Why do people have roos?

[Poultrybonkers]

I have two roos in my flock a leghorn and a silkies the silkies roo protects his hens the silkies hens and sex links as for the leghorn he don't protect none of his hens (leghorn hens)the one hen protects the rest. as for the crowing i could do without that... well besides the silkies roo hes quieter.

 

[Chicken Lass]

Someone told me that fertilized eggs are lower in cholesterol, so having a rooster is the way to go. Is this true? I just have hens right now.

 

[BairleaFarm]

Three reasons:

1. I love the sounds
2. They are beautiful
3. Rosterly duties such as protection and fertilization.

 

[CSWolffe]

I would love to be able to keep a roo for breeding. But the city simply wont allow it, and I have a jerk neighbor who reports every and any indiscretion. So a small little flock with no roo it is for me...

 

[yinepu]

I have roosters for the fertile eggs.. so having roosters = eggs to hatch .. which means more roosters for freezer camp! (and more pullets which grow up to be replacement hens)

 

[Nicole01]

I would love to have a Cochin rooster. However, dh says no way! He doesn't want the neighbors upset. My neighbor across the street has a rooster, but he hasn't started crowing yet.

Or I would like a breeding pair to raise for eating. I'd want dh to process our own meat to cut down costs. He's not too keen on the idea.

 

[stilldeb]

Roos will warn the flock of approaching danger and send then into the coop (hawk, etc.) and will stand out there and lay down their own lives for their ladies. I have one roo whose ladies got a little overzealous and pulled out a bunch of his feathers and has been separated out for awhile to grow them back in. He still insists on being out next to them during the day (sleeps in a cage in the garage for now) so I put a small separate run next to theirs. They also keep all the girls together when they are out free-ranging, find treats for their ladies, and they do sing pretty, too.

deb g

 

[terrilhb]

I agree with all the above posts. I love all 3 of my roo's.

 

[TreeHugger]

I have roos in case I want to hatch out chicks, plus they are beautiful and I like the occasionally crowing. My roos stay in a bachelor pad unless I want fertile eggs, so even though I do have them they are not kept in with the hens.

My girls seem to function just fine without a roo under foot 24/7. However, the chicken runs are right next to each other so the roos still get to strut and look at the girls all day.

 

[Marshchick]

We got our roo by mistake, and we're really glad we've kept him. He's an early crower, but we're getting used to it as our flock is only 3.5 months old. He is pretty, a lot of fun to watch and is also a good with the girls. His name is Bruce and I'm glad we have him!