Roosters and the Hen Pecking Order

Let me clear up the first question that many people ask when buying hens....

Do I need a rooster, for my hens to lay eggs?

The answer is no, if you don't want to breed. If you're hoping to hatch some chicks, then you'll need a rooster to fertilise the eggs.

Roosters can be very aggressive, and so many people choose not to have a rooster within the flock. But there are some good points to keeping a rooster.

1. A rooster will warn the flock of any danger and protect them from predators.

2. He will break-up arguments between hens.

3. He will make sure the food is shared out amongst his hens, often letting them feed, before himself.

4. He will protect hens while nesting.

There is nothing quite like a rooster strutting his stuff, with his band of hens happily following him around. Click here to read more about chickens.

Reasons Not to get a Rooster.

The downside of having a rooster, can be their aggressive attitude towards children and even their owner. Roosters will chase you if they feel threatened, and you may get a nasty bite.

If you have a feisty rooster and he is damaging your hens during mating, with his claws and spurs, you could try trimming his spurs. This is best done when the bird is young, as they are softer. With an older bird, you can soften the spurs with vegetable oil before carefully trimming with dog clippers.

If you have one rooster to around ten hens, this should stop him targeting his attentions to just a few of the hens.

The other reason not to get a rooster is the early morning crowing, which you might not mind, but your neighbours probably will. And roosters don't just crow in the morning, they sometimes crow in the daytime. There isn't much you can do to stop crowing, so check with your neighbours before buying a rooster. It's also worth checking out the local laws concerning the keeping of chickens.

Photo below credited to Urban Sprouts' photostream

As with any breed of chicken, there is always the exception, and you may get an aggressive rooster. Good breeds to try are Legbar, Plymouth Rock, Marans and Rhode Island Red. Silkies also make a good choice and are easy for children to handle. I have a cream legbar at the moment, and he is the most docile rooster I've had so far - and a really pretty colour.

If you keep chickens, one thing you'll probably notice is the 'pecking order' or hierarchy amongst the flock. You might see minor spats breaking out at feeding time, where a chicken will chase off another chicken while feeding. The chicken at the bottom of the pecking order will have to take it's chances, and feed after the other birds.

The top bird is the rooster, in the absence of a male bird, an old or dominant hen will take it's place. And so the line follows down, where each chicken will be pecked by chickens with a higher status. This hierarchy is part of everything in their lives, from who gets the best food, to where each chicken roosts in the coop - with the dominant birds getting the higher perches. Once the pecking order is established, it won't change unless there are newcomers to the flock.

When a chicken is injured or becomes ill, it will go down in the pecking order, and maybe subject to bullying.

Introducing New Stock.

Another problem that you may get, is when you introduce new birds to the flock, as this changes the pecking order. If you only have a few new birds, you can introduce them into the coop at night. For a larger group, keep them in a separate pen, next to the original flock, so they can see each other, but not get near them. After a couple of weeks you should be able to introduce the new birds to the original flock. It's still important to keep a watch on them. There will be some fighting, but this will calm down. Occasionally some birds just don't get on, and you may have to segregate one of them in a separate pen, especially if the chicken is being badly bullied. Keep the pens together, so they can see each other. You can try to re-introduce the birds again after about a week.

If your chickens have lost some feathers through pecking, you can apply Stockholm tar or Pine tar to the affected areas. This has a nasty taste, and so should stop the pecking.