Thoughts on Roosters??

[LegbarMama]

Just the other day my rooster alerted me to a predator in the yard. A hen got her face scratched up but my rooster managed to scared off the predator so I'd say he's very valuable

 

[wrathsfarm]

The best is when they cram themselves into a nest box built for a bantam or under the mower deck of the rider and start trilling... "Here's a great place to lay !!!" And all his girls are standing around like..... "Seriously?!"
And I never have my phone to get a pic of it. So I just say " Your a corndog, Dude" and keep on going shaking my head with a chuckle.

 

[fluffycrow]

Yes. That's another thing a good male should do. @Shadrach has written an amazing article around this topic, which also includes the egg song. A good (and sometimes experienced) male will recommend nesting sites to the hens, lead them from and away the nests, and guard them if need be

 

[wrathsfarm]

Or the flipside when I walk in the barn and one of them is on a shelf in my nail and screw cabinet. Everything's dumped on the floor. That's a "this is not your room" moment. Can't be too upset, I left the door open.....again.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

I've had chickens now for a few years, but never a rooster. I have a beautiful roo that I am thinking about keeping, but I'm honestly nervous that he's going to end up being aggressive and be more of a headache than he's worth. The main reason I'd keep him is to help protect against predators, but I'm not convinced it will make that much of a difference. Those that have or have had roosters, what are your thoughts on this?

Thank you! How hard was it to find a good roo?

First off, not all roosters are aggressive. One problem with buying adult roosters is you may not know ahead of time if he will be, but you can at least ask. (I'm jumping on this thread a little late, so I hope I'm not repeating or giving thoughts after it doesn't matter.) He is a gorgeous rooster, so I can see wanting to get him, but I personally like getting roosters while they're young and raising them myself. It doesn't always work, but out of the ten or more roosters that I've raised (haven't kept all of them, but I have raised that many) only one was mean.

Second, I have yet to lose any of my chickens to predators. We've just never had that problem, probably because of the dogs. However, I have heard tons of stories from people I know of predators getting into their coops. I've noticed that either the first bird to be killed or even the only bird was their rooster.

I've lived most of my life with chickens, and most of that with roosters. I have only two times that I regretted it. The one rooster that was mean (and we were starting off, so that may have been inexperience) and just this year I had way too many roosters with my hens. That stressed them and they stopped laying. So really, both times that I've had problems have been our fault. I sold the extra roosters and the girls have started laying again.

How hard is it? Well, like I said above, it's easiest to get them as chicks and raise them. Also, the breed you choose makes a difference in personality. Breeds like Australorps, Wyandottes, I think Brahmas, etc. are all docile birds. That combined with giving them lots of attention when they're young and you'll have a wonderful rooster. My all time favorite rooster is an Easter Egger. He's protective of his girls, but does really well with us. In his case, I hadn't had much time to spend with him when he was little, so that was just his personality. Now, I also have a 10-week-old Wyandotte rooster that I got from a friend. A combination of his breed and how much he was handled when he was little and he's the sweetest thing. I'm guessing as he develops he will remain to be a good rooster, but of course I can't know for sure.

Personally, I've found them to be more of a hassle than anything else. I don't free range, so don't need protection. I only add a couple of new chicks every other year, so I don't care about fertile eggs. I hate the incessant crowing. They take up space in the coop that could go to another hen and they eat food but don't make eggs.

Oh! But the crowing is wonderful... at least, when you don't have your five roosters and the neighbors' 8 or more all crowing at 2 in the morning... I don't personally mind the crowing, but I can definitely understand not liking it.

Just be prepared to NOT keep him if he turns out to be a jerk.

Roosters are variable -- some great, some horrible, others somewhere in between.

I definitely agree.

As far as the saddles. I was thinking of getting a couple but they are always fluffing in dirt. I think they would come off. Do they?

