5 Reasons Why You Don’t Want a Rooster
I love my chickens. I never dreamt I would love chickens, but here I am rocking the crazy chicken lady life. One thing that I don't necessarily love though is roosters. You don't need a rooster to get eggs from your chickens. Here are some reasons why you don't want a rooster in your flock.
This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.
5 Reasons Why You Don't Want a Rooster
Roosters Crow, Loudly
Roosters are loud. Even my bantam Brahma which is quieter than my standard Brahma, is loud. And they make noise from sun up to sundown. And if there is light getting into the coop at night, they might even crow at night too. Ours is kept dark!
Get updates & freebies delivered to your inbox!
Roosters can be Mean
I have two roosters, in two coops. One is the sweetest boy. He protects his ladies. He fertilizes eggs. If I need to grab one of his hens he stands back and lets me.
I have another rooster who is a great protector of his ladies. He fertilizes eggs. If I go near his ladies, my leg is going to be hurting. If his ladies, who love to be petted, come to me, he attacks. I move through their run cautiously, always watching him, him always watching me.
If you have free-range birds mean roosters are going to take the opportunity to attack you. You have seen the videos online to give you a great demonstration.
They can, and sometimes will kill new comes to your flock. It can be a young hen, a chick, they can be mean!
Roosters can Injure Hens
Roosters can hurt your hens mating. He might even have a favorite that he uses more than the other hens, he can hurt her by simply using her too much.
Roosters will end up pulling the feathers from her back, and if he has done then he can break the skin. Once the skin is broken, once their blood, chickens will peek her to death. I currently have a hen with an apron on to:
- heal her sore back after I sprayed it with Banixx for Pecking Sores
- let her feathers grow back in
- protect her back from him
The other ladies will be getting aprons too but she was a priority.
Roosters Fight
If you have more than one roosters they are going to fight. They need to establish dominance in the flock. They can fight to the death. My daughter has two roosters together and rarely fight anymore, they have established their pecking order.
Roosters Don't Lay Eggs
I know, everyone knows this right? But if you are looking for bang for your buck on feed to production, roosters are eating feed and not giving you anything in return. If you want to hatch out eggs, you do need him to fertilize them.
I hope this post has helped you in determining whether or not a rooster is right for you and your hens!
More on Raising Chickens
7 Reasons to Have Backyard Chickens
