I may be asking the wrong people because you might be a little prejudiced but this morning I have to make a decision. I have 39 chickens (I just lost a pullet..... she ruptured her crop? it was an awful experience). I came out of the house yesterday to find my two cockerels fighting. They have been comanaging the flock and doing a pretty good job. I have two older cockerels and I have 4 young ones coming behind them. The young ones include 3 CL and 1 Biel. My pullets are 4 Ameraucana, 6 Biels, 14 CLs, 8 Marans, 1 Araucana. From what I have seen the CLs are going to be some tough roosters. The two older cockerels are an Ameraucana and a Splash Copper Marans. I am trying to give you all the facts of the situation. I have people around me to buy chicks from whenever I want them.... Greenfire Farms 45 minutes away, Feels Right Farm just a little further, Buzzard Airline about an hour away and on and on. I don't have to incubate eggs right now. So I have 6 roosters and 33 hens. These chickens free range on a twenty-acre property so confined space is not a problem. From everything I have read here the Bielefelder will be strong and kind but my Biel cockerel is the youngest right now and gets pushed around a lot. Will he be less timid in the future? He is 12 weeks and the three CLs are 15 weeks. The older cockerels don't even pay attention to the 4 young ones right now. Other things to consider, the CLs and CL pullets were all born on the same day and are from GFF..... I worry about brother sister if I do hatch eggs. Which cockerels do I keep? On a side note there is a pathetic attempt to crow for the first time this morning from my Biel. While I am sitting here typing it is making me chuckle..... truly awful crow!
Kazoo crowing!!! Love it! I've got two little kazoos in my own yard right now and they make me giggle every time I hear them.
While I can't personally speak to the character of a CL rooster, I have a friend who positively raves about hers, claiming that he's one of the best roosters she's ever had. In regards to the Biel roosters, some of them can take a while to find their place because of their calm, tolerant personalities. Of the six that I had, one...Hansel...showed a stronger personality from the start and took over both his own flock and several of my others very early on and in spite of the fact that I already had established and much larger roosters in those flocks. My other favorite...Bosch...was always exceptionally sweet and affectionate with me, but took a while to establish himself. For a long time he seemed far more submissive than I would have liked, but once he grew a little older he became an outstanding protector, starting first with a small selection of his favorite hens and eventually branching out to include the majority of my flocks. Hansel is still my best overall rooster and patrols the entire yard throughout the day to make sure ALL of the birds are okay, but both boys work exceptionally well with my other roosters to protect everyone. And that is possibly the best trait of the Biel roosters...they tolerate other roosters very well and work in tandem with them to protect everyone, even when the roosters weren't raised together. And when there are battles to establish the pecking order, they can definitely hold their own.
All of the breeds you listed are fantastic, so I doubt you will go wrong no matter which you choose.
