WHAT IS A ROOSTER?

The rooster is actually a male chicken. Usually there is only one rooster for every 10-15 chickens raised on farms or captivity. Unfortunately many roosters are killed when they near maturity because only one is needed for the chickens to ensure that they breed. The strongest and healthiest one is often choosen to ensure that the next generation of chickens is bred to perfection, or close to it.



The main reason roosters are kept is to make sure that chicken eggs are fertile. Then there is nostaligia of days gone by, people love to hear the rooster sing as the sun comes up and it truely is natures alarm clock. The problem with roosters is when they overmate with the hens. The hens feathers will wear off and the roosters are vigerous and often injure them. Roosters are also agressive towards humans as they are also very territorial.

Another problem with the rooster population is that roosters will fight each other to the death for chickens and territory. Humans take advantage of this and have illigal cock fights where roosters fight to the death so that people can make some money. This is absolute cruelty to animals and many governments and peoples are trying to stop it. But apparently it makes a good show for crazed gambling men and women." When a rooster has a "favorite" hen, he will mate with her all the time and ignore the others. In this case you can either keep the rooster separated from the hens for part of the time, or you can keep his favorite hen separated for part of the time to see if he spreads his attentions a little more evenly when she is gone. Young roosters calm down when they get their wattles rubbed, or if they are given a raisin treat.