Why Have a Rooster?

[Eden83_haaretz]

A rooster is a good idea in my opinion. They are great protectors and are always on the watch for predators. They will fight to the death to protect their hens. When they find a choice piece of food or snack like an insect or a piece of grain, they will make this cute sound calling the hens to come and eat it. They will let the hens eat first for the most part. Some are gentler when mating then others. They are also used for breeding if you want more chicks. I definetly recommend a rooster!

I've noticed that the gentleness in mating extends to the father and the cockrels having enough time watching and learning from their father. In the beginning they're like horny teenagers, but as they see their father they mature and learn from him. We have one young rooster that was just sort of violent (the didn't hurt them, but did chase them endlessly and didn't quite know how to mount them) with the hens he was trying to mate, but as time has progressed and his father has chatized him, he's become gentle in the mating part. Just our personal experience with game birds.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

I think if you have predators (areal specially) and plan on letting them roam free you NEED a rooster.
Was told once that as a rule of thumb you must have at least 10 chickens to a rooster so that he does not overmate them (haven't checked how valid this posture is or if it's a myth) but our rooter was starting to have troubles attending to all the girls once they were more than 15, now that we have his son, they seem more at peace, plus with all the area they roam it has been beneficial to have two roosters on the look out for hawks or eagles.

 

[gadus]

Knowledgeable crew here. Which is why, rather than launch a new thread, I'm going to ask here, when to expose pullets to a rooster? The reality is that when they're ready to lay, they get moved into the coop, so it's kind of a done deal at that point but I wondered about free-ranging them now, with the older birds; I'm worried about attacks from the mature rooster.

Additionally, what have others done to protect a broody hen and her clutch of eggs, within the coop? I can cut out a section of the wall, frame out a two-feet deep by two foot high by six foot wide box for them, with maybe a small opening into the coop OR I can make it a completely separated area, with chicken wire wall facing the inside of the coop and a door on the outside.

Thanks,
Gadus

 

[bobbi-j]

Knowledgeable crew here. Which is why, rather than launch a new thread, I'm going to ask here, when to expose pullets to a rooster? The reality is that when they're ready to lay, they get moved into the coop, so it's kind of a done deal at that point but I wondered about free-ranging them now, with the older birds; I'm worried about attacks from the mature rooster.

Additionally, what have others done to protect a broody hen and her clutch of eggs, within the coop? I can cut out a section of the wall, frame out a two-feet deep by two foot high by six foot wide box for them, with maybe a small opening into the coop OR I can make it a completely separated area, with chicken wire wall facing the inside of the coop and a door on the outside.

Thanks,
Gadus

I think a good rooster won’t try to mate with the pullets until they’re ready to submit. Cockerels, of course, are hormone-driven and will try to mount anything they can catch. In free ranging, multi-generation flocks, a good mature rooster should only be mating the mature hens and the pullets that are starting to lay.

 

[rod5591]

I think it’s personal preference, some people see them as protectors, but i’ve heard their only protection is dying for the hens. Some people want to breed and hatch chicks, which a rooster is needed for. The rooster will mate the hens a few times a day, at least, and can overmate them, if there’s too few or he has a favorite, and wear down their back feathers. The hens should still lay a normal amount of eggs and you can still collect them every day. One issue is that some roosters become aggressive, so that’s a downside you may want to consider.

I saw my rooster chase off a coopers hawk that was trying to take a hen. The rooster succeeded (without dying), and it was impressive to see!

 

[rod5591]

I've noticed that the gentleness in mating extends to the father and the cockrels having enough time watching and learning from their father. In the beginning they're like horny teenagers, but as they see their father they mature and learn from him. We have one young rooster that was just sort of violent (the didn't hurt them, but did chase them endlessly and didn't quite know how to mount them) with the hens he was trying to mate, but as time has progressed and his father has chatized him, he's become gentle in the mating part. Just our personal experience with game birds.

I would never characterize a rooster's mating as "gentle", no matter how mature the rooster is.

 

[I Like Turkeys]

On the topic of rooster mating, I have a little adorable bantam cockerel who just hit his teenage stage. He’s started crowing, dancing, clucking his little head off, and going after the ladies. He’s terrible at going after girls, i’ve only seen him go after his hatch mates, and each time, he tries to grab onto their neck, and they just start screaming and backing away and it end with him in front of them, as far away from their bodies as possible while still gripping their neck, and desperately trying to mate the ground. It’s pitiful, but he hasn’t hurt anybody and i’m hoping he improves. Unsure if he will.
Here he is, little bugger’s name is Traffic Cone.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Mating in chickens is fast but neither brutal nor violent, especially when you understand that the rooster has no penis, so there is no penetration, and therefore it cannot be painful for the hen. There is simply a quick rubbing together of the body parts and a depositing of the semen from the male's genitals onto the female's. The hen then simply shakes her feathers back into position and goes on about her business.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

I saw my rooster chase off a coopers hawk that was trying to take a hen. The rooster succeeded (without dying), and it was impressive to see!

Mine have too it's awesome

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

I would never characterize a rooster's mating as "gentle", no matter how mature the rooster is.

Our rooster rarely chases after his chickens, and wether he chases a little and they just stop or he courts them and the girls just squat on the spot, he mounts them he never pulls any feathers off, nor do the girls scream for help (which his sons do do sometimes). So I'd characterize his mating as gentle. Guess it's just our rooster then.