Many people are aware that from the dawning of time the male of any species is prone to be very territorial.
This may translate into claiming an area as their own and defending it against other males; sometimes viciously.
It may also translate into claiming a specific number of females as theirs too.
A backyard chicken coop is no different.
A rooster will claim the coop itself, or the hens in that coop or specific hens as his own and fight other roosters, discipline the hens for wandering or even try and steal other rooster's females as his own.
All this testosterone flaring up between roosters can have a negative effect on the coop.
• It can cause stress to your hens, therefore causing them to stop laying.
• It can make the roosters in your coop not gentlemen towards your hens.
Meaning, they will try to steal, pounce upon or force the hens to breed with them.
Many of your hens run the risk of being hurt if caught between territorial disputes of multiple roosters in a coop.
• Having more than one rooster can also make them not the gentle specimens that you wish for, as their aggressiveness may be displayed toward their human caretakers too; which can pose a danger if you have youngsters helping with care of the backyard coop.
As with any animal there are exceptions to the possibility of having aggressive roosters when one too many are in a coop together.
Personality, which can be an individual not a breed characteristic may play a big part in whether this will become an issue.
There are some roosters, much as people, that are just born with a mellower temperament.
This allows them to become much more tolerant of another male in their territory or open to working on division of the hens with this other male.
But for the most part this is not the case and the rule of one rooster to a coop is good advice for a new backyard coop owner.
Many choose to not have a rooster at all in their coop.
Chicken owners may live in town and not want to run the risk of alienating neighbors with the early morning, or really any time of the day crowing of a rooster.
Or some may have a general fear of roosters, feeling that they-from some past experience they've heard of-are dangerous.
For the most part, this is untrue, as with any animal it depends upon how it is raised and its own individual temperament.
Many properly raised roosters are so gentle that the youngest of helpers can safely carry them around with no problem.
For the most part, a rooster has an incredibly beneficial job in your backyard coop.
It not only serves for the purpose of breeding; but, it also will provide excellent protection for the hens from predators that seek to make your hens into a meal.
Many fledgling coop owners have told horror stories of having their whole flock wiped out by an unknown predator; which, could have been prevented by the addition of a rooster to their coop along with other fencing and coop design adjustments.
So when building that sustainable chicken farm for your family, consider a rooster as a possible addition.
It may be just the key to success your coop needed; but, remember sometimes one truly is enough.
Roosters in a coop have a role to play.
It may behoove you to take the time to research if the addition of a rooster to your coop is beneficial, may help to make your backyard coop as successful a proposition as you wish it to be.