Pictured: A rooster we found in the middle of a busy road on the way home from our anniversary celebration last September. I jumped out, stopped the cars and grabbed him. We had him for a day and then found him a home.
"Do you have a rooster?"
"Why don't you have a rooster?"
"Do you get eggs without a rooster?"
"Why did you give up your roosters?"
When we first started our chicken keeping journey, we began with TWO roosters by complete accident. Two of our original "laying hens"... well, they crowed and asserted dominance. I loved them though. One of them would come into the garage when it was open and crow right at our door. They were funny guys.
We ultimately decided to give them away when they were about 5-6 months old. They both went to a family who was looking for a rooster for their son. They had over 70 birds, so they had plenty room for both.
Here's why we don't own a rooster:
- They can be aggressive towards the hens when mating. Sometimes they cause injury or extra stress for the ladies and I didn't want to deal with it. If you ever see a picture of a chicken wearing a "saddle" type item on their back, it's to protect her from the rooster!
- We didn't have enough hens for 2 of them. Eventually, they would've started fighting each other which again, would cause injury.
- We had no interest in hatching our own eggs or selling fertilized eggs for hatching.
If we were to ever own a rooster, it would be for extra protection against hawks and other predators (roosters are known to protect their girls with their life if they must). As well as, selling chicks or hatching eggs. Neither of which I see us needing in the near future.
So, for now, The Radloff Homestead will be rooster-less!
A picture of our original two!