which to keep?

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Love4zion

Love4zion

In the Brooder
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I bought 8 chicks and they are around 12 weeks old now. Our Andalusian ended up being a roo. He's been crowing for a week. We also think one of our SLW is a roo. We didn't want keep both because we don't want to burden our hens. The main question is , which would be the better one to keep?
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or do you think the SLW is a pullet
 
With the tail feathers curling down and with those hackle feathers that SLW looks like a male. Sorry.

Why do you want a rooster? What are your goals? If you plan on hatching chicks, what do you want the offspring to look like and act like? Even behaviors are influenced by genetics. You need to make this decision yourself, which male best suits your unique situation. With my goals I’d eat the smaller and breed the larger but my goals aren’t your goals.
 
Ridgerunner said:
With the tail feathers curling down and with those hackle feathers that SLW looks like a male. Sorry.

Why do you want a rooster? What are your goals? If you plan on hatching chicks, what do you want the offspring to look like and act like? Even behaviors are influenced by genetics. You need to make this decision yourself, which male best suits your unique situation. With my goals I’d eat the smaller and breed the larger but my goals aren’t your goals.
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thanks for the reply. I never intended on getting a rooster but since we let let them free range we thought we would keep 1 for flock protection. Do you have an opinion on me light Brahma? I hope I done have anymore boys?
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Love4zion said:
since we let let them free range we thought we would keep 1 for flock protection.
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Having a rooster in your flock doesn't guarantee flock protection. They are more of an alarm system than anything, and a dominant hen can take on that role if there is no rooster in the flock. Often times, a rooster is just a speed bump - slowing the predators down by being killed first, before the predator gets the hens. We lost a rooster and several hens to coyotes a few years ago. If you don't want a rooster, I'd say don't keep either of them.
 
The Brahma looks like a pullet to me. Mainly that is the rounded hackle feathers and the look of the tail. General body shape looks more pullet than cockerel to me. I think you are OK.

I suggest people keep as few roosters as they can and still meet their goals. That does not mean you are guaranteed more problems with more roosters, just that problems are more likely the more roosters you have. I don’t know what the right number is for you but I suspect it is either zero or one. I know people get attached to their chickens as pets. Cockerels are often the favorites because they usually have more personality. Even at a very young age they are often braver and more curious. The longer you keep them the harder it may be to get rid of one. Still you might try one and get rid of it if you run into problems.

I pretty much agree with Bobbi, a rooster doesn’t offer a huge amount of protection. Some will take on certain predators like hawks, that does sometimes happen, but mine tend to lead the flock to safety once a threat has been identified instead of placing himself between the threat and his flock. Before a threat is clearly identified but when something suspicious is going on, a good rooster will place himself between the flock and the threat and maybe even go check it out. There is some benefit to that, but I believe the amount of protection you actually get is pretty overrated. Not all roosters are good. Twice I’ve had dog attacks that left 8 and 5 chickens dead. Both times the rooster was not scratched.
 
bobbi-j said:
Having a rooster in your flock doesn't guarantee flock protection. They are more of an alarm system than anything, and a dominant hen can take on that role if there is no rooster in the flock. Often times, a rooster is just a speed bump - slowing the predators down by being killed first, before the predator gets the hens. We lost a rooster and several hens to coyotes a few years ago. If you don't want a rooster, I'd say don't keep either of them.
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an alarm system for the hens is what i need. Our coop is right outside our side/back door. Hawks and crows are probably my biggest threat.
 
Love4zion said:
Quote: Most often crows will chase hawks off.......and are rarely a danger to full grown chickens, but might steal eggs if they find access to nests.

Choosing a cockbird that will be a good 'protector' is about the same crap shoot as choosing one that won't become human aggressive.
It's a hard choice, especially with 2 on site as the competition can hide both birds' true demeanor.

The Andalusian is obviously maturing faster and may be dominate,
but who knows what will happen when the SLW become sexually mature(they tend to mature slower).
Click to expand...
 
I have had crows take chicks, so I don't want them hanging around either. I like my roosters, they are always keeping watch,and they will sacrifice themselves often going after the predators.

I would wait as long as possible before making your choice. If one is making trouble pen him up and see how the other does in his place. Those that mature quickly and are vigorous at mating will often not be as good as a look out in my experience. It can take up to year for roosters to mature enough to calm down and do a good job.
 

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