Rooster or no Rooster?- When You Have Kids
No true farm kid has gotten out of childhood without being chased by a rooster. It’s a tale as old as time. A lot of people like to laugh when they hear this, but if you are one of those kids, you know that these powerful birds are no joke. Yes, roosters can hurt you, especially, if you’re a small child. So, are they worth it? Let’s talk about it
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The very first step before considering a rooster
Before even considering a rooster, check your local regulations. A lot of neighborhoods don’t allow roosters. Even some more rural areas may have a homeowners’ association. Just make yourself familiar with your area’s chicken laws, so you don’t have problems down the line.
Are roosters necessary?
If you want your chickens for pets and eggs, then no. Hens will lay eggs without a rooster. If you want to hatch your own chicks, then it depends. If you want to breed your specific hens, you’ll need a rooster. But you can order fertilized eggs and hatch them yourself. You can even have your hens hatch the ordered eggs (if any are broody) or use an incubator. Fresh Eggs Daily talks more about letting your hen hatch eggs for you! Ordering fertilized eggs doesn’t require you to own a rooster, but keep in mind you have a 50/50 chance of hatching your own rooster.
What are roosters good for?
Other than the obvious of being able to breed chickens, why else would anyone want a rooster?
Most roosters will protect their hens with their lives. The problem is a rooster will usually lose to chicken predators. Meaning, if they ever have to do this, they usually lose their lives or get seriously injured. A lot of people find it unethical to use the poor rooster as cannon fodder like this. Finding it best to fight predators with good predator proofing. Their job naturally being the protector, means they’re also the ones keeping an eye out. So they do serve as a good danger alarm.
Another mix of good and bad for roosters. They can make a good referee and prevent hens from fighting. They help the flock hold its natural pecking order. However, they can also be rough on hens and be the biggest cause of injuries. Usually due to being too rough during breeding. But I’ve seen roosters pick fights with hens too.
Lastly, roosters are pretty. They’re the ones that are going to have the fancy feathers and prettiest colors. If you do manage to get a friendly one, they can be the most friendly and outgoing out of your flock. Some people enjoy the crowing. This could be a con because some people don’t. My neighbor requested a crowing rooster for his mornings, but some neighbors might not be impressed.
What do you do, if you have a rooster, you don’t want?
This happens from time to time. Sometimes the hatchery gets it wrong. Sometimes the breed you want is only offered as a straight run (they don’t sexed the chicks. No way to know how many males or females you’d get) so you take the risk. Or you wanted to hatch your own. Now you have a rooster you either don’t want or can’t have. Your two choices are to cull it yourself or find another home. I’m a softy, so culling has not been an option for me.
how to find someone to take your rooster?
first contact who you got the chicks from. They might be able to point you in a direction. If they can’t help, I have found my best luck in local Facebook chicken groups. However, there are usually a lot of roosters looking for homes. Unless you have some rare, special breed, you won’t get any money for it. You can’t even give them away. My trick is to offer 2 hens with a rooster. That’s been the easiest way for me to rehome a rooster. You can specify you don’t wish for the rooster to end up in a stewpot, but there are really no promises. Lastly, you can try a local farm animal rescue if there’s one near you. Terms of animal intake are going to be different for every rescue, so you’ll have to reach out.
Roosters and kids
The pros and cons of roosters mentioned above, usually make most backyard chicken owners decided not to get a rooster. What if you’re the few that still think you want one, how can it go with kids?
Roosters are to kids, as cats are to mice. A lot of roosters love to chase kids, but why?
Roosters are the protectors, kids are loud and make fast movements, making roosters insecure. When a rooster is nervous he has to choose between fight or flight and a lot choose, fight. Once this initially happens, a child either runs or fights back, but this is just trigging the rooster more. Running means he wins! Fighting back means you proved him right, and you are a threat. Be it a physical threat or a threat to his dominance. Chickens like most animals read body language really well. Children still figuring life out, maybe nervous around chickens. Roosters are going to pick this up by the way the children react and carry themselves. This is going to make the rooster unsure, so he might decide the child is a threat, or frankly, he might just pick on the poor kid. Chickens are animals and animals sometimes take advantage of what they perceive as weaknesses.
How to get a good pet rooster?
