Common Rooster Myths - Clearing Up Rooster Misinformation

I generally, agree with this well written article. Happy coops with more than one rooster is possible. I try and have 5 to10 hens per rooster. However, it is not uncommon to have a pair of roosters who will not tolerate each other and fight to the death or serious injury. Bachelor flocks of many roosters get along fine most of the time working out the dynamics between them without serious fights usually. However, as a wise old farmer taught me sixty years ago, never trust or turn your back on an intact male animal. I practice that with unknown roosters as well as all male sheep, goats, horses and cattle . I have had a few roosters attack me or others over the years unexpectantly. MY mother's best friend was partially eaten by her chickens alive after suffering a stroke in the yard and died from blood loss. Remember they are animals and therefore unpredictable at times. The rooster attacks seem to be more common when hens are present nearby or on children in the cases I have seen over the years. I have ended the career of a rooster for recurring floggings of persons or killing his brood mates later in their development. They will kill each other, as this has happened to me once years ago. One killed the other but later died from the injuries he had suffered as well. They had been litter mates and getting along till almost a year old then one day I came down as the winner was just
finishing off his victim and left standing bloody and defiant over him. He continued to attack until I picked him up from the then almost lifeless body of the poor other bird. The next morning he was dead too on the floor of the coop. So, with caution and careful observation roosters can live together, but no certainty of any males behavior around females, that may go for humans, too! I am glad the author has had only positive experiences! Roosters deserve a fair chance and I would miss having them for more reasons than just breeding them. I like to hear them and watch them so much , I call it chicken TV and set my chair down near them(my free ranging bachelor flock), with a cool drink and enjoy the show!

Haha when we first got chickens our dogs were WILD, Sadly they DUG through the chicken lock door before i let them out in the morning , They got in and almost killed several chickens and( OFC now they know that they PROTECT the chickens not eat them..)My rooster was hiding like a small chick would be hiding from a hen in pecking order.. He did NOT care about his hens safety and just ran away and let them get taken while a HEN was protecting her sisters (Yes she’s a hen, She lays eggs) and she bit our smallest dog , Almost scarring our dogs too. Now our dogs are scared of escapee chickens

I'd add 10 hens every one roo is also a myth. My neighbor is a breeder and he keeps 1 roo with 2 hens, none of his hens look overbred.

I agree with others that this article is superb!
I like the first hand experience the author has & is able to call upon.
I agree that any roo that is human aggressive should be dispatched. They can do too much damage & as the author points out there are always good roos needing homes.
Very informative!

I enjoyed reading this article because it has positive thoughts about roosters rather than focusing on the negative aspects.

This is a great article! I have three roosters and teo of them get along with each other fine. I even see them sunbathe right next to each other! However my third one needs to be separated as he is extremely aggressive with other roosters. However he is very friendly with people and I can hold/hug him whenever I'm with him! This article did actually clear up a myth I thought was true! Super helpful!

Very true

About crowing, just want to add that I have noticed, some breeds do have a more mellow or even baritone sounding crow, while some have that high pitch sound crow. Yes, all crowers are trying to make some noise, that's the whole purpose of crowing, but I do notice varied tone & pitch among breeds.

Informative article!

Well done clearing up confused misinterpretations on roosters!

Good article, listing things every rooster owner should be aware of.

Awesome article. I had to learn about myhth 10 the hard way, BA's are not that noisy they said. I had 2 roos that crowed until their voices went hoarse. I got rid of the loudest Roos first! Now I have a noble but protective alpha with acceptable crow levels.

Great article Pyxis! I especially appreciate you busting the myths that all roosters will be human aggressive & can’t cohabitate with other roosters. We have been lucky enough to have a gentle giant & a bonded pair.

Great article, I know many people that come to our house and are terrified of chickens, specifically roosters. It's hard to explain to people that my roosters are actually nicer than my hens most of the time. I feel like it has to do with genetics and also how you treat the animal and how much you interact with them. If you just go feed your chickens once a day without actually interacting with them, put them up at night doing the same thing, you are not showing the rooster you are not a threat to his hens. After all, one of a (good) rooster's main missions is to protect his flock. And roosters will get along fine if they are all raised the same, they may have some differences, but hens do the same occasionally even if they're raised together.
Same as the writer of this article, we have had MANY roosters and out of about 40 of them, the only ones with attitude are our 2 little sebright roosters. They just have "little dog syndrome", but still, they do not attack!

Great Article I do want to point out when introducing roosters to a new flock they can be very aggressive but after they relax they can be nice even game fowl

This is a great article!
I just had to take a cockerel to the chopping block as it had bit my toddler after chasing her down then attacked my husband. There were many people blaming the breed specifically. But just like people individual chickens have their own traits unsure if the father was aggressive since he came from a hatchery.

I’m happy to say our next cockerel in the pecking order has happily stepped up and is the only one who doesn’t harass the chicks. The other cockerels do unfortunately.

I’m hoping we can keep our remaining cockerels without any issues but I have been told they will all fight to the death even by people who actually have multiple cockerels in their flock (hypocrites).

Great article thanks for posting!

I live with neighbours very nearby, so don't think they would appreciate the addition of a rooster.
Otherwise, this article could persuade me to have a go at keeping one

Good article, it speaks to many of the points that I am concerned with. So far I have no roosters, and I don’t know if I will want one. I am a little nervous about that. That’s why I appreciate articles like this one.

Excellent article about Roosters

Very informative! I am in the process of attempting to stop some agressive actions in my 11 month old cockerel. Hope I am successful as he is good to his girls and is beautiful. Thank you for a well organized article!

this is so helpful, and clears up a few questions.