Will a Rooster be helpful to my flock?

[Jbum]

Not really looking to have one to fertilize the eggs though. But curious to your thoughts on if a Roo would be helpful to my flock. Meaning help in protection in general and just overall quality? Right now I have 6 hens 2 turkey and two ducks that are all about a month or so old.

Thanks in advance!
Jbum

 

[Wezdin]

Do you free range? if so i would recommend one for sounding the alarm when danger is near.

 

[Jbum]

Do you free range? if so i would recommend one for sounding the alarm when danger is near.

There was an existing coop and open run when we bought the house. The run is pretty big though. Maybe 15 x25 so kinda open. Plus I was considering letting them out a little each day.

 

[Wezdin]

The only problem i would see might be the turkeys and ducks fighting with a roo, are any of them males?

 

[Jbum]

The only problem i would see might be the turkeys and ducks fighting with a roo, are any of them males?

That I’m not to sure of. I need to figure that out I reckon lol.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Male ducks will have a drake feather depending on the time of year.

 

[Roo5]

You would probably need more hens, but if it it’s a good a rooster,it will provide a watchful eye, and a good mate to the hens,maybe even get in between predators and his hens.Your best bet is too just get one and see, this is just what you can expect to see some of the time.

 

[Roo5]

Theb turkeys and ducks could be a potential issue, maybe not a big one.When I kept drakes and roosters in the same facilities,they usually squabbled every now and then, never bad though.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would really wait a year. I think roosters take a little experience. I love having a rooster with my girls, but they are all mature and laying. They can be an asset to a free ranging flock. But roosters are kind of a crap shoot, and really I would wait until my hens were all laying. Late fall or next spring would be soon enough to get a rooster.

Adding a single rooster to an all hen flock is the easiest integrations. Not sure with the duck and turkey.

Mrs K

 

[Fairview01]

Unless you intend to hatch, roosters are just an extra mouth to feed with no return. The belief they protect a flock from predators is an urban myth. They may sound an alarm but so do the hens. They aren't going to intimidate any predator of substance. A bobcat, raccoon, coyote, opossum, or skunk wont back down from a rooster. They're just another meal. Birds of prey will take either or, they dont discriminate either.