Are you considering adding a rooster to your flock of chickens? Read the pros and cons first! Here are 7 reasons why you should not have a rooster!
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7 Reasons Why You Should NOT Have A Rooster!
Do You love your chickens as much as I love mine?
I love looking out my window and seeing them run around my backyard eating bugs!
I love watching mother hens care for their chicks!
And I love to see my beautiful rooster sitting on a fence post crowing!
Whoa, what?!
You’re probably wondering why I just said I love to see my rooster! Isn’t this post supposed to be about why you should NOT have a rooster?!
Let me first say, that I do indeed have a rooster!
Yep. I have a rooster.
Now, having a rooster is not for everyone or every situation. Roosters can be a serious problem depending on multiple factors!
There are definitely things you need to consider to decide if owning a rooster is right for you.
Here are seven reasons why you should not own a rooster:
1. Roosters are noisy!
You know how cartoons portray roosters crowing at day break?
That’s false!
Roosters do not just crow at day break. They crow All. Through. The. Night!
Now, if your chicken coop isn’t close to your house, its fine. But if you have neighbors that are really close or if it’s really close to your bedroom, be prepared to hear a rooster crow in the night!
2. Roosters can be mean!
Now, this doesn’t apply to all roosters. My rooster is actually a very nice rooster and has never tried to attack me or the kids.
But I can remember as a kid being chased by a rooster that my parents had! It literally chased me into the shed and I had to jump up on a table to get away from it!
And, when they attack you, they don’t just peck, they try to get you with their spurs! Which are like talons!
So this is one reason that really just depends on the personality of your rooster. Certain breeds are known for being more aggressive as well.
Our rooster is an Ameraucana rooster and he has never given us any problems. I can’t guarantee that all Ameraucana roosters will be nice though!
3. Roosters fight!
If you have more than a couple roosters, then be prepared for war!
Roosters will literally fight to the death!
We had baby chicks hatch out one year and almost all of them turned out to be roosters.
So, we decided that when they were big enough we would butcher out the roosters so that we had meat in the freezer and plenty of bones for broth!
Well, just before time to butcher, all the young roosters got into a fight! It was horrible! They were spurring one another, pecking one another, it was bad!
So, you definitely do not want to have a lot of roosters. I have found that two at a time are not a major issue. They determine a ranking order and all is well.
But any more than that, and it’s a major problem!
4. Roosters don’t lay eggs!
This one might seem funny, but it’s a reason to not have a rooster!
Roosters don’t provide any eggs. So if eggs are all that you desire from chickens, you really have no use for a rooster!
You can find out here if chickens need a rooster to lay eggs!
5. Your rooster might be illegal!
In some areas you are not allowed to own roosters.
Some developments have a no rooster rule due to the noise.
Some areas only allow you to have a certain number of roosters.
Check your local laws to determine if roosters are allowed in your neighborhood!
This could definitely be a good reason that you shouldn’t have a rooster!
6. Roosters might kill baby chicks!
Another reason to not have a rooster is to protect any new babies!
If you introduce really young chickens, or a mother with young chicks into the flock then you run the risk of losing them to the rooster.
Roosters will kill a chick to get it away from the mother if he wants to breed her. It sounds barbaric, but its true!
We had a hen once that hatched out a nice brood of chicks. The rooster actually killed some of the chicks to get them away from the mother! It was very sad:(
Of course without the rooster there wouldn’t be chicks, unless you are introducing a hen that already has chicks to the flock. Read this post to find out more about when you actually do need a rooster.
7. Roosters can injure young hens!
When a rooster mates with the hens, he can be very rough.
If the hen is still pretty young a large rooster could seriously injure her when mating!
I’ve had to chase a rooster away from a young hen before that was just too small for him!
So this is definitely a good reason to not have a rooster!
Now, I do want to say, that there are actually some pros to having a rooster!
I know this list sounds kind of scary, but lots of people do have roosters!
It’s really comes down to why you want to have chickens, and what works best for you and your family.
Roosters are extremely beautiful birds! They are so colorful and elegant! Like I said above, I love to watch mine!
Also, as I mentioned above, you can read here to find out when your hens actually need a rooster!
And another pro is that roosters are very protective of their hens. So they are also good for protecting the hens from predators!
I hope this post has helped you in determining whether or not a rooster is right for you and your hens!
Do you have chickens? Do you have a rooster? What is your experience with roosters? Leave me a comment below and let me know!
Very good article! I have 6 roosters and only one of them is kind of a jerk. Otherwise the others are pretty friendly. But Russell Crow my big rooster likes to let me know that he is the alpha! As far as fighting goes, they pretty much stay away from each other.
