# Pros and Cons



## cluck_and_quack (Mar 21, 2013)

What are the pros and cons for keeping a roo? I have 8 SR EE's and never intended on having a rooster. We live in the country and having one or some isn't a "problem" just a personal preference until now. So I am debating depending on how many end up being male... So pros and cons... Go!!!


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## Pinkter (Aug 19, 2012)

I love the crow of a roo. My roo, Buck, stands guard of his ladies. He alerts them of danger. He herds them undercover at any sign of danger. It's really pretty touching.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

i would love to have a roo, but its just not practical in the middle of the city. i dont think the neighours would like being woken up at the crack of dawn lol


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

Pro - you get fertile eggs as long as he is doing his job, the crow is pretty cool, some people say roosters protect the flock but I guess both my roosters missed that memo, they make good meat when you tired of them. 

Cons - they can be jerks sometimes, they dont give eggs, and they can be jerks sometimes lol


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## cluck_and_quack (Mar 21, 2013)

My littles ones love to help with the chickens. Being flogged by a cranky rooster would be unacceptable. Also I have no interest in fertilized eggs. I would actually... Maybe a little... But the hens would have to hatch. No bators for me. And I know this question has been asked before I didn't pay much mind as I never thought I would consider keeping a roo... Can you eat fertilized eggs? And how would you know if they were it not? 
And here is another question... Which breeds go broody? I have red sexlinks that have never gone broody. And my new ones are BR, white leghorns and EE'S. will they go broody?


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

cluck_and_quack said:


> My littles ones love to help with the chickens. Being flogged by a cranky rooster would be unacceptable. Also I have no interest in fertilized eggs. I would actually... Maybe a little... But the hens would have to hatch. No bators for me. And I know this question has been asked before I didn't pay much mind as I never thought I would consider keeping a roo... *Can you eat fertilized eggs? And how would you know if they were it not?*
> And here is another question... *Which breeds go broody*? I have red sexlinks that have never gone broody. And my new ones are BR, white leghorns and EE'S. will they go broody?


They are protectors of the flock, a good roo will also find yummy things for the hens to eat. My best roos even beak fed their hens and helped rear the little ones. My roos are peacekeepers as well, breaking up the occasional hen squabble. Plus, if you do have a hen go broody no searching around for fertile eggs, your chicks will be homegrown. 
Yes you can eat fertilized eggs, I do daily. You have to look close and know what you are looking for to be able to tell the difference. It won't develop into a baby chick unless incubated. 
Your sex links are not likely to go broody. Not saying it can't happen. I had a rescue meat bird (commercial Cornish X) go broody on me once. The leghorns are also not likely to go broody. Those breeds are genetically modified for high egg production, and have the broody gene bred out of them. 
You stand a chance of a broody with EEs and a better chance with a barred rock. 
Roosters, drakes, ganders. They all add a whole 'nother dimension to the flock and I wouldn't have one without the other.

The cons? Roosters can be aggressive. Some breeds are more prone to aggressive roosters than others. I start mine from chicks and make sure they understand from the gitgo that their life on this farm is subject to their behavior. They can be hard on a hen's back, especially a young rooster that hasn't learned how to mount a hen properly yet.

It's my own strong personal belief that roosters and young children don't mix.


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## Pinkter (Aug 19, 2012)

I guess I've been lucky. I have never had an aggressive roo. It just seems understood to them that I'm the roo when I'm out there! I've never had one try to spur me.


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

Pinkter said:


> I guess I've been lucky. I have never had an aggressive roo. It just seems understood to them that I'm the roo when I'm out there! I've never had one try to spur me.


 Neither have I, but I have seen plenty of pics of the damage they can do. 
My little serama Oops will try to flog me, or rather my hand (he weighs 10 oz.) if I grab one of his girls, but I don't consider that aggression; that's just doing his job.


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## cluck_and_quack (Mar 21, 2013)

Well I guess the best I can do is keep them and see how it turns out. If it doesn't work... It doesn't work. But aggression towards te children who just want to love on them will not fly. I have 8 EE's right now and I have no idea what their sex is. It's a wait and see game. Unless any of you think you can sex them at about 5-6 weeks old from a pic???


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## Pinkter (Aug 19, 2012)

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/sexingchicks.html

I found this website a couple weeks ago. It has some good facts but it states its not 100 percent accurate. I found it informative though.


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

cluck_and_quack said:


> Well I guess the best I can do is keep them and see how it turns out. If it doesn't work... It doesn't work. But aggression towards te children who just want to love on them will not fly. I have 8 EE's right now and I have no idea what their sex is. It's a wait and see game. Unless any of you think you can sex them at about 5-6 weeks old from a pic???


 The secondary sex characteristics start to show up in many breeds by 4 to 5 weeks, so there's a good chance they will be identifiable by then, with good pics - head, body from the side, tail.


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## mjs500doo (May 6, 2013)

EEs are difficult being unless you bred them, you don't ever know which breeds went into them to know what to watch for. Sometimes they don't even ever grow combs depending.


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## cluck_and_quack (Mar 21, 2013)

I'm going to start a new thread with their pics!


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Cons..................


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Your rooster has several favorites. An apron will help.


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

I always preferred around 12 hens per rooster. The more likely a pullet is willing to submit, the less likely the cockerel will get too excitable and more forceful. They go through the amateur phase when they learn how to hold and mount a pullet while having that vigor to reproduce. I see feather loss lessen and injuries less likely as they get familiar with this. I've never used aprons, pinless peepers, or any of that.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Watch out for sunburn


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

That's when the rooster is sentenced to a little solitary confinement...


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

chickenqueen said:


> That's when the rooster is sentenced to a little solitary confinement...


The rooster is just being a rooster. You can't fault a bird for that. Only once in over 30 years of raising chickens did I have to wring a neck of a cockerel who was brutalizing hens when mounting them. It was one of those "mystery" chicks the hatcheries often give with an order these days. It was an Ameraucana/"Easter Egger" mongrel. He mounted one and practically pecked it to death after lacerating a few others and I had to nurse the hen back to health. A scratch or a few missing feathers is one thing, but when pecking and lacerations start happening, that's it!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Sometimes aprons to protect their back can be a bother. Duct tape works great. That's all I use now. And sunblock. Once they get thru the hormonal stage and not knowing what they are doing, a rooster is great. I've not had any bad roosters, and half of them didn't mind being picked up and held. I used to watch their behavior for hours and was amazed at some of the things they do for the girls.


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