Should you keep a cockerel with your hens?

Keeping a cockerel in your backyard flock can be a rewarding experience, but it’s not a decision to take lightly. Whether you're an experienced poultry keeper or a beginner, understanding the pros and cons of having a cockerel with your hens is crucial. 

From fertilising eggs for new chicks to providing natural protection for the flock, a cockerel can bring both benefits and challenges. However, before you welcome one into your coop, there are key considerations such as noise, temperament, and care needs to be aware of.

We asked our wonderful Ambassador, Claudia from Bury Green Poultry what you need to know about keeping cockerel, helping you decide if it’s the right choice for your setup.

Cockerel: to have or not to have?

Are cockerels loud?

As you’re probably aware, cockerels crow, and this is to assert their dominance. It’s not only in the mornings as some may think, but throughout the day - some will crow more than others, and if there’s competition (another cockerel in a flock nearby), then this usually increases the amount they crow. 

Crowing is one of the main reasons people can’t keep them, because their neighbours are likely to complain, or because if they’re too close to your house then you’ll have an early alarm clock 365 days a year.

Personally, I love the sound of a cockerel crowing, it soothes the soul, and the countryside wouldn’t be the same without it.

Are cockerels aggressive?

Sadly, cockerels get a bad rep due to aggression, however, not all are aggressive. In fact, in my 26 years’ experience of chicken keeping, I’ve always kept cockerels, and the majority have been very sweet natured, with only the odd couple of naughty ones!

There are various reasons as to why some cockerels are aggressive such as breed or genetics, hormones, and how they’re kept and treated by their owner. Naturally, cockerels are there to protect their hens from predators and alert them of any danger, and to breed with them to pass on their genes. 

Usually, it’s at around 16 weeks old that cockerels start to show signs of aggression as testosterone levels in their body increase somewhat. If you’ve hatched your own chicks and some were cockerels, you would’ve noticed the change in behaviour at this age - squaring up to each other, attempts at mating (not only the hens!), and sometimes fighting. 

Certain breeds like Modern Game were used for cock fighting so these breeds are naturally more aggressive than others, in comparison, breeds such as the Orpington and Brahma are very docile and tend not to possess aggressive traits (thankfully as they’re very large!).

People tend to refer to them as “gentle giants”.

Keeping cockerels with your flock

Are hens happier with a cockerel?

The condition in which chickens are kept affect their behaviour. For example, if your flock don’t have enough space to carry out natural behaviours, they don’t have boredom busters, and no access to a dust bath, then they’re going to suffer. This can result in feather pecking, bullying, and aggression.

Happy chooks mean you’re less likely to encounter bad behaviour. If you do experience an aggressive cockerel, ensure you don’t chase him or scare him, instead, gently pick him up and hold him for a few minutes in front of his hens - this shows him and them that you’re the boss, you’re dominant over him. Carry this process out multiple times until he calms down and gets the gist. 

Can you eat fertilised eggs?

Cockerels don’t lay eggs, so those who keep chickens purely for eggs may not want to spend money on a chicken that’s unproductive. You do not need a cockerel in order for a hen to lay an egg, hens lay eggs without a cockerel being present. However, if you want to hatch chicks then you do need a cockerel, unless you buy hatching eggs from a breeder.

When a cockerel treads a hen (mates her), it’s a very quick process, the cloacas meet and this is referred to as the ‘Cloacal kiss’. 

It’s totally fine to eat fertilised eggs, as long as they’ve not been incubated, the only difference you’ll notice when you crack a fertilised egg is that it’ll have a bullseye on the yolk, AKA the blastoderm. The usual white dot, known as the blastodisc which appears on non-fertilised eggs will have a white circle around it, and that means it’s fertile. 

One thing to note about mating is that the cockerel can cause feather damage to the hen’s back, especially if you don’t have enough hens for the cockerel to cover, or if he has a favourite hen. In this instance, you would need to buy a poultry saddle - it sits on the hen’s back to protect her feathers, as the cockerel stands on the saddle rather than her feathers.

Maintaining the pecking order 

As you’ll know from having your own hens, the pecking order can be stressful. If you have a cockerel, he will be top of the pecking order, and he will sort out any disagreements with the hens, which is very helpful if you’ve got a couple of bolshy hens - he’ll intervene to prevent any further fighting.

If you’re adding new hens to your existing flock, having a cockerel can make the integration process easier. If you have a large enclosure with multiple food and water stations and a lot of hens, then it is possible to keep multiple cockerels together, however, only one can be dominant otherwise you’ll experience a lot of nasty fighting.

In one of my enclosures, I have two cockerels, Boris and Barney, I introduced Barney when he was young and so he doesn’t challenge Boris who is top dog. They each have their own hens that follow them round, and they have plenty of space and separate coops.

 

Boris, Lemon Cuckoo Frizzle Pekin Bantam and Louis, Cream Legbar

Thinking about keeping a cockerel?

Here are a few additonal things to bear in mind:

Size - If you have bantam hens in your flock then you must have a bantam cockerel rather than a large fowl cockerel, otherwise the bantam hens are likely to be injured or crushed if they’re mated by a cockerel that is twice, or even triple the size of them! It’s fine to have a bantam cockerel with large fowl hens, he’ll try his best to hop on top!

Protection - Most cockerels do a very good job at protecting their hens; they’ll be on the lookout for danger, alert the hens if they’re suspicious of anything, find food and call the hens over to eat it allowing them to eat first, and attack predators if needed.

Appearance - A lot of cockerels are very striking to look at, and aesthetically pleasing to have roaming with your hens (see Magnus, my Black Copper Marans below with his iridescent feathers and fiery tones).

Personality - Cockerels can also have wonderful personalities, I love watching my boys interacting with their hens, and it’s so comical when they run over to me when I have treats as they make such a fuss letting all the hens know there’s something yummy to be gobbled up!

Conclusion 

If you can keep a cockerel, then personally I recommend having one, I think they complete a flock and it’s great for the hens to have a protector. They’re a fabulous addition to a flock. Hopefully the pros and cons above help you decide, feel free to see what my boys are like on my Instagram page: @burygreenpoultry

Claudia :)