As I mentioned in yesterdayâs post about the house where Joan Crawford (aka Faye Dunaway) lived in Mommie Dearest, I have become just a wee-bit obsessed with the 1981 film as well as the 1978 autobiography of Joanâs daughter, Christina Crawford, on which it was based.
The rooster's sexual organ is called a papilla, a small bump inside his cloaca from which semen exits. To mate, a rooster climbs onto the back of a hen, standing on the hen's back and using his wings maintain balance, and forcefully touches his cloaca to hers in what's known as a cloacal kiss.
The short answer is no. You can get eggs from hens without one. But there are some reasons you might want a rooster -- or two. If you want to hatch your own chicks, you'll need a rooster. And the rooster does offer some predator protection for the flock.