To have a rooster or not??

UnlabeledMama

Chirping
7 Years
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
270
Reaction score
9
Points
93
Location
Western North Carolina
I was planning on just having girls and any roosters that popped up would be for the table. Now the problem - I am starting to think our "exotic" chick is a EE roo. My daughter loves this bird! She would have major issues with us eating him. :/ What are the advantages to keeping one rooster?
 
Hi,

I have a BO roo named Roy. I was a little worried about having a rooster too but now I love
him and would not keep a flock of ladies without one.

I find that it is amazing to watch him interact with the hens and care for them like a husband.
He takes care of them, looks for food for them, and even leads them to the nesting boxes.

When I take treats out to the ladies he waits till they get their fill then if there is anything left he gets some.

I for one am plesantly surprised at how much fun keeping a roo is. It gives me peace of mind just
knowing that someone is out there keeping watch for me.

He will let me know if there is something going on that should not be. Usually I do not pay much
attention to his crowing but when something is causing him alarm he will let me know.
I have gone out there before to find a hawk flying above. He was telling me that something
was wrong, I stood out there with the girls till the hawk flew away.

Anyway, roos are fun, they bring a lot of balance and enjoyment to the fun of chicken keeping.
 
I have a roo named Jack.He watches for hawks,keeps the pecking down to a min among the ladies,and finds bugs for the ladies.He has never attacked any human.I would cull him if he attacked the kids.He is pretty nice with the girls too.No bare backs due to over sexing.Don't put up with that.I like his crowing,but the neighbors probably don't.He is so pretty.Kids save his shiney tail feathers.Ofcourse if we ever hatch we will have some wonderful looking chicks!
 
I agree with the other posters! Roo's are awesome to have!
 
That should be plenty!! lol

I had a darling little roo. Very respectful of me and a true gentleman.. But he did begin to chase my hen around and pick up the smaller girls by the back. They were all afraid of him.. I am positive he would have out grew those antics, but I didnt want a Roo to begin with so I re homed him..

If I had enough hens to satisfy a Roo I would probably get one again. They are just sooo pretty!
 
Don't want to be a downer here, with all the nice stuff folks are saying about their roosters, but while I think there is no problem with a decision to keep this little rooster that your daughter likes, be prepared to reverse the decision if you need to farther down the road. I decided to keep two of the Freedom Ranger pullets and one of the cockrels from a flock of 35 I was raising this summer for meat and add them into my existing flock of 7 mixed heavy-breed layers. Things went well in the beginning, although my rooster Waldo (named for the fire that caused us to evacuate for 9 days this past summer) was very timid of the adult ladies. However, as he's reached his maturity, he has become pretty much of a bully. Every morning when I let the flock out of the coop he chases the girls all over the place. If he's quick enough, he grabs one and holds her down to mate. I have yet to see anything that looks like two consenting adults or any "wooing" of the hens. It's sort of disturbing. Egg production is down and one of the poor Freedom Ranger hens has a huge bald spot on her back, because the Freedom Rangers are not as quick on their feet as the others. I'm giving him another week or two to snap out of his teen-aged hormone rush and if that doesn't happen, he's headed for Freezer Camp for an attitude readjustment.

I've also know roosters who were very aggressive. My guy has been known to sneak up and peck the back of my legs, but will back down if I turn and move towards him. A rooster we had when I was a kid would run half-way across our 1/2 acre lot to attack someone working in the garden. Keep a close eye on things with your daughter when your rooster comes into his maturity. He may be one of the sweet, respectful, watchful roos that folks describe above, but please don't just assume that because he's nice now, he'll be safe around your daughter.
 
Keep him, then you can start breeding chickens!
Good Luck!
smile.png
 
I say keep him , roosters are cool I love my little rooster King George =) He is so funny and he takes good care of his little girls. He is a Serama though so I dont know about large roosters just the mini ones
tongue.png

 
We have one beautiful rooster for our 14 girls. This was not planned but here he is and HE IS BEAUTIFUL but he is NASTY. We keep an eye on him at all times as he sure is hard on the back of our legs, not to mention the hens. I would hope he would become nicer but I have not heard of that happening. I would be concerned with small children.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom