Topic of the Week - Roosters, Yes or No?

[Boxersandchicke]

I just gave away the 2 Barnevelder Roo's I've had since 1day old. They were given to me by another chicken keeper up the road. She had a unexpected hatch and knew I just had my 1day olds delivered. Took them in not knowing they would turn out Roo's. Long story short they were beautiful but I can't have them where I live and they just became mature enough to be obnoxious in every way possible. The other day they were battling each other so badly I had to confine one as there was nowhere for the abused one to escape his beating. Then the one I names Cutlet and felt sorry for for being bullied, chomped onto my Black Australorp (my favorite hen) & wouldn't let her go as she cried out in pain. His *** along with his nasty brother Cogburn were gone as of today!

2 less beaks to feed and less drama and poop. I think the girls are happy as I am and I'm SURE my neighbors are!!! LOL

 

[chixmaidservice]

Funny this topic should come up as Sunday morning I finally saw some use for the 2 roos i have. My flock is cooped at night and the coop is within an old chain link dog enclosure that is 30' x40'. I am a school bus driver and throughout most of the school year I have to leave home before sunrise so the chickens get released from the coop into the chain link area which is also netted above and has V'd hardware cloth below ground. As you may gather I have been down predator alley a time or two. This spring I accidentally got two roos w/ my chicks and since one was a Welsummer and the other is a gorgeous speckled sussex, I thought I would give them a chance to prove their worth to me. When I get home from work around 9am, i let the girls out to free range the backyard- about an acre and a half- fenced. I have around 40 hens and sell eggs. My roos are young, but they never threaten me and are easy on the hens and since the boys are hatch mates they get along, mostly. Anyhow to shorten this up, Sunday morning I had let everyone out to free range and only moments later i heard the roos making a god awful noise. Not a hen to be seen, ( really unusual as they run like fools when they first get out) and both roos were out in the yard looking at some trees that separate my property. I immediately thought hawk but could not see anything in the trees. I walked out toward the trees, and got pretty close before the hawk took flight. He had been perched pretty low in the underbrush. So my boys will stay and this spring hopefully I will hatch chicks instead of buying them. I think roos are best in free range situations as close confinement probably leads to overbreeding and damage to the hens backs etc. Glad that my flock now has a hawk attack plan, and that my roos not only warn, but place themselves between the hens and the threat. Can't ask for much more than that.

 

[lazy gardener]

Awesome testimony to good roos behavior and worth.

 

[ChickenChaser9]

There many great reasons to keep a great Rooster and plenty of reasons to avoid bad ones. It is natural for a Rooster to want to defend his girls he should know his place and that is YOU are at the top of the pecking order. To some extent YOU need to reinforce this or even a good rooster will try and be dominant over you. That being said a good rooster alerts the flock to potential predator threats and has a unique call for ground vs Ariel threats and even sacrifice his own life to make sure the hens have time to get away from danger. A good rooster will break up fights between the hens. Having a rooster means you can hatch new chickens whenever you choose. Roosters are beautiful! He will make sure all the hens make it back into the coop at night. My rooster leads the girls in singing the egg song which if you have not heard is truly delightful. Raising boys means you can process your own chicken meat if that is something that you are into and a great way to deal with your roosters who are not great!

 

[Chicken Girl1]

- Is a rooster beneficial to the flock?

Yes and no. Having a rooster depends on your situation and your willingness to have it not work out. I have had a 50/50 with good and bad roosters, but I still love them. The benfits if a good rooster are: You get fertile eggs, a gorgeous looking bird to look at

, a protector for your flock, and a flock organizer (keeping all the hens in check).

- How big should the flock be if you consider keeping one? (I.e. how many hens minimum)

The answer for this question varies, mostly because people have had different experiences. From my experience I would say around 8 or 10 hens at least. But I know people you just have a pair (a hen and a rooster) and they are fine.

