Ever since we started our adventure with chickens we have had more than one rooster. I wish I could say they all live in harmony, loving each other, getting along, BFFs…but that’s not the case! I’m going to let you know what our pros and cons of having multiple roosters are. You can also apply these to just having one rooster.

Let’s start with the cons of having multiple roosters. As I had wrote above, the roosters do not get along. For us, the only roosters that do get along are ones that we have raised from chicks together. Can someone bring another full grown rooster and that rooster will be friends with the other? Maybe, but I haven’t read about that one yet! I would not hold my breath on it working and I don’t suggest it!

So this means if you get two rooster chicks they will grow up living happily ever after!? Yes and no. One rooster will be the dominant and the other will just kind of go along with the dominant one. However, if anything happens to that dominant rooster…sickness, injury, etc. anything that causes that rooster to become weak then that may cause the second rooster to rise up, challenging the dominant rooster. Then you end up with fighting and they don’t get along anymore.

Marshmallow attacked by another rooster. My guess is Henry.

Long story short if there are two roosters there will be fighting, or if you have roosters that grew up with each other then there might be fighting one day. Just be prepared! The fighting can be intense where the roosters sustain serious injuries or one rooster can’t take anymore, running off. The dominant rooster may chase the second rooster around. It’s important to have a lot of space so they can keep their distance. I’d also like to note that it’s important to have several hens for both roosters. The rule of thumb is to have ten hens per rooster.

If the roosters don’t get along, you will need to have two coops. If two roosters are in a coop together there can be fighting and the non-dominant rooster has no way of getting out. For example, Speckles roosted in Henry’s coop at one time and he would not leave the coop and stayed on the roosting bar. I had to open the door on the side of the coop for him to come out.

Another con of having roosters is the multiple crowing. My roosters start crowing around 3AM every morning until they go up for the night. Once in a while Speckles, since he is somewhat low on the totem pole, will crow at 9PM, 12AM, etc. I often think he is trying to beat the other roosters to crowing, saying “I’m the first one to crow!”. Yeah, not impressive!

My third con with roosters are their aggressive behavior. Roosters protect hens. Hens are their number one priority. I have actually heard others say that a rooster will lay down his life to save a hen, giving her time to escape and hide. However, sometimes a rooster will see its owner as a threat! They will go after you, chasing and spurring. Right now we are only dealing with one rooster that has this behavior.

Speckles is our mean rooster! Watch out!

    There is a 50/50 chance you will get a nice rooster, this also goes with the chance of getting a mean rooster. Are all roosters about chasing people, spurring and pecking them? No. When you realize you have a rooster on your hand there is no way to tell if he will be mean or nice. If you have a mean rooster he will chase you around, spurring and pecking along the way. We had a rooster that started off like this but during his second year he calmed down. Now we have mutual respect for each other. Don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you! In reality that is the best rooster. He does karate chop people if they chase the hens, but that is a good thing. He’s doing his job.

    Now we get to the pro reasons! One of my biggest pro reasons to have a rooster is he can be an alarm. When he starts doing his alarm call, everyone comes to attention. For us, the ducks, goats, and dogs become alert knowing there is something lurking. I had caught on security camera a fox run off because our rooster, Henry, sounded the alert. If there was no rooster then that fox probably would have snatched one of the unsuspecting hens. When you have more than one rooster then you will have multiple alarms! Every morning I listen to the crowing. When they are crowing it means everything is okay by the coop, no predators. Yes! Great morning, great way to start the day! 🙂

    Roosters not only alert the hens of predators, they also alert hens to food. If you watch a rooster, you will see him scratch at the ground then start clucking. Hens will run over and eat whatever it is he found.

    Another pro reason to have a rooster is that they can be more flashy than the hens. They can act like a beautiful alert lawn ornament. Roosters have bigger combs, wattles, and tail feathers that comb over. They usually have more color to them than the hens.

    For us I don’t ever see us being roosterless. Right now we have 7 roosters and probably 1 more, making 8… Ugh. More on that later! Three were supposed to be pullets from Tractor Supply and one (possibly 2) came from one of our own chickens that hatched eggs in our backyard this year and last year!