Well looks like I got a roo...what now?

[RitzHomestead]

OK, so first off I'm a newbie. I ordered 10 Chick pullets from TSC and I am pretty sure one of my hens is a roo. His comb is bigger than the others and it is turning red. He also is growing those things under his beak too. (sorry don't know what they are called off the top of my head) I don't really mind having a roo, we live in the country with no neighbors but I really only wanted unfertilized eggs.


With 9 other hens how often will a hen get fertilized eggs and have baby chick's? Will I still get a lot of eggs for us to eat? This may be a dumb question but I honestly have no idea, and have not done any research on roos as I was planning on hens. I am attached to the little guy and want to keep him.

 

[LRH97]

Not a dumb question! It's perfectly fine to eat fertilized eggs. I can't tell any difference in taste. The only difference is that if you were to incubate the eggs, or let one of your hens set them, you would get a chick out of it. Note that a hen will only hatch out chicks when she is broody. One roo should not have any problem breeding 9 hens, meaning most, if not all, of your eggs will be fertile. Having a roo should not affect laying production. By the way, the things under the beak are wattles.

As long as the roos aren't aggressive to you or too rough on the hens, they can be a pleasure to have around. If you have any other questions please, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[sourland]

The 'little things' under his beak are wattles - hens get them too. How old is 'he'? Some pullets mature faster than others. If you can post a picture someone will venture a guess as to gender. Fertile eggs are no different from non fertile eggs until they are incubated. Hens will not hatch baby chicks unless you allow them to set on eggs for 21 days. It is all within your control if you choose to keep a rooster.

 

[ChickenWing]

If you only got one rooster, I'd keep him if there is no other reason not to. They are good for keeping an eye out for danger and warning the hens. Fertilized eggs are fine to eat, you wont know the difference. And with 9 hens, you will have boat loads of eggs LOL. Did you plan to sell them, or just for your own use? If the latter, thats alot of eggs.

 

[usedhobarts]

If your picking your eggs daily, which you should, you need not worry about the roo and fertilized eggs plus your roo is probably not tagging all of them anyway. Roo's are nice to have around as long they are not mean. I have 21 layers and 3 roo's 2 of which were allegedly pullets from 6 I purchased from TSC last spring. My girls free range all summer on a 17 acre farmstead so I like having roo's for protection alarms. They don't do much for dogs, fox or coyotes but they sound an alarm. I think where they serve me best is watching out for the Hawks. I get attached to all my birds but have learned an aggressive or mean roo is bad for everyone so when I get one they make a mean chicken stew.

The only other down fall I can think off is if you free range you may have some of your girls show up one day with a bunch of chicks. Chickens that are free ranged can find nesting spots you would never think of. I keep mine fenced around the barn in about a 1/2 acre until late May. This seems to get the girls passed their seasonal instinct to brood.

I'm raising my flock size to 50 girls this spring. I'll never buy chicks from TSC again. It seems like unless they are sex linked breeds they are clueless on the true sex. I found that using a speciality breeder I tend to get what I wanted for not much more money. Now that I have decided to up my flock I'm not going worry about free ranged nests. If some chicks show up unexpectedly, bonus. We're going to also start some meat birds for personal use so any roo's from free range nests will just go into the meat birds inventory.

Good luck with your flock. If the roo is nice keep him. I find the eye candy of roo's just as enjoyable as getting eggs. My 3 are gorgeous. 1 is a little jerk at the moment but I think it is just because the 3 are trying to figure out who is king of the coop and which are just Knights.

 

[RitzHomestead]

If you only got one rooster, I'd keep him if there is no other reason not to.  They are good for keeping an eye out for danger and warning the hens.  Fertilized eggs are fine to eat, you wont know the difference.  And with 9 hens, you will have boat loads of eggs LOL.  Did you plan to sell them, or just for your own use?  If the latter, thats alot of eggs. 

Lol yeah I'm getting my certification to sell some eggs at our farmers market!

 

[RitzHomestead]

The 'little things' under his beak are wattles - hens get them too.  How old is 'he'?  Some pullets mature faster than others.  If you can post a picture someone will venture a guess as to gender.  Fertile eggs are no different from non fertile eggs until they are incubated.  Hens will not hatch baby chicks unless you allow them to set on eggs for 21 days.  It is all within your control if you choose to keep a rooster.

I believe they are three almost four weeks, and u will add a picture tomorrow! Thank you!

 

[RitzHomestead]

Not a dumb question! It's perfectly fine to eat fertilized eggs. I can't tell any difference in taste. The only difference is that if you were to incubate the eggs, or let one of your hens set them, you would get a chick out of it. Note that a hen will only hatch out chicks when she is broody. One roo should not have any problem breeding 9 hens, meaning most, if not all, of your eggs will be fertile. Having a roo should not affect laying production. By the way, the things under the beak are wattles.   As long as the roos aren't aggressive to you or too rough on the hens, they can be a pleasure to have around. If you have any other questions please, don't hesitate  to ask.

Thank you! I really appreciate it!

 

[wornoutmomto3]

..."mean chicken" stew...

LOL too funny.

Unfertile eggs are no different than fertile eggs, except that if you incubate fertile eggs you get chicks. I raised only hens for three years and only had roosters this past year. There has been no difference in egg quality, texture, or taste. If you don't mind having him around and he is sweet to you and the hens, I'd let him stay. I personally love having a living alarm clock wake me most mornings. Also, they make great watch birds for your flock. A good rooster will watch the skies for predators so that the hens can scratch and eat in safety. They can also be very sweet. I just rehomed a roo that always found yummy treats and would call all the hens over to share. He is now, happily, the sole rooster to a small flock of hens. With me he had to share that title with two other roosters.

 

[RitzHomestead]

...

LOL too funny.

Unfertile eggs are no different than fertile eggs, except that if you incubate fertile eggs you get chicks. I raised only hens for three years and only had roosters this past year. There has been no difference in egg quality, texture, or taste. If you don't mind having him around and he is sweet to you and the hens, I'd let him stay. I personally love having a living alarm clock wake me most mornings. Also, they make great watch birds for your flock. A good rooster will watch the skies for predators so that the hens can scratch and eat in safety. They can also be very sweet. I just rehomed a roo that always found yummy treats and would call all the hens over to share. He is now, happily, the sole rooster to a small flock of hens. With me he had to share that title with two other roosters.
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You all have convinced me! I am definitely keeping him! Thank you!