To bantam rooster, or to not bantam rooster? That is the question

[booksandcranies]

I have a flock of all bantam hens (5 of them) and ended up with a standard roo who was also supposed to be a bantam hen. Meyer hatchery accident, what can ya do y’know?

I think I finally have a home for him to go to that will be a bit more appropriate, but I’m nervous about not having a rooster- and my reasons for such might be a bit silly but this is my first time with chickens.

he DOES have to go bc starting to wear the feathers on one specific hen and I just don’t have the room to get enough hens for a rooster like him- but he has done a good job. He keeps them all together, he’s a good manager (and my area has hawks) and keeps the squabbling down.

I’m considering getting a bantam roo to take his place as I’m already going to be ordering a few hens to add to my flock, a few standard hens possibly actually. Again, not enough for a standard roo but possible enough for a bantam

Do you think a bantam rooster could handle a smaller flock and protect them? Or should I just hope a really dominate hen crops up? I’m nervous for them to be taken from me. I know it’s going to happen soon but so far I’ve been lucky and no chicken death.

obviously it’s a small chicken and he will only be able to do so much, but even just sounding the alarm is good enough

Does anyone have any insight to offer? Do you think my flock would be fine without a roo? I need a manager chicken who won’t let my girls die

Ive read silkies and Cochins can be friendly and docile but can be good defenders if need be?

Here’s a thank you picture for reading

 

[Evadig]

First off, and thank you for sharing the picture!

Your flock doesn't need a rooster, mine existed for two years without one and was perfectly happy. I now have two roosters and they've caused me nothing but trouble . They definitely do not sound an alarm, though they do try to take good care of their hens. I keep them because 1) they need a home and 2) I like watching them cluck to their hens and feed them tidbits (and I like hearing them crow!). A chicken will definitely step up to be head chicken if you don't have a rooster (though mine became a bully, and having the rooster put her back in her place). If you do want to keep your rooster, you could try getting hen saddles. Hope this helps!

 

[fluffycrow]

He sounds like a keeper boy to me. Your reasonings for wanting to keep a male are not flawed. A good male will try his very best to keep the group together, and sound an alarm if he deems it necessary.

If I'm understanding it correctly, you free range. While female-only groups can be successful free ranging, it is largely dependent on breed, individual personality, and age. I would not free range immature pullets with as much confidence as I would have if there was a male present in the group, or at least one or more adult hens over the age of a year. Since this is your first batch (Welcome to the chicken keeping world!), I'm assuming you don't have an older female to show them the ropes.

My personal opinion is that your boy sounds very good; Seems like you got lucky. It's evident that you feel safer with a male in the group, and when free ranging, it is true that a good male will help a lot. One of your girls might step up to the role (over the years I've had some amazing matriarchs, even some that when a male came back into the picture, would work alongside him), but you've already got one bird who is doing it well. Unless he is actively hurting the pullets by over mating them (feather damage hurts the keeper more than it does the bird), I'd consider keeping him. The next boy might not be as good

 

[booksandcranies]

First off, and thank you for sharing the picture!

Your flock doesn't need a rooster, mine existed for two years without one and was perfectly happy. I now have two roosters and they've caused me nothing but trouble . They definitely do not sound an alarm, though they do try to take good care of their hens. I keep them because 1) they need a home and 2) I like watching them cluck to their hens and feed them tidbits (and I like hearing them crow!). A chicken will definitely step up to be head chicken if you don't have a rooster (though mine became a bully, and having the rooster put her back in her place). If you do want to keep your rooster, you could try getting hen saddles. Hope this helps!

Thank you!!!! I’ll try a hen only flock and see how it goes!

While I love the eggs I’m a total sap and they have defiantly become pets to me and I want to keep them as safe as I can- you should see their coop and run it’s a fortress I went way overboard with the 1/4 mesh but it was worth it. I only wanted a rooster for the safety aspect of it- I guess I kind of panicked thinking about a hawk getting them without a rooster being there

 

[booksandcranies]

He sounds like a keeper boy to me. Your reasonings for wanting to keep a male are not flawed. A good male will try his very best to keep the group together, and sound an alarm if he deems it necessary.

If I'm understanding it correctly, you free range. While female-only groups can be successful free ranging, it is largely dependent on breed, individual personality, and age. I would not free range immature pullets with as much confidence as I would have if there was a male present in the group, or at least one or more adult hens over the age of a year. Since this is your first batch (Welcome to the chicken keeping world!), I'm assuming you don't have an older female to show them the ropes.

My personal opinion is that your boy sounds very good; Seems like you got lucky. It's evident that you feel safer with a male in the group, and when free ranging, it is true that a good male will help a lot. One of your girls might step up to the role (over the years I've had some amazing matriarchs, even some that when a male came back into the picture, would work alongside him), but you've already got one bird who is doing it well. Unless he is actively hurting the pullets by over mating them (feather damage hurts the keeper more than it does the bird), I'd consider keeping him. The next boy might not be as good

Well, the thing is he’s a very good boy to his hens- for me it’s a different story unfortunately. While I love him, he defiantly see’s my 5 foot nothing self and thinks “oh yeah, that right there is a predator” so we tend to square up everyday and usually multiple times a day. He doesn’t have spurs yet but they are defiantly growing in, and fast. I wouldn’t even care that much but recently he’s been jumping up face height. He’s even bit my face lol and drew some blood. He’s a dick to me but good to the girls and even leaves my dogs alone


And I do kind of free range, when I’m not at work they are out all day and put themselves to bed around dusk/ if I’m at work they have a run to stay in and be safe.

