Yes, there are good reasons to have a rooster and sometimes you get lucky and have a great rooster. We have had many roosters over the years, and none have deserved the name King like the Americana/Buff Orpington Master of the Coop we have now. King is one of the only chicks hatched by one of our hens, all the others have either been purchased or hatched in an incubator. He had a few brothers, as you almost always do when you start with eggs instead of sexed chicks. King though, stood out even as a little guy as the one to keep.
People illegally host rooster fights because, well, roosters fight. Whereas chickens are social animals, roosters are extremely territorial with their hens and will even, without provocation, fight to the death if there are more than one in a flock. Until yesterday we had a rooster in each yard separated by a high fence. Not only did they try to fight through the fence, the younger rooster was overly aggressive with the hens in his yard all throughout the spring. We hated to give him away, you can never be sure a rooster is going to a good home. Yesterday he found a new home with our son and daughter-in-law. They have just shy of a dozen hens, and despite three being hatched via incubator in March, all of them turned out to be girls. This morning, I opened the doors to the short runner between the yards and just waited to see what would happen. This was the moment that the good rooster became King.
King used to be in the big yard before we added the smaller one off the back. This yard is up against my kitchen garden and every spring when I would pull weeds he would come up to the fence and make a purring sound asking me to toss the weeds over to him. As soon as they hit the ground he would do a sort of dance while strutting and chirping the food call to the hens. He would run to them and back to the pile of bright green foliage inviting them to eat. As soon as they got near he would pick some up with his beak and drop it down in front of them. I started to pay attention to his behavior after that. Sure enough, whenever I bring snacks to his flock he carefully picks up food and delivers it, not eating anything until everyone has had some.
Several months ago one of our hens lost the ability to use one of her feet, she sort of hopped around the yard and had to be lifted into the coop each night. I began to wonder how she was getting out of the coop in the mornings, so again I stayed to watch. After opening the door, everyone else flew out to the pile of feed just outside the door. King ate, pranced around a bit then hopped back up into the coop. Using his head, he gently nudged her to the edge until she slipped down to the ground.
All of my roosters have been good at gathering the hens at bedtime and coaching them to bed, but King really is special. He’s gentle with them, he’s gentle with me. We’ve had roosters who harmed our hens. We even had a rooster that tried to attack me every time I went in the yard. He would wait until you turned your back and come flying at you sideways, spurs out. King will let me know I’ve overstayed my welcome with a few stomps and a dropped head but has never once been aggressive.
The hens from both yards slowly stepped into the runner not sure what to think about no longer being separated. They ate from the big pile of feed I put out to lure them together stopping every so often to stare at each other. King stood back, carefully watching the entire event unfold. Inevitably, a couple hens decided to start the pecking order proceedings by lifting their heads and wings high while allowing their neck feathers to stand straight out. King was there in a split second and just as they were about to meet mid-air he gave a light tap to each with his beak. The fight was over. A few minutes later another proceeding began and King’s gentle warning was ignored as a new fight ensued. His intervention was only short lived, and the two were at it again. As he ran to put a stop to what was obviously a no violence policy on his part, they ran away from each other. In a yard filled with twenty chickens he managed to seek out each violator and provided them with two feather tugs to ensure they knew he meant business. His Kingdom is a peaceful one.
Many cities that allow chickens ban roosters because they are noisy. And where that can be true, so are cars and sirens and stereos. Some people don’t want roosters because they think fertilized eggs can’t be eaten, that is just silly. Each to their own, but I am so thankful to have my rooster. I am especially thankful for King.
Audrey L Elder
Fourteen Acre Wood
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