Depends on the ones you buy. I bought mine off Etsy and they have been wonderful! https://www.etsy.com/listing/723909633/standard-hen-chicken-saddleapron-denim?ref=yr_purchases

Is there something besides oyster shell to give them that will harden shells. I have one that won’t eat oyster shells and has been laying soft which makes a mess when the others come sit on top. Please help someone.

If you don't have a rooster try making some mash and mixing it in. If you have a rooster, I don't really know. Roosters can't have as much calcium.

 

[Cookies-Chickens2004]

I think the breed of rooster has a lot to do with it. I have a Brahma rooster and have been very pleased with his behavior, so far. He's two years old and has protected his ladies quite well.
I chose a Brahma for a few reasons. First, he's considerably larger than my hens because Brahma's are a larger breed of chicken. This makes him a more formidable threat to predators. Second, Brahma's have a docile nature. He hasn't been aggressive towards me unless I'm messing with one of his hens. He's very protective of his flock.
When he comes at me I stand my ground making myself big and loud and he backs away. I also occasionally will catch him, and walk around with him showing his ladies how I fit into the big picture. If he objects I will hold him down on the ground until he submits and relaxes before I let him go. I don't turn my back on him to give him the upperhand for attack, even though he's never attacked me. I just don't provide him opportunities to think about it. This method has been very successful.
I love my rooster. He's an important part of my flock. Since I sell my eggs if he can save a few of my laying hens from a predator attack even if he is killed, its worth it.

 

[Leehivalley]

I put in a very qualified upvote.

Roosters *can* act as a good alarm system. Some few have been known to go for a predator or they may lead the way to safety.

To me, beyond the minimal predator protection and the simple need to have one in order to breed, the real value of a rooster is that a good Flockmaster keeps order in chicken society.

I'm changing out my boys because of inbreeding and to improve my birds and ended up choosing Seti, the black cockerel, over Rameses II, the blue cockerel, because of his personality.

Specifically, he's my sidekick when I'm rounding up unauthorized free rangers at dusk -- helping me herd them in when I open the fence.

Rameses, my Flockmaster, keeps very good order in his flock -- breaking up hen fights, keeping adolescents from tormenting chicks (I've seen them run right under Rameses to get away from a pursuer), disciplining the younger cockerels, etc.

I enjoy the chicken flock dynamic with multiple ages and both sexes.

Well, Our two beautiful but sterile Bieldefelders roosters are shooting blanks. We are so disappointed! We purposely bought this breed because the girls tend to go broody but no sense doing that if the guys are worthless. We incubated 6 eggs to check because our old hen went to setting and after 21 days not one hatched. none developed.

 

[Ponypoor]

I've had chickens now for a few years, but never a rooster. I have a beautiful roo that I am thinking about keeping, but I'm honestly nervous that he's going to end up being aggressive and be more of a headache than he's worth. The main reason I'd keep him is to help protect against predators, but I'm not convinced it will make that much of a difference. Those that have or have had roosters, what are your thoughts on this?

He’s a beauty; did you raise him? I would say give him a try. You might be surprised.

I had a young rooster who was gorgeous, but he ended up being extremely aggressive, and caused a lot of drama with the hens, he was very good at keeping an eye to the sky, but the trouble and drama he caused made everyone miserable.

Unfortunately he was aggressive to people, attacked my mum constantly, then he started attacking me; he also was pretty much just attacking and having his way with the hens.

He was so big he overpowered my poor silkies and my smaller EE hens. I ended up processing him with a couple other young Roo; I thought about trying to rehome him, but around here no one wants Roos other then for eating. I didn’t want someone getting my Roos, throwing them all into a small coop all fighting getting injured, and being stressed before they are processed - so I kept them so they had a good life till I could get them processed.

The change in my hens was amazing when the Roo was gone (the young Roos never bothered them). There was no drama, the hens were quietly running around doing their thing, the silkies and smaller hens came out and started enjoying themselves.

