Does adding a rooster to your flock encourage more egg laying?

[Asimov I]

I don't really want to get a rooster but I heard someone suggest that having one can encourage hens to lay more. Do you guys think this is true? What's your experience? I feel like a rooster bugging my hens all the time would DISCOURAGE them from laying but I don't know first-hand.

 

[Icemaiden]

You'll hear people spouting all sorts of nonsense. If having cockerels encouraged hens to lay more eggs, then commercial egg producers would keep cockerels. They don't.

I'll let you draw your own conclusion from that.

 

[chrismahon]

Certainly doesn't encourage hens to lay more in my experience and I think you are right Asimov- to some extent it does put them off. One effect I have noticed is a tendency for hens to go broody more often, presumably because they now know their eggs are fertile? Unless you want to breed and you like the noise (we bought out last two because it was just far too quiet here) I wouldn't recommend them. They don't sort out disputes as you would expect them to, they take up coop and run space, eat more food and can regularly injure hens from treading them. We had a really serious injury a couple of years ago and had to separate the poor girl permanently.

 

[JoshB]

I can't imagine having a rooster. Maybe if we had a much bigger property. Incubating and hatching babies would be so fun - especially for the kids. But I guess we could do that without getting a rooster/cockerel ;P

 

[Jelly]

Roosters are good for one thing. Guess that's why they are called "blank de blank of the walk!"