I love my current rooster. But I have had to send a couple to freezer camp for being too aggressive with my kids. My favorite breed for a rooster is Silkie. I’ve had two and they were never aggressive. And you are not lying about the crowing. I’ve gone outside at 1/2am and I can hear Henry crowing away….
I have a beautiful yet small rooster. Beautiful round tail feathers maroonish red with a hint of green & black. He sings beautiful & protects the hens unless it’s a darn bobcat. But he alarms everyone. Another thing I like about my rooster is his small size, he can’t reach to mate with the hens, but Lord he tries ? . That’s the good part. He is mean with some of my hens, yet tries to mate with them. He also attacks my Chihuahuas & sometimes humans including me.
I had a couple of surprise hatches and ended up with 8 roosters. 5 went to freezer camp and I kept 3. Mine free range and I have a huge predator problem bald eagles, coyotes, owls so I want roosters to act as a guard/warning system. The oldest rooster chases the younger ones and he’s tried showing me who’s boss when my back is turned. I have had really good luck at turning the tables on that, a method I’ve used for every rooster I’ve had problems with, and now we have an understanding. Hoss, my oldest rooster, is a huge blue laced red wyandotte with spurs about 2″ long. When he tries to attack (he runs up behind me and I basically get smacked with his wings) I corner him, catch him and carry him around under my arm for 20 minutes or so. Then gently put him down….I’ve had to do it twice this spring and he’s stopped (I’m sure he is on “high alert” because of the other roosters). Also, I have never had an issue with roosters crowing at night. Only my neighbor’s roosters but he kept a red light on in his coop 24/7 and he had predators in his coop at night quite often. Mine only get natural light and are locked up at night. The only way I will NOT have a rooster is if/when I can no longer free range and have to keep them in a run. Then I will probably just have layers and no roosters….
We have a mixed group. I hand-fed them when they were young which helped the roosters not be quite so intimidating 2 the hens as well as humans. However my first round at this we tried to eliminate the Roosters by giving them to someone who had an area for Roosters and we’re raising for me. As soon as we did we lost many hens to predators. I enjoyed having a mixed flock and will continue to do so just acclimate them young.
We raise groups of roosters for butcher every year. They only seem to fight when females are near. If you separate the males they don’t get so aggressive with each other. There just isn’t as much at stake (and they have never fought until maturity)
I have 2 boosters and love them! They will find food and let the hens know it is there. We have lots of creditors they watch out for. Our alpha rooster even shows the chicks where food is and has never hurt one of them. My rooster don’t crow at night, only during the day. I love hearing my crows!
hi mate we live on acres an have 7 roosters,4 with the girls an the others have thier own accomodation till required to obtain chicks so the girls have some time to free range in peace and i have an .’eagle shelter’ in the yard for them to run to for protection when one sails overhead! (The eagles have been taking cats an small dogs/pups mainly because of the severe drought here atm.)
I really lucked out with my rooster. He’s a big one with huge spurs who once actually attacked a fox who was going after his hens and ended up with a bent neck that took 2 painful months to heal but he’s always sweet to humans. His only downside is he will start crowing at 2:30 am and keep it up all day. But i love him anyway.
I have a white leghorn he is very mean and he is the boss in the run and in the range. When I Give my hens treats he will usher them away from the treats and they don’t get to eat them. Sometimes I hear him crowing at night.
I loved your article. Thank you
We had, yes had a Crested Polish named Spot. He was very protective of my hens and very mean with anything else that crossed his path. He was hand raised and would perch on our shoulders when he was small but as he grew he became more and more aggressive. Finally he attacked my husband one too many times. RIP Spot.
I have been raising chickens for almost 4 decades. And Rojsters are Essential! They keep the hens date abs the he BFF s feel safer having them around. And believe it or not, hens live to brood chicks. It’s in their nature !! I have from 4 to 12 roosters at any given time . I have 4 coops and they all free range. Abs then hens decide which rooster they want to father their babies. No matter how many different ones may mate with them.I don’t allow the roosters to bulky the hens. Or over mate or pull feathers or injure my hens. To each his own but without telling people they shouldn’t have a rooster or more than one or two it’s just your opinion it’s not based on fact.
We had a beautiful rooster that was quite tame with humans but at some point started picking off my hens one by one. We lost two before we realised it was him and not some other animal killing them off. We had to lock him out of the coop at night and keep an eye on him through the day but he still managed to kill a third hen until a fox got him early one morning. Karma I guess. Much easier without a rooster.
You got some good points there specially the fact that they are noisy and mean. I had four Red Rhode Island, however I discovered that after the second year they became even more aggressive with us. Now I only keep the roosters for one year and a half and no more than four at a time.
