Will a Rooster ruin my flock?

[Danragg]

I am looking at adding a serama roo into my flock of silkies he is only 6 weeks at the moment so need to finish raising first.. My kids are in love with my silkies and they are like a part of the family they pick them up and stroke them and the hens seem to squat when the kids go to stroke them.. If I and a roo to the mix will they all become hostile?? Will the roo let my kids stroke the girls or will they end up getting their eyes pecked out?? As I know roos don't like anyone else mating their hens so would they think that is what my kids are doing and go for them? Also will the hens become less human friendly? Thanks in advance

 

[sophiaw00]

I can only answer from personal expirience and this is my first year raising chickens so I could be wrong. When I added a full grown rooster to my flock of 8 pullets, it did not affect their personallities at all. They weren't ever as friendly as yours but did eat out of my hands and let me catch them and they still do that even with the rooster there. It probably depends on the rooster's personallity though. My rooster is very docile and friendly towards me and knows I'm not going to take away or injure his girls. If the serama roo ends up being very aggressive then he might not let you or your kids near the girls and at that point I would get rid of him.

 

[Danragg]

Thanks Sophia! Will wait to see others experiences too!

 

[donrae]

I would say if there are little kids involved and the silkie are cherished pets, skip adding the rooster.

here's some of my thought process...

Young male birds are hormonal. It's not possible to predict how they'll act with your kids, but I can tell you with 100% certainty he's going to mate those hens. When a young male starts mating, it's not always a pretty process. There can be screaming and resistance from the hens... how are your kiddos going to respond to that? They'll likely think he's attacking them and be quite upset, unless they've been exposed to animals mating in the past.

The unpredictability of how he'll respond to the kids. If you get him and decide he's not a good fit in your flock for whatever reason, are you going to have to go through trauma-drama with the kids to get rid of him? Kids hate to get rid of animals, even when it's clearly for the best.

 

[Danragg]

They are 12 and 14.. so mating and all that would not surprise them

Do you think he would be more tame and less hostile if he was hand raised? Also he is a serama so I am pretty sure that the silkies would be able to tell him who's boss! Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Danragg]

..

 

[Danragg]

Anyone else

 

[chickchick8]

My opinion: You never know what you're gonna get with roosters personality wise. And even then tiny ones can hurt ya and add stress to the otherwise serene experience of interacting with your girls.

I've never seen the personality of hens change with the presence of a rooster, but I've sure as heck seen a rooster's personality change from easy going to demonic. Hand raising (babying and carrying them around), imo, tends to increase the odds you will wind up with a nasty rooster.

Personally, I'd stick with the silkie hens.

 

[sophiaw00]

What are the reasons you want to add a rooster? Do you want to breed them? Looking for protection for the hens? If you don't really have a reason, I would skip the rooster because they do end up being more work. If they overmate the hens, you will have to purchase hen saddles to protect them. If his crow bothers the neighbors, you'll have to buy a no-crow collar...etc.

BUT if you really want a rooster, I say go for it I don't think it will affect the hen's personallities at all and if you are able to find an adult serama rooster that would be even better because you would already know his personallity. If you can't do that, here's what I did when I had a rooster chick.

He developed faster than most cockerels and at 6 weeks he had a really big comb and was already attempting to crow. He was also very aggressive. He pecked me whenever I reached into the brooder, wouldn't let me handle his hatch mate (who was a pullet) and was all around a nasty little guy. So what I did is I would reach into the brooder with heavy gloves on so even if he pecked me it didn't hurt. Then if he pecked me or prevented me from handling Penny, I would pick him up and carry him around. I did not allow him to get out of my grip. This showed him I was boss. Taking him away from his little mate made him uncomfortable and he didn't feel as dominant, meaning he turned into a nice little chick who would allow me to stroke him and play with him. I did this every single time he showed bad behavior. He turned into a nice guy within 2 weeks and showed less signs of being so nasty. Unfortunatley he & Penny were attacked by a raccoon inside my garage and didn't make it. I miss those little guys all the time even though he wasn't very nice lol.

 

[Danragg]

Thanks for such an in depth answer..
The main reason that I want to get a rooster is for a little bit of added protection.. I know a serama can't do a lot but at least he would have their back when I don't.. also I have one hen who is losing weight as the other hens pick her when she eats (have to feed seperate from the others) so hoping he would stop the other girls from picking on her. I would like to breed from him as I have broodys ALL the time and would not mind a few hatches, reason I want a serama Is due to noise,neighbours are not the best of friends so NEED to keep the noise down (will also be purchasing a no crow collar) thank you!