However I’m glad to know it won’t hurt their feathers that badly!! My poor frizzle feathered girl is suffering and even her wings are looking a little rough

 

[fluffycrow]

Well, the thing is he’s a very good boy to his hens- for me it’s a different story unfortunately. While I love him, he defiantly see’s my 5 foot nothing self and thinks “oh yeah, that right there is a predator” so we tend to square up everyday and usually multiple times a day. He doesn’t have spurs yet but they are defiantly growing in, and fast. I wouldn’t even care that much but recently he’s been jumping up face height. He’s even bit my face lol and drew some blood. He’s a dick to me but good to the girls and even leaves my dogs alone


And I do kind of free range, when I’m not at work they are out all day and put themselves to bed around dusk/ if I’m at work they have a run to stay in and be safe.

However I’m glad to know it won’t hurt their feathers that badly!! My poor frizzle feathered girl is suffering and even her wings are looking a little rough

I see. Different story, then. Since I did not read anything about his behaviour towards you in your original post, I assumed you didn't have any complaints there. Pardon my mistake. Trying for a more peaceful one sounds good

 

[booksandcranies]

I see. Different story, then. Since I did not read anything about his behaviour towards you in your original post, I assumed you didn't have any complaints when it came to his behaviour towards you. Pardon my mistake. Trying for a more peaceful one sounds good

That’s totally my bad I forgot to mention it!! I try to just ignore him, but man his legs are quick! I feel like if he
did have spurs he would have gotten me ten times over by now, little jerk

Also I didn’t really know as it qualified as him being “bad” since he’s just doing what roosters do

 

[Folly's place]

He's being a jerk! You are the Giant Who Brings Food, and not a flock member, much less another rooster, or a predator. While he's stalking you, he's not watching over his flock, and he's a danger to you and any other human who shows up.
There are many threads here about 'reforming' human aggressive roosters, and most of them fail, most of the time.
Hope you have really good liability insurance!
He will hurt you, and children can get serious facial (eyeball!) injuries.
Move him on with full disclosure only. Dinner!
If you want a nice rooster, either raise chicks this spring, and keep a better boy, or adopt a good one (depending on your risk tolerance). You have experience now, seeing how cute little cockerels show increasingly difficult behaviors. This will make it easier to select a good boy in the future.
Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have three issues. To me breed is not relevant. Each is an individual with its own traits and behaviors. You can have good or bad with any breed or size.

1. How much does a rooster help as far as safety from predators? Some are better than others. A few might confront certain predators but most are better at being an early warning system and tend to lead their flock to safety instead of fighting for them. I see value in this but often the dominant hen will take on some of these duties.

2. Some males can cause barebacked hens due to mating. They are often worse at this when young and settle in as they mature. Sometimes the hen is more of the cause. A frizzle has weak brittle feathers so they are more likely to lose feathers during mating. This is usually not a big deal but if bald spots develop they can be injured by sharp claws or maybe spurs. Your boy being full-sized while the girls are bantam doesn't help.

3. He is attacking you. With a young cockerel first feeling his hormones he may challenge you once or twice. Sometimes you can teach them not to do that. I walk toward them and back them down to give them a chance to learn better. But if that challenge happens more than twice it is not tolerated. He will remain a danger to you and everybody else even if you think you have trained him. Children are particularly vulnerable. To me it is not worth it.

1 & 2 above are things to consider when deciding whether or not to keep a certain rooster. To me there are too many good roosters out there to keep a human aggressive one. They are too big of a danger to you and others plus they take the fun out of keeping chickens.

I’ll try a hen only flock and see how it goes!

To me that is an excellent decision. I would not argue against getting another one either.

 

[NagemTX]

As long as hes good to you and the hens then all is good. If not then he needs to go some how, some way and a new one with better manners obtained.

I have a mixed bantam large fowl flock that free ranges all day every day and night. I have a bout five roosters with them. None of the roosters are aggressive to me or anyone ells. I still had an incident with one and got spurred in the leg.

It was a freak incident, he was not attacking to be mean at all. A friends daughter was in the yard with me and the friend. It was cold and windy that day. Daughter had a to big for her frilled shirt jacket on and the wind caught it making her look like a puffing up rooster. He kicked at her shirt jacket once or twice before I got between them. I just stood with my hand out to him palm down(hes still kicking defending him and his two hens). I didn't back up even tho I got hit like 4 or 5 times. The last time when he stopped we looked at each other and backed off. It was a surreal moment. No other incidents have happened we have gone back to our normal interactions shortly after that.

During all this I'm reinforcing the rules I have for the yard for the kids. What is keep your self aware of what is going on around you. I don't care if the roosters are pretty layed back. Something could happen that's strange to them and they will protect whats important to them.

They still come over and feed the roosters from their hands when they can entice them to get close enough. Head flock rooster King is pretty much the only one. The rest just wait for the feed/treats to be put on the ground.

Its a choice. The boys are the prettiest of them all but also the manliest as well. Just have to decide on if you want to have that. I'm not sure buying them full grown is better or not unless your breeding for something. I've gone through alot of roosters most where just standoffish or not interested in me as a threat. Those that where I warned the people buying them they had attitudes. But like only maybe 4 to 8 out of the 50+ I've had or raised up have been belligerently aggressive.