Should You Adopt A Rooster? Basic Pros and Cons

Do you own several hens and are thinking about adding a rooster to your flock?  Maybe you don't have any chickens, but you just loving having a handsome rooster strut around your barnyard.  Here are a few of the basic pros and cons for adopting a rooster, along with some considerations and warnings.

Benefits of Owning a Rooster

Roosters offer several benefits, including:

• Provide stud service--Probably the main advantage of adding a rooster to your hen house
• Act as a relentless bodyguard--Roosters are known for guarding and defending other barnyard animals from perceived danger.  They are constantly on the lookout for possible intruders, warning hens and other pets when danger is detected.
• Alert your chickens for food--When a rooster finds tasty food, he shares the news with his chicks.
• They lower stress levels for hens--When you add a rooster to your flock, you can lower the stress level of your hens.  Having a "man" in the hen house can calm down the chickens as they know they are being protected.  As a result of being calmer, your hens can produce more eggs.
  

Disadvantages

• Some roosters are too aggressive and can be annoying when they jump on people.
• Even worse, they can peck kids and adults, causing pain and injury.
  
• Roosters can be extremely noisy.  Even if you don't mind the crowing and early morning wakeup calls, your neighbors may complain.

Introducing Your New Rooster

Before introducing a new rooster to your hens, wait about two weeks, keeping him separate from the chickens.  This lets you look for any possible health problems that he may have, and gives you time for handling his temperament.

While your rooster is being housed in a separate pen that is in viewing distance for the other barnyard animals, he and the chickens can watch one another interact.  Then, after your rooster seems to be acclimated to the hens, let him out of his pen, so he can join the others.

Food, Water, and Housing Requirements for a Rooster

Roosters consume both plan and animal foods.  Feed them a complete diet as found in feed store products.  Replace the water trough daily, making sure drinking water is not too cold or too warm.  Don't let your rooster drink puddle water as it may contain dangerous pollutants.

It is best to let your rooster have its own sleeping quarters in a separate wire cage, when it's not enacting or mating with hens.  If you are raising roosters for showing in competitions, such as fairs, keep them in a smaller pen that is about two feet wide by three feet long.  Just ensure it is located in a warm spot since there are not other birds to help it stay warm.

Other Considerations and Warnings

• If you have a lot of hens, hen you may need more than one rooster.  You need ten to 12 hens for each rooster, so they get enough time with each hen, which resouces competition, and prevents overbreeding.
• Since roosters are most fertile at age one and a half to three or four years old, this is the best time to adopt.  Their average lifespan is about fife to eight years.
• Before investing in a rooser, make sure it is allowed in your neighborhood.  Therefore, check the municipal codes for where you live.  Most likely, you will be able to bring home a rooster if you live in a suburban neighborhood.

To learn more about how to care for hens and roosters, visit us at Popworms.com for tips and treats!