When to get rid of rooster

[pdirt]

Also, some roos can take up to two years to fully mature. Meaning their temperament can change. For example, they may be a sweet little roo at 12 months, kind to everyone, gentle with the hens but at 24 months (or sooner or later), they are more aggressive/cranky/etc. I've heard many a story of folks who had "sweet little Boo Roo" that was good with their kids and as he got older, he attacked the same kids (because the kids didn't understand how to act towards a mature rooster). Perhaps yours is in that case.

Many people have no problem with 1 roo to 4 hens, but this doesn't work in a lot of cases. Like cavemanrich said, perhaps with more hens to "keep him busy" he won't be over agressive or over-sexing the few hens you have right now. You should wait until your chicks are pretty well grown (18 weeks or older) before releasing such an aggressive roo on them, IMO.

It is a matter of opinion as to which is more humane, but I tend to agree with Ol Grey Mare...you are likely to be able to give the roo a much more humane death than a predator will. Ever seen a predator take down a prey animal? It is not a pretty picture and seems way too close to counting as torture. If you release him to your friend's 5000 acre ranch, death by predation is the most likely course of his life, unless your friend has the resources and time to heavily-duty guard his ranch from predators.

Recently, we had two hens that had gotten a very bad case of scaley leg mites. As we cleaned their feet, we noticed missing toes and one toe even fell off as we cleaned it. Another toe was hanging by a tendon and when I clipped it off, she didn't even flinch (no lifeforce left in that toe). One hen ended up with only one toe left on her foot and she couldn't really walk anymore. We were sad and remorseful that we had let it get this bad, but soon realized they were not going to be able to live like a normal chicken any longer (I refuse to tube feed in most cases), so we put them to sleep. They went so effortlessly, I have a hunch they were thankful for it, because they were in pain and couldn't walk well.

 

[Larry in Hawaii]

Our coop is 5' X 14' and the covered/enclosed run is 14' X a bout 26' and 10' tall with lots of flying room and perches. Not really worried about turning the rooster out since the area the go to has lots, I mean lots of chickens running around. Yea they need to look for their food once there, but farm hands throw food out from time to time.

 

[aart]

Quote: Agrees!

Having only 4 hens for a rooster can be a problem, for the hens.
If you don't want fertile eggs, why have a rooster in the first place?

Even if you are getting fertile eggs doesn't mean you have to let a hen hatch them out.
How many of those 16 chicks are males??
What are you going to do with those??

 

[Larry in Hawaii]

The reason for the rooster is we were given a couple young wild chickens and one turned out to be a ro about a year ago. Didn't want or need a ro, but as long as it was getting along with the girls I let it stay... Of the 16 chicks, none are male. You ask what we are going to do with the chicks...well, we hope to eat the great eggs they lay when the time comes...as for now, the are having fun setting on my arm being petted. We have an animal rescue here and all animals are loved. Dogs, cats, pot pigs and chickens of course.

 

[aart]

The reason for the rooster is we were given a couple young wild chickens and one turned out to be a ro about a year ago. Didn't want or need a ro, but as long as it was getting along with the girls I let it stay... Of the 16 chicks, none are male. You ask what we are going to do with the chicks...well, we hope to eat the great eggs they lay when the time comes...as for now, the are having fun setting on my arm being petted. We have an animal rescue here and all animals are loved. Dogs, cats, pot pigs and chickens of course.

Except for the roosters who don't behave ...and they just become 'ferals' or food for predators by being dumped out in the 'wild'?
Doesn't sound very 'loving' to me.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The reason for the rooster is we were given a couple young wild chickens and one turned out to be a ro about a year ago. Didn't want or need a ro, but as long as it was getting along with the girls I let it stay... Of the 16 chicks, none are male. You ask what we are going to do with the chicks...well, we hope to eat the great eggs they lay when the time comes...as for now, the are having fun setting on my arm being petted. We have an animal rescue here and all animals are loved. Dogs, cats, pot pigs and chickens of course.

Are you saying *you* run a rescue---because, if so, coming out and stating that you have in the past, and would in the future, dump an animal (that is abandonment, by the way - no different being a chicken than were it a cat or a dog or ANY other animal) is mind boggling. No respectable rescuer would even consider doing such a thing considering most of us spend our lives picking up the mess after people who do exactly that.

 

[Larry in Hawaii]

Wow, you people are really getting hot under the collar at bit aren't you. I guess you didn't understand that the roosters were taken to a very large ranch that has hundreds of animals already on it....Dump them off it the incorrect wording here. Yes we have a rescue and have had one for many years...and the calls from people telling us about abused animals that need help, working with feral cats catch/fix/release as well as other people, I would say we are doing a pretty good job.

Here I ask what I thought I was a proper question, and it seems I was placed on the cross for abusing animals.... But the 14 dogs, 35 cats and 20 odd chickens know they are taken care of very well....and the roosters we take to the ranch, they are also cared for by others and have lots of friends of chickens, roosters, cows, horses, etc...I think you get the idea.

I'm sorry if you do not agree, but I think belittling me about the rooster is a bit over the top. Perhaps I should go elsewhere to find answers to my questions.

 

[pdirt]

Wow, you people are really getting hot under the collar at bit aren't you. I guess you didn't understand that the roosters were taken to a very large ranch that has hundreds of animals already on it....Dump them off it the incorrect wording here. Yes we have a rescue and have had one for many years...and the calls from people telling us about abused animals that need help, working with feral cats catch/fix/release as well as other people, I would say we are doing a pretty good job.

Here I ask what I thought I was a proper question, and it seems I was placed on the cross for abusing animals.... But the 14 dogs, 35 cats and 20 odd chickens know they are taken care of very well....and the roosters we take to the ranch, they are also cared for by others and have lots of friends of chickens, roosters, cows, horses, etc...I think you get the idea.

I'm sorry if you do not agree, but I think belittling me about the rooster is a bit over the top. Perhaps I should go elsewhere to find answers to my questions.

I would have to say I think this is an example of the poor nature of communication that comes with an online message forum like this one. I'm not saying that you nor anyone else was a poor communicator, but having text only leaves out the body gestures, facials expressions and tone of voice that may have conveyed a different picture. Accurate conveyance of the message can easily go awry without these vital communicative clues. I've seen it many times here on BYC...people misunderstand each other and make mistakes about what someone said or what their intent was.

I do admit your additional details about your friend's 5000 acre ranch sound much different than I originally heard it. Your original description made it sound less-than-humane (dumping the rooster). Now the problem was not so much your description, but the image I conjured up in my head about it. Then I looked at your screen name (location can give HUGE clues about a person's situation) and see you are in Hawaii. I've been to Hawaii a couple times, I do recall lots of feral chickens, especially on Kauai. IIRC, Hawaii doesn't have the level of predators that most other places have, so therein it is easier to see how I and perhaps others may have drawn that conclusion. Anyways, this is just my two cent thoughts about it. I know that because it is a group of islands, things on Hawaii are a bit different than often is the case in the rest of the USA, I'm sure you get that a lot.

I hope you decide to stick around here.