# The Decision



## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

Hello all! Wigwam is growing up strong, healthy, and beautiful.
I decided to come to this forum for a little bit of help on the decision to give him away or keep him. I made a list of pros and cons for both situations, so check them out.

Keeping Him:

*Pros- *
I will get to love on him as much as I want. 
He will be there to protect the girls.
If I ever want more chicks, all I have to do is not pick up eggs for a while!
I will get to take him to 4H shows when I want to.

*Cons- *
He will have to wear a no-crow collar. (I don't know if this is comfortable for him, but I've read many reviews and they seem to work great and be comfy for the roosters.)
The hens will have to wear saddles.
I will have to go through a little biosecurity hassle getting my "replacement" hen.
He will grow spurs and I'm pretty sure that you have to clip those...
He may hurt the hens or become aggressive towards humans.

Giving Him Away:

*Pros-*
He will get to free range all day.
He won't have to wear a collar.
He will get to have a lot of hens and other roosters to socialize with.
We won't have to worry about any of the above cons ^

*Cons- *
I won't get to see him often. 
He will have to adjust a lot to his huge new flock.
He will have to get quarantined for a few days and switched off his finisher feed. This could be very stressful for him.
The stress! Did I mention the stress?
Predator risks are higher out there, with free range all day...

Ok. Please tell me what you think!
Also, the replacement hen I'm getting regardless if we're keeping him or giving him away, since an egg will be lost both ways.
She will most likely be a started pullet I get from a friend. Don't worry, my friend has great biosecurity and I will quarantine the bird for a few days.
Thanks!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

That's a tough one. The only con I see is the collar. Only one hen will probably need a saddle and the easiest one is duct tape. It's the toe nails that scrape the hens.
Another con would be being in a flock with other roosters who are established already.

I guess if it were me, I'd get the collar and wait and see how things go. There may not be any problems. I wonder if you could get away with wearing the collar just at night.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm not sure anything we say will carry much weight with your parents. If the community you live in says no roosters they were going to be looking to follow the rules.

It's awful having to make that choice but it is part of keeping them. We make difficult decisions most days with these guys.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I (we) cant make the decision for you. You've given alot of thought about it as shown by your pros and cons. You need to make a choice now, once you do, dont back down from it.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

seminolewind said:


> That's a tough one. The only con I see is the collar. Only one hen will probably need a saddle and the easiest one is duct tape. It's the toe nails that scrape the hens.
> Another con would be being in a flock with other roosters who are established already.
> 
> I guess if it were me, I'd get the collar and wait and see how things go. There may not be any problems. I wonder if you could get away with wearing the collar just at night.


Ok. I think I will try that. I have only heard Wigwam crow 3 times, but that was all in one minute. I haven't heard anything since. I will see about the collar - I just feel bad watching roosters "hack" crow like that. Wigwam may be fine. He's pretty quiet. He likes to talk to me, though.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

One rooster will terrorize 3 hens.Once the feather loss starts,then the feather pecking will pursue.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

Nm156 said:


> One rooster will terrorize 3 hens.Once the feather loss starts,then the feather pecking will pursue.


Ahh, I thought so. See, we'd be getting another hen to replace the "lost" egg from Wigwam either way if we are keeping him or not. I'm just trying to get advice - would it be better or worse for Wigwam AND the hens for us to keep him or give him up?
If we kept him, I'd definitely be purchasing some hen saddles, but I know you are an expert, so you tell me.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Your chickens will probably be happier without a rooster chasing them around all day trying to get free booty from the free booty buffet


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

robin416 said:


> I'm not sure anything we say will carry much weight with your parents. If the community you live in says no roosters they were going to be looking to follow the rules.
> 
> It's awful having to make that choice but it is part of keeping them. We make difficult decisions most days with these guys.


My parents are actually fine either way, as long as they or the neighbors can't hear Wigwam crowing. They don't care if he kills all our hens  Or if I get flogged. 
What made me pretty sad is when I held Wigs yesterday and he was so sweet. I will miss him if he goes away


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

Nm156 said:


> Your chickens will probably be happier without a rooster chasing them around all day trying to get free booty from the free booty buffet


Ok. I will take that into consideration. He's chased a few around, but his favorite seems to be our Wynadotte. He doesn't "chase" her, but they do everything together.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I've only had good roos who were nice to me(except one bantam)
and after the teenage hormones, were really good to the girls. Funny thing is I have seen many times that if a hen does not want to be mounted, they turn so that the roo can't jump on and after waiting a few minutes, he goes on his way. So I've learned that most hens I've watched have body language that says "no". 

I've also had roos that warm the nest for a new hen, or actually sit in the nest with her, make sure everyone is in bed at night, won't eat treats-always drops them for the girls. I've also had a hen that was attached to a roo and he never gave her a thought. I felt bad for her being so in love and the roo never paid attention to her.

It sounds like you love him and have nothing to lose by trying.


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