parents are back today!

 

[Chickassan]

See this kind of thing is why the shirt was even born, that and epi pens cost more than a weeks groceries even way back then.
It might actually be worth a disowning lol!
Really though thank goodness you were there, little guy would have been in a bigger pickle if you hadn't been.

I love this! My mother in law would disown me, though. She's mortified this happened on her watch and to say she doesn't handle teasing well is an understatement.

Yeah, it was scary because I gave him his epi-pen while Face-timing with his mom (poor kids parents are in Florida) and he was improving initially. I set him up with a movie in my phone and my mother in law is useless in a crisis so I keep checking on him every 5 minutes or so. 45 minutes AFTER his epi I check in on him, he's asleep at this point, and his eyelids are swelling, hives all over his face and body! That's when I called 911. The entire time MIL is pacing saying she'll just drive him to the hospital This from the woman who does 38 mph on the freeway! Not a good plan

 

[Henriettamom919]

See this kind of thing is why the shirt was even born, that and epi pens cost more than a weeks groceries even way back then.
It might actually be worth a disowning lol!
Really though thank goodness you were there, little guy would have been in a bigger pickle if you hadn't been.

My college degree is in medical billing and medical administrative which meant a semester of both anatomy and medical terminology and disease and pathology. Add to that caring for a terminally ill parent for five years and anyone would come out handy in a medical crisis.

I think I might have the tee shirt made and just leave it on her porch She'd suspect but have no proof it was me as everyone saw the ambulance and knows what happened!

 

[Folly's place]

She sure should be aware now!
Glad things worked out well in spite of it all, what a miserable experience.
Totally the wrong kind of adventure, for sure.
Mary

 

[CannedMonster]

@ChooksNQuilts , what BEAUTIFUL boys! What kind of cross is the buff gentleman at the bottom of those pictures?

@Folly's place He had an epi-pen; his condition was known. My mother in law was him and his brother, my nephews, while his parents were visiting family in Florida. We all got together for dinner and I was playing with the boys and he kept complaining that his throat and belly hurt. I asked mother in law and she said he'd had "too many scratchy foods, a granola bar followed by wheat thins." She kept trying to make him drink ice water. I noticed his cheeks were splotchy and checked the ingredients on both snacks and was peanuts were the THIRD ingredient in the granola bar!!! I called his mom (she's a nurse at Seattle Children's hospital) and she stayed on the phone while I did the epinephrine shot. He got better quickly but an hour later had rebound symptoms so I called 911 and rode in the ambulance with the poor little guy. They did an IV and pushed more epi and benadryl. The hospital doc. Added steroids because he was developing hives like crazy even after the epinephrine. Thank God his parents are back today!

That young buff fellow is Ziggy.
He’s my 3 1/2 month old bantam Cochin cockerel. He doesn’t have all his adult plumage yet. He thinks he’s the man lol.
He harasses the pullets the most.

I have to say, as someone who has multiple food allergies/intolerances (non-life threatening), I don’t understand why people don’t read labels or have any clue about what they’re eating or serving to others.
It’s truly mind-boggling.
Glad to hear the youngster pulled through.

 

[Folly's place]

So true!
Mary