# What rooster for my flock?



## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

i have a flock of 14 hens, all large fowl. DISCLAIMER, i have never had a rooster. i am looking to bring at least 1 rooster on board for several reasons.
i like to free range them as much as possible but we are surrounded by woods. i want a rooster that will be a watchdog for my girls when theyre out. but i do not want them to be aggressive towards me or little Rosco. i am aware that there are no guarantees with this, but some breeds tend to be more personable than others.
in order by priority, needs to be-
1. alert/protecting of flock
2. not overly aggressive towards me and mine
3. good personality and looks...duh

also i guess something else to consider is if i decide to raise chicks, what rooster would breed well with my current breeds? production red, BR, EE, brown leghorn, black australorp, golden comet...


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## chickenmommy (Apr 30, 2013)

I don't have a lot of experience with roosters. But I can share my experiences with the ones that I did have. I had a polish roo. He was very skittish around me but would bully food away from the hens. I had a d'uccle and he was very sweet as a baby. But then once he started crowing and "servicing" the girls he became very aggressive. He would circle and flog me and my daughter when we went to feed the chickens. Had a couple of RIR Roos. I bought them as adults so they weren't very personable. But they weren't aggressive towards us. And when the neighbors dog jumped into the backyard one of the Roos took the girls into the nesting box and the other pretty much almost sacrificed himself by trying to fight off the dog. Luckily we ran out there in time and the dog didn't kill it. But he was in bad shape. And the one that went into the nesting box was standing between the opening and the girls protecting them . So from my experience of those three I suggest RIR


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

good info. thats the kind of stuff that i want to find out. thanks for sharing chick!


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## chickenmommy (Apr 30, 2013)

️ how r the chickies?


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

theyre ugly right now...in between losing baby fuzz and growing feathers. doing good though! still running 22 strong. geez they can put away some food and water! i need to take some pics to update that other thread...


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

i remeber reading a thread not too long ago about rooster recommendations but i can't find it anywhere... hopefully some other opinions will be along later. also i think it was Alaskan that had some brown leg horn roosters...? *paging Alaskan*


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I've had quite a few roosters. Last year I had 7. Now I have 6 plus 7 silkie roos. I have always had very very good luck with Jersey Giants. they are big, calm, and I've never had an aggressive one. In fact I had 5 in a pen once all 8 months old and my 9 year old grand daughter would go in and give them bread. Only one time, last year, I had picked up a hen and she squealed and "Thor" threw his body into my leg. Never did it since. He got behavior retraining right away. I stalk him for a few minutes every time I saw him for a week. The deal is to make them continuously give up their ground.

One of My Jersey roos flies up onto my husband's arm. We don't know how he learned that. I've had other really good roos. But the Jerseys have been consistently good. Mine play cheerleader when the hen lays an egg. He also goes in sometimes and warms up the nest. I never got them to eat a treat because they drop it for the girls. If there is something suspicious, he sounds the emergency call and everyone comes running. 

I've also learned a lot about rooster to rooster behavior . Never ever back away from a rooster. If they are running toward you, run toward them. The idea is to act like an alpha roo so that the real roo understands his place. Enough info?

I have also learned that Brahma roos can be kept together in a flock. Go figure.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

great! thanks semi


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

When you decide to get a rooster, get one over a year old...the older the better.


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## chickenmommy (Apr 30, 2013)

rosco47 said:


> theyre ugly right now...in between losing baby fuzz and growing feathers. doing good though! still running 22 strong. geez they can put away some food and water! i need to take some pics to update that other thread...


Lol I always refer to this as the teenager years. Awkward looking and trying to grow into everything lol


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

I agree with Dawg. For your first, get one who's hormones have settled and who is already. The best roosters are born, the worst often are made.

I keep all my LF roosters together with all my LF hens unless I'm breeding. They're all bred and raised to be mannerly boys and I just love them for it. My bantams are little spitfires (little man syndrome I think) and I keep them together by breed but don't intermix as Id have a war on my hands.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

bump
would like for a few others to weigh in...thanks


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I've had some Polish roos but some are good and some are nuts. I had a BO roo who was good, but don't know much about BO roos. Some people I've met love Brahma roos because there can be several in a flock, and they are really big. I do have a black JG right now, and his son in another flock pen who is Blue and really big. That's all I know about what I've had. 
My Barred rock roo, my first one, went next door and was good but attacked the owner all the time. But if I went over there, he did not attack me. I would stalk him and hold him for 10 minutes every time I went over there. 