Then I had an opportunity to get a Polish Roo; I thought long and hard on this, but I gave him a try. What an amazing Roo, the girls all love him, he enjoys making nests and hanging out in the nests. He tidbits, he has a favourite hen - my black silkie hen Marty, they are like an old married couple.

This year I raised a bunch of chicks and he was good with them, he didn’t interact with them much but he also did bother them, mostly he just looks on and enjoys life.

I enjoy having him around, so much that I am keeping one of the Roo chicks to be raised by Mr P’s example - so far Rico the Wee Man is behaving and acting like a good Roo should.

So I say, keep you gorgeous boy and give him time to grow, and see how he does, he’s a beauty and looks like he would a wonderful addition to your gang.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I believe that roosters are worth keeping, as well as that it is better to have a rooster in each flock I own in order to make the hens more happy and protected. Male chickens are widely believed to always be aggressive, but that is not the case unless you are not handling them correctly and spending time with them. I have only had one aggressive rooster, and that was back when we were quite new to the chicken world and we did not spend adequate time with them. Of course, his hormones also made him aggressive, but he sacrificed himself for his hens in the end.

If I do ever purposefully get a cockerel or a rooster, I want to make sure that they have the genetics of a breed that is known to have friendly males. For example, I picked out an Black Breasted Red Old English Game Bantam from the unsexed Bantam bin at Tractor Supply in hopes that the chick would be a male, and it did end up being a cockerel. He is very smart and likes to be held, but because of his small size I doubt he would be able to protect his flockmates well. Nonetheless, his feathers are beautiful to look at.

We got my other rooster, Phoenix, a Cochin/Ameraucana hybrid, because our past roosters either died or we had to give them away due to over-breeding. We intended on breeding him with some of our hens to produce fertile eggs, but it turned out that he did not know how to mate properly and therefore none of the eggs we put in the incubator developed. He is now just for looks and his friendly personality, as well as protection.

Overall, from my experience, I believe that if you spend time with your cockerels and make sure to know what behaviors to look for in dealing with aggression, they will grow up to be good roosters that can serve as great protection for your flock, as well as generally make your hens more happy.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

He’s a beauty; did you raise him? I would say give him a try. You might be surprised.

I had a young rooster who was gorgeous, but he ended up being extremely aggressive, and caused a lot of drama with the hens, he was very good at keeping an eye to the sky, but the trouble and drama he caused made everyone miserable.

Unfortunately he was aggressive to people, attacked my mum constantly, then he started attacking me; he also was pretty much just attacking and having his way with the hens.

He was so big he overpowered my poor silkies and my smaller EE hens. I ended up processing him with a couple other young Roo; I thought about trying to rehome him, but around here no one wants Roos other then for eating. I didn’t want someone getting my Roos, throwing them all into a small coop all fighting getting injured, and being stressed before they are processed - so I kept them so they had a good life till I could get them processed.

The change in my hens was amazing when the Roo was gone (the young Roos never bothered them). There was no drama, the hens were quietly running around doing their thing, the silkies and smaller hens came out and started enjoying themselves.

Then I had an opportunity to get a Polish Roo; I thought long and hard on this, but I gave him a try. What an amazing Roo, the girls all love him, he enjoys making nests and hanging out in the nests. He tidbits, he has a favourite hen - my black silkie hen Marty, they are like an old married couple.

This year I raised a bunch of chicks and he was good with them, he didn’t interact with them much but he also did bother them, mostly he just looks on and enjoys life.

I enjoy having him around, so much that I am keeping one of the Roo chicks to be raised by Mr P’s example - so far Rico the Wee Man is behaving and acting like a good Roo should.

View attachment 3550566

So I say, keep you gorgeous boy and give him time to grow, and see how he does, he’s a beauty and looks like he would a wonderful addition to your gang.

Yeah, it depends on the roo, but I personally would not put a large or standard size roo in with bantam hens. The one time I did that was with my EE rooster, Arthur. I put a 3lb Ayam Cemani hen in and he was so gentle with her, but I doubt I could have pulled that off with my Cuckoo Maran roo.