- What should a flock keeper look for when adding, or keeping a rooster? (For example, when choosing which rooster to keep from a hatch, if not for breeding purposes, but as a pet)

With my first hatch about 6 of the 12 chicks were roosters, which was pretty good. I kept 3, that was before I knew most roosters don't get along when full grown. I ended up keeping the youngest (and the one that was the lowest out of three roos) because he was the most respectful and didn't harass me. He was my favorite rooster ever! Such a good boy at taking care of his flock. Remember even though a rooster maybe nice and friendly when he is young, once the hormones kick in he may turn out to be a different bird. But the number one thing I look for is a rooster that will respect me as someone higher then himself.

- Beside noise, what are the possible cons of keeping a rooster and what should be kept in mind. (For new chicken owners

I think the only con for me when it comes to roosters is when you get a bad one who doesn't treat you and/or your hens with respect and hurts either of you (like I said before I have had 50/50 with roosters being bad and good).


But once you get a good rooster, you'll never think the same about them

.

 

[Flock Master64]

1 - Is a rooster beneficial to the flock? In my opinion yes. I think if you have a good rooster then your hens will be more comfortable and feel safer.

2- How big should the flock be if you consider keeping one? (I.e. how many hens minimum) I'd say about 6 is good that way the hens aren't over mated.

3- What should a flock keeper look for when adding, or keeping a rooster? (For example, when choosing which rooster to keep from a hatch, if not for breeding purposes, but as a pet) if it's just a pet than look for one that has a relatively good review of being calm and friendly.

4- Beside noise, what are the possible cons of keeping a rooster and what should be kept in mind. (For new chicken owners) aggressiveness towards people and over mating.

 

[ChickenbTrippin]

 

[boskelli1571]

I currently have 4 roos (2 Welsummer, 1 gold Spitz & a D'Uccle bantam. My flock is around 35-40 so currently they are manageable. The 3 large roos' are terrified of George the bantam and he totally exploits it!
I think the hens are more comfortable in free ranging further afield with the roos' and although the boys keep trying to mount the girls I have seen more than one hen chasing the roo around the barnyard and giving him a good peck or two.
As long as they remain respectful and do their job they can stay, otherwise they will join the Freezer Club.

 

[Flock Master64]

I have 1 cockerel

 

[poodlechicks]

I think I've posted about my experience with the few roosters I had as nauseum, but since this is the topic of the week, I figure it's the right place to post

The roosters I've had were all by accident. I didn't see any benefits of having roosters whatsoever. My hens weren't very fond of either of them and some definitely hated them altogether. Even if there were more than enough hens per roosters, there were always the favorites with bare backs. There was one rooster that constantly chased this one hen not to mate with her, but to hurt her. It got so bad that he wouldn't let her into the coop at times. All of my roosters crowed loudly and often. And unfortunately, all of them eventually became human aggressive. They didn't do very well in keeping the flock together, as the hens went wherever they wanted despite the rooster calling them. I think this made some of them even angrier for being ignored.
As for predators, I have a problem with birds of prey and there was no difference in the losses I had having roosters or not. Actually, the roosters never got caught because they ran away faster.
Breed wise, I had 2 Orpingtons, 1 bantam LF cross and 1 silver leghorn. All turned aggressive beginning at 5 months of age, so I don't know that the breed makes any difference.
I never treated them as pets and I don't have the habit of holding the chickens. Nobody in my family did anything to provoke them but like clockwork, they turned aggressive at this age.
The only pro I can think of about having roosters in my particular situation is their beauty. They do add beauty to a flock.
In situations where a person is raising for meat and/or wants to add chicks to the flock, raising roosters is great. Most can go to the freezer before they become aggressive and the one selected for breeding can wait a little longer before joining the others.
I'm not trying to discourage people from having roosters, as I've heard many stories of well behaved ones. It just didn't happen to me or any of my friends' backyard flocks.
I think it would be nice to have a well behaved rooster who did his job well, but after my experience, I feel I'm done. My hens are much happier without a rooster and I don't see any tension in my flock.