I currently have 5 roosters, 3 are brothers, 1 is older, and 1 is a new guy I just brought in. I’d say the first couple of days while I was intro’ing Jager to the rest of the flock there was some light sparing, but no death happened.Now, mind you I have a mixed flock. I don’t just have any one breed. Jager is an IDK Frizzle & the 3 brothers are silkie crosses. Dingus & Jager were the only two I ever saw having a scrap. As for owning more then just 2, I’d say own as many as you’d like, you just have to know how to introduce them and also how your current roo’s temperment is. If he’ll get along with pretty much anything then you’re good to go, but if he has a snippy side to him, then best watch what comes into the yard. I had a Lav Orph roo a while ago who would attack everyone but me & my kids, he ended up being sent to a farm.
I have a wonderful rooster Penguin hatched by my setting hen; mainly Rhode island red but with other stuff mixed in ; anyway the hen bit him at three weeks which is what she does when she is sick of being a mom but she hurt him on the back of the neck bad. I had him in the house for a couple months and he recovered but he has always been very sweet to both me and the hens even though his father Daddy had to be rehomed bc he was so mean and very aggressive with the hens ; I had to get little aprons for two of them bc their backs got so raw
I have 5 hens without a rooster at this time. I have had some that spur/attack, and others that are sweet as pie. I do believe that you dont really have a flock until you have a rooster. They watch out for their hens at all times, especially if predatory birds are in the air.. They do breed daily, but thats their job and thats how they procreate. You cant have more than one or yes they fight. Thats my two cents, take it or leave it. If you want the joy of watching your own hens hatch a brood, you’ll need a rooster. Then you can eat him.
Scott
WA State.
I have 6 hens and 1 rooster barred rock. He got me twice so now he is ok beautiful. My rule is never trust him and carry a stick. We free range during the day he is great with the girls. I like him and except him for what he is.
I brought 4 baby chicks home for fresh eggs. Well, 1 turned out to be a rooster… Rhode Island Red. I always handled them as they were growing, but discovering I had a rooster, I dedicated more interaction to him in hopes that he wouldn’t be strongly aggressive. Actually, he is a great rooster for his ladies and he does his job very well. I do hold him pretty much every day still. His personality is kinda’ comical. I wouldn’t part with him for nothing.
This is why we rescue roosters. We have taken in roosters that where attacking their owners and my husband manages to calm and relax them. They are NOT for everyone. It takes patients and time to work with them. We have harnesses and leashes we use to walk them around. It sort of takes them down a peg. We do give older chicks to a rooster once they are big enough not to need mom. We isolate them together. The rooster then sees them as his flock and defends them. They will often even continue protecting the young roos. But you MUST know your birds, use the wrong rooster and things go bad fast. Before the fires in Oregon we had around 30 rescued roosters, please everyone, read this article and take it to heart. Every year the backyard chicken movement encourages people to have chickens, but ALL chickens can be noisy, hens do an “egg song” that can be as loud as a crow. Please don’t get them through the mail so many chicks die miserably, and even if they have been sexed too often a little roo has been missed. We won’t talk about what they do to those poor little males when sexed. We have taken in backyard hens who were over weight and sluggish from having too little space and fed too much. So out of shape they couldn’t fly up to their roosts. We had to build low ones. If you do not have enough space please don’t stick hens in some tiny cute set up just so your kids can go gather eggs. Idiots have killed perfectly good hens because they have pecked their children, when the idiot parents had them get eggs out from under a hen. The hen has every right to protect her eggs, they are hers. Chiclren should never be allowed to go into a coop alone. Chickens are living beings with personalities of their own. They really need enough space to be chickens, not stand around in a little coop. Chickens simply aren’t for everyone. If you really want chickens look through Craigslist for adult hens who need a home. Go through a rescue. Get chickens because you love them, not just for eggs. For your own mental well being. Killing a beautiful young rooster just because you are in town will break the hearts of good kind people. And we who rescue run out of space taking in all those backyard oops roosters. It’s called rooster season once the backyard chicken folks find they have a little roo mixed in as they get older. They are left in fields having never needing to fend for themselves, they starve or predators get them, left at shelters, advertized on craigslist where they can end up as bait rooster in a cock fight. We have looked out at our boys and seen a few extras that were quickly tossed out a door in our drive way. The absolute worst thing to do is run from an angry rooster if you can not stand your ground and take a bruising don’t have roosters. Never let children around a rooster you are not sure of. Children have ended up in the ER., but a pissed off hen trying to protect her eggs Have left scars. Oh, and by the way, some hens sort of switch sexes at around a year, usually when no rooster is available. She will get bigger, her waddle and comb will enlarge and she starts to crow. None binary chickens exist. They are a jewel to any flock, they protect, but don’t rape. If any of this sounds bad just don’t get chickens. Save yourself the heart ache.