I've had fun watching cockerels been put in with older girls and spend the first month in hiding. That's what I like. It's funny.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

OK... Sorry I missed this.

I like having the males grow up with the girls.. You have chicks now... Straight run? Or are you going to have to buy a rooster?

With my first set of dark brown leghorns I got 3 boys and one started looking at my kids sideways... The other two were nice... We kept one until he was over a year old and he was very nice.. A good lower pecking order guy that did fine being separated several times and then returned several times to the main flock with my Dominique rooster.

So yep, the leghorns are a good bet.

My Dominique roosters have been good too...

This time of year there should be free roosters for sale on Facebook or Craig's list pages.

If you don't have a male chick right now that is growing up... I would just grab whatever rooster or roosters are available.... And try them out. If you don't like them then eat them.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

my uncle gave me a rooster of some game variety and it is currently at my parents house during the rebuild (half way planning on not bringing him back to my place since he is so skittish). not sure how i feel about this guy breeding my hens too. would yall advise ditching him for a large fowl roo since thats what all my hens are?
i like your advise looking for a free roo on facebook or local listings, Alaskan. i will check that out too.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I am not sure if a tiny bantam roo can fertilize standard size hens.

Dunno

However, you also don't want a super big heavy rooster since even if he is as sweet as cream his heavy weight will tend to pull feathers off of the backs of the hens.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'm not crazy about bantam roos. I'd like something calm. I guess a LF same breed roo is good if you will eventually breed and hatch eggs.

My best roo was a Polish white crested black. He loved the big girls. More than the Polish girls. He was a true gentleman and stood to be picked up as well. One day he jumped over the fence to kill the dog. Didn't work out that way. My husband cried.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Wow! What a story!

I know what you mean about bantam roosters... Often they are full of themselves.

My bantam Ameraucana is nice... And so far my little d'anvers are good too (but still quite young)


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

My D'Anver are borderline psychotic. Lots and lots of training went into making those boys civilized haha.

I've had very few bad Aussie/Orpington/Barred Rock roosters. Out of all the breeds I've had. They were definitely a cut above.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Hummmmm

I sure hope my d'anvers don't loose their tiny little minds.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

My daughter shows mine in 4H. They're fine! I even have the three pairs currently living together. Just took a while to mellow them out. Not saying they're all like that, either lol


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well Roscoe, did you pick a rooster yet?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

We have an Australorp roo who seems to be pretty calm right now. He was supposed to be a pullet but someone didn't read the signs right. We have a talk pretty often though and he knows what will happen if he ever gets aggressive to me or one of my grand kids. He really acts like he wants to be "friends ", so we'll see. .He's the first roos that we've had for very long though.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Mr. Roo my BSL really freaked out yesterday at the cordless drill.So far he has been a good protector of the flock.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

How's the new roo doing?


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

of the 22 chickens i recently acquired, i am almost positive one of my bron leghorns is a roo. suits me fine since i was considering getting a roo of that breed. he kinda cocka-doodle-dooed yesterday morning. it was pathetic lol but far more than something i would expect from my hens which are still peeping almost...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well its good you have a good potential keeper.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

BREAKING NEWS

i now have a black aussie that is likely going to be a roo too. big red comb and waddles. back and tail feathers look like a roo too. gave him to my dad last night because, in his words, "your mom don't want a rooster so if i get him under the notion that it is a sweet little hen and one day it crows, well it looks like we'll have ourselves a rooster!"


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

yea Semi, i'm kinda excited bout it. do you think the brown leghorn will breed my other hens to make good chicks? seeing as how he is a white egger and my other breeds are brown eggers, what can i expect?


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I don't know. Maybe pale brown eggs? I think the female may decide the color. I know absolutely nothing about Leghorns. The only thing I've realized over the years is that the "old" breeds are still popular because of some good reason. Like Leghorns, BR's , Orpingtons, etc. I like chickens with personality. I really don't care if they lay eggs, LOL


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Egg color breeding:

Your chicks will lay eggs about the color of their moms, probably, but not always a bit lighter.


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