Do you wonder what are the pros and cons of having a rooster in your pen? Maybe you are asking “hould I have a rooster in my pen?”
When we got chickens, we didn’t have a rooster. He had no idea how useful they were to the flock. Yes, you can have a pen without a rooster, but read below to see why you may or may not like having a rooster. They are more useful than you might think. If you’re new to the world of chickens, also check out Should I Let My Chickens Free Range.
Should I have a rooster in my pen?
Although, sometimes roosters are too aggressive. Finding the right rooster for you, your family, and your chickens is very important. I have a rooster now, which is so pretty. Look at it … but it might be dinner soon. He’s a good rooster, but he keeps cheering for me and my family, which is not good! Bad boy!
Update: Finally dominate this rooster. LOL. After kicking him and chasing him through the woods, he finally learned that I am the boss and that stimulating me is a very bad idea. It’s the rooster in the first photo on this page. It’s called Camo, and it’s still the best cock we’ve ever had.
Pros to having a rooster
- Alert chickens – predators like dogs or hawks. Chickens will either have their heads down looking for food, or they will be lying in the sun and taking a dust bath. Regardless of the fact that there is a hawk overhead. That’s where the rooster comes in. The rooster will often have its head on a pivot.
- Morning alarm… for humans. This could be good or bad depending on your situation.
Provide fertilized eggs – Want baby chicks? You will need a rooster if you want to avoid buying chicks. - Food alert! The roosters have an alert noise to let the girls know when they have found something delicious to eat. He could also do this falsely, to try to screw them up. Look at what chickens eat to see what we feed our chickens.
- Follow the leader – When you don’t have a rooster, a hen will have to step up and be the boss. In the chicken pecking order, someone has to be in charge. Chickens don’t always do as good a job as roosters.
Peacemaker – Can break up fights between chickens. - Stupid plug… I know, right? Although seriously. One of my chickens decided that she was going to attack the dog. The rooster stopped her before it could be the dog’s dinner. My dog is very good with chickens and even lets them lie on her. I don’t think she likes being attacked!
- Beauty – I initially got my rooster because let’s face it… It is the most beautiful chicken I have ever laid eyes on. Turns out it was for sale, Lol.
- Entertainment – Chickens are quite entertaining but roosters seem to liven up these girls’ personalities in some way. I don’t know how they do it, but I love watching them. They love to say hello and ask for candy!
No rooster no problem. Give your hens the best supplements!
Cons of having a rooster
- Morning alarm – Yes, waking my rooster at dawn by letting it be known is not exactly the highlight of my day. I don’t want to wake up before the sun, no thanks, buddy!
- Attack! Yes, some roosters attack. They have what we call spurs. The older they are, the bigger the spurs. They can be really dangerous! My cock’s spurs are quite small and he hit me on the back of the leg. It’s a pretty good puncture wound. If it attacked a child, it would not put them on the leg, depending on their height, you could be seeing a wound on the head of a child. This is a big thing to think about!
- Noise – Aside from the morning alarm, a rooster will sound the alarm whenever he senses a threat. IT’S NOISE! Not to mention that my rooster also likes to get into cock fights with the neighbor’s roosters. I don’t really care about this. If you have neighbors, they may not like all the noise. Fortunately, my neighbor who doesn’t have chickens said that he likes to hear them. He must be a saint, Lol. Although, I also enjoy them.
- Tough on the chickens – If you have too many roosters or not enough chickens, sometimes the roosters will be tough on them and will even hurt the chickens by mating with them. Try to match the numbers.
- Have at least 5 chickens before adding a rooster. One rooster will love up to 10-12 chickens, if you get more then think about getting a second rooster. If you pair your pen properly and continue to have problems, the rooster could soon become dinner.
So you can decide what is best for you and your girls. We love our roo, but if it doesn’t stop stimulating us, it can end up being dinner. You may have to replace it with a more tame rooster eventually. It’s a Sexlink, and from what I’ve heard they tend to be quite aggressive and will only get worse with age.
I’d love to know what you think. Please leave me a comment! Thanks for your visit.
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