My additional response, is DON'T GET A ROOSTER if you're a residential home owner, on less than one full acre. I researched all about being a backyard chicken owner, and that I was wanting them as PETS / treat them like family vs. merely livestock or mere egg producers / that have to earn their keep. So, we ended up with rooster.
NO ONE TELLS YOU SOME VERY IMPORTANT ASPECTS ABOUT OWNING A ROOSTER: they rooster all damned day--they're smart as hell--ours would rooster to tell us there's a full moon--at 2 am. Then, at 6 am, he'd rooster so we'd come let them out (we keep ours in a VERY secure, predator-proof enclosure), then, EVERY SINGLE TIME one of our hens was ABOUT to lay an egg--he'd let us know--by roostering at the beginning (I read this is to keep predators away--which we don't have any), then, WHILE THEY WERE LAYING AN EGG he'd rooster to tell us, then, AS SOON AS THEY EACH LAID AN EGG, he'd rooster again, and the hens make all the noise in the world as they all also chicken dance in celebration, to let us know that they each laid an egg. He'd rooster to tell us when someone was walking down the alley / or he'd hear noises he didn't recognize--to tell us/his ladies that danger may be near. He'd rooster when their water got low to tell us to refill, he'd rooster to tell us they wanted treats, he'd rooster to tell us when they needed more food. Okay, so he roostered all day long--NO way to get him to stop or re-train him. I work from home, and, already run high on anxiety, and the constant roostering was giving me angina--let alone when I had to be on conference calls, LOL. Thanks Roo, for all the clear and concise communication all day--why can't my husband be as good as you at communicating with me???
Neighbors could hear his roostering up to 4 blocks away--of course they all said they loved to hear him (not me, nope). Our county doesn't allow for owning roosters, but they don't ticket unless there's several noise complaints and after notifying you 3x. Knowing that I was breaking the rules also gave me anxiety EVERY SINGLE time he roostered!
Onto the MORE important issue about owning roosters that I haven't read anyone else describe in detail... (I'm pretty sure that this is standard behavior and that we're not one percenters or whatnot) Roosters have ONE JOB AND ONE JOB ONLY--to protect their flock. This means that THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH TO PROTECT. In addition to their being SO smart and great communicators (as I previously described), they're VERY protective. Over time--their aggressiveness increases substantially and doesn't stop (starting at 6 months, in our case)--by way of the level in which they show their protective nature. I was fully prepared for and waiting to be attacked / have to deal with aggressiveness/attacks of others--as I'd experienced our rooster starting off with very obvious provocative stance and actions at around 6 months old--if we walked off our porch (we gave them FULL reign of the backyard--but we ended up fencing off our porch because no one also tells you either how they poop 24/7 on everything--your patio, your stairs, tables or shelving--especially outdoors--let alone in the rocks, on pea gravel (no way to clean up that mess), all over manicured lawns (their poop attracts thousands of flies--which they don't eat, and I thought that chickens love to eat flies--I was wrong--can't run around picking up poop all day long or eliminate outdoor flies)--seems like never in the gardens where their poop would matter... Anyway, so we fenced off our porch, and, when we opened the gate into the backyard, where all the kids' play area and toys, trampoline, etc are--our rooster never EVER was okay with any human being in their space, so he'd flap his wings at you at the beginning, THEN, OUT OF NOWHERE--literally if you turned your back to walk the trash to the alley--HE'D FULL ON ATTACK YOU (and the kids--each of them--every single time you were near him). It hurts more than I can describe, and he'd draw blood. The first time it happened to me--it was a nanosecond of me turning my head to pick up a piece of trash and then I couldn't get him off of me--he kept coming at me--like a full-on cockfight. Though he didn't have his back claw developed yet--he'd lift himself into the air with his wing flapping to keep him up off the ground--at my chest level!!!, then he'd lunge at me in FULL FORCE with his talons and basically kick me, claw me and peck at me. I can't believe how much power roosters have--if I was an elderly person--I'd seriously NOT have been able to protect myself. I grabbed a skateboard and had to (very gently, but show him my intentions) push him away from me with it. I was so shocked and upset that I chased him around the yard with it and screamed and cussed at him--till he thought that I was the perp.
I read up on all the ways to "train" a rooster not to attack--none of these things worked for us (like, picking him up RIGHT after he attacks, and walking him around the hens--they say it's actually humiliating as you're taking control of his body and showing the girls that you're in charge vs. him. Another technique, if you learn about "pecking order" behavior and how chickens establish dominance (like, even amongst flocks with more than one rooster)--you'll learn that the roos will mount each other's backs (dig in their talons to hold down the other chicken) and hold down the neck//head to the ground with their beak, as a show of dominance, so you can do this same thing after you've been attacked (maybe, even before?) to show that you're in charge (again, causing no harm to your roo--just showing them in their own language)... Firmly press down his body to the ground, then his head and hold for a few seconds, then release him.
The last, most important consideration... rehoming your rooster... this is a VERY challenging and difficult experience (about as emotional as having to put a parent into a nursing home--no joke). The challenging part is that NO ONE INTENTIONALLY BUYS ROOSTERS except to breed, and there's NOT a large market for rehoming roosters--especially if they're aggressive or haven't been socialized (ours was OVERLY socialized and VERY loved). There's no problem finding people (like, on craigslist) who will gladly take roosters off your hands--especially to eat (which, is fine if that's fine for you)... Sanctuaries, from my experience, are VERY punitive about accepting your rooster (or hens, too)--as in, they're usually vegans and though they feel like it's their job to rescue these unwanted (and, they always assume that they're also: abused / abandoned / unwanted / unappreciated) animals--I couldn't find a sanctuary that even had an educational approach or "no questions asked" policy as part of their community service program/non-profit--so, it took 10 months to find the perfect home to rehome ours. I resolved that our rooster (like most others, I assume) needed WAY more things to do all day to distract him and maybe lessen his overly protective anxieties--than just protect his 3 hens--and, more space to roam than our (actually large) backyard (he's a very large roo). His new home has 5 roaming acres, a dozen hens, other farm animals, and the new owners described him as THE MOST WELL BEHAVED AND TAME ROOSTER THEY'VE EVER KNOW IN 40 YEARS of owning chickens and several other roosters
They were also shocked to find and so pleased that he gladly lets them pick him up and carry him around every single day. We picked him up regularly--held him all day, every day till he was 6 months old... I told them to give him a bath some time if they want to see him in ecstacy. Another tip that NO ONE tells you--to give them spa baths--THEY LOVE THEM--I didn't think this was possible--BUT THEY DO--ESPECIALLY HIM!!! (one note--he would NOT attack us when we held him--he immediately changed demeanor into "omg, I love this being held and all this attention"--like Oscar the Grouch, and when we bathed him--even if that took TWO HOURS--he LOVED being washed in a 3-tub cycle, AND loved being hair blown dried, AND loved when we massaged coconut oil into his fleshy parts and onto his shanks, AND when we spritzed his dry wings with a light coat of AfroSheen << more things no one tells you about)
So, just my 2 cents worth. We all really bonded with him and though I rehomed him a few months ago--just last week, is the first time that I actually got tears thinking about how much I miss him--very hard to let go of our rooster.
On a sidebar note, we successfully incubated and hatched 9 of his offspring and I'm committed to rehoming any roos that we get (will know in a couple more weeks, I'm guessing) WAY sooner than we did with him. We wanted his offspring and hope that we have more hens than roos, but only time will tell.