So not every single rooster has it out for kids.
However, the information out there on how to tame or prevent a raptor rooster is conflicting. Some experts say handling your rooster a lot as a chick, will make them more friendly. Others have found over handling a chick makes the rooster overconfident and more willing to challenge people. I can’t tell you the right answer. It’s very much nature vs nurture. Some roosters are predisposed to be spicier. Whether it is the breed or just his particular genetics. Unfortunately, we don’t have a study showing, “this person handled their rooster chick a lot and got a friendly one, but this person got a mean one. Was it a breed more known to be aggressive? Was the rooster’s father aggressive?” We just don’t usually have all that information.
How to limit your chances of getting a Spicy Raptor Rooster?
In my experience, the best way to get a good rooster is to get an older rooster.
So, get your hens, let them reach maturity, and then go shopping for your rooster.
You want a rooster older than a year, to hopefully work out all his silly teenager hormones. But, I wouldn’t go over 2-3 years, if you want to breed. You want a young adult. The best rooster was raised with older hens or better yet, a good older rooster (meaning his mentor rooster treats his hens well and is friendly with his handlers.) This helps your potential rooster learn how to behave.
You want your rooster’s owners to describe him as friendly and well-mannered. Preferably comes from a home with children, so he’s already familiar.
This method helps you know the rooster before you get it. Raising roosters from chicks has so many variables. Also, young roosters with young hens can lead him to have bad manners with his hens. There’s just no one to show him how to act.
As I mentioned before, in those local Facebook chicken groups, there are tons of roosters looking for homes. You’ll have your pick.
Does the breed of rooster matter?
Sorta… some breeds have a better reputation for being nice. like…
Buff Orpington
Brahma
Cochins
These are just examples, there are so many different types of chickens. Everyone seems to have their preferences and good or bad experiences with different breeds. I would start by figuring out what you want out of your chickens. Eggs, meat, or just pets with a bonus of some eggs. From there you can narrow down your breed choices. Then research more about the common temperament of each breed.
Bantam Roosters
For kids, I love to have bantam chickens. Bantams are basically breeds of chickens bred to be small. Most are drastically smaller than your average chicken. Their being smaller makes them easier for kids to handle. If a bantam rooster did decide to attack, they’ll do less damage. They have smaller spurs and stand father away from a child’s face. That said some chicken tenders don’t recommend housing bantam chickens with large breeds. Something to keep in mind, if you want a bantam rooster, you should probably get bantam hens.
There’s one more problem with bantam, they’re smaller, their babies are smaller, and can be challenging to tell male from female. Lots of hatcheries don’t offer sexed bantams. Meyer’s Hatchery offers most of their bantams sexed. Cackle Hatchery offers a few. You’ll have to search through them on Cackle’s bantam page. Looking to see if it gives you the option to order straight runs or the two different sexes. This can ultimately limit your breed choices.
I personally love bantam chickens because my favorite breed is a bantam, Silkies!
Silkie Roosters
Silkies are what you’ll see a lot of in my personal pictures. Silkies are so cute and fuzzy. Silkies are usually kids’ favorites too. However, Silkies are really just good for pets. They’re not meat birds, and they’re not great egg laters. They can be great mothers! They love to go broody (want to sit on eggs) and are known to take care of chicks well.
The silkie rooster, in my experience, has no promise of being friendly. I would follow my method above to improve the chances of a friendly rooster. I do like silkie roosters because, even if they are mean, they don’t really hurt. Silkies can’t see the best, they don’t usually get big spurs, and they’re tiny puff balls. I have been scratched and peaked, it does leave a mark, but it’s nothing to what a normal rooster can do. Even then, I have rehomed my share of silkie roosters. Some of our silkie roosters relentlessly harassed my young daughter, making the experience of chickens no longer enjoyable.
That’s what raising backyard chickens is all about for us. An enjoyable experience for my daughter and me. I personally like to have a rooster, but I will not sacrifice our experience to keep one. For first-time backyard chicken owners, I would recommend skipping a rooster. You can always get one later and shop around for an older one. That way, you can know his personality better.
I hope this helps parents who are becoming chicken owners make a decision about a rooster. Feel free to reach out to me if you have more questions or need some advice. I hope you keep exploring animals and nature with your kids!
