Here come the boys!

[Tretinker]

I started the week with 20 chickens. 19 pullets and hens and 1 cockerel. I'm ending the week with 20 chickens, 16 pullets/hens and 4 cockerels.....what a week!

First we have Charlie our obviously Cockerel who is 28 weeks. He has been obviously male for a long time and crows. We bring him in every night and he sleeps in the garage. We live in an urban area and his 5am crows are not welcome. He crows during the day but not too often. Charlie has the green egg gene and is a Marsbar (cuckoo Marans X cream legbar). His best friends are the two pullets he grew up with and we have never seen him mate.

Then we have our 3 surprise cockerels, 2 speckled Sussex and a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington.

They grew up together, we got these 3 to replace the Cockerel we were returning to the breeder ironically. We could return these 3 to the breeder but it's a very long way away and I'm not keen to do this.

We haven't heard them crow yet and we haven't seen them mate. They are friendly and we have feed them from our hand because we didn't know they were boys!

While we have 16 hens we will be getting some more probably 4 more.

Which boys to keep is my question. We don't have small children and touch wood the boys haven't shown any signs of aggression yet. I do want to keep boys for breeding.

I have a few questions:

1. What age range are *these breeds of* Cockerels considered teenagers?
2. Is it true that generally the other roos don't crow *as much* if there is a dominate one?
3. Does anyone have any experience with Orpington Rooster's? I've seen a number of people have issues with SS. Anyone have a Marsbar and have any comments on their behaviour.
4. Is 2 roos to 20 hens to many? The Orp and SS are the youngest in the group.
5. We may cull the roos we don't keep, I know the meat might not be the best but at what age is the best time to process these boys?
6. What age do they *these breeds generally* stop growing? The Orpington is already bigger than I knew a chicken could get.
7. Just for fun who would you keep? I'm thinking the Marsbar and the Orp with stay but so long as they don't start crowing we'll give them more time to see who behaves well. If they do start crowing they'll have to go, we don't have the space in the garage for 4 boys!


Thanks for any advice, pictures of the boys for tax

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Keep which ever one you want if your not breeding for quality. Id personally only keep one rooster for all those hens as he will mate them all. And all roosters crow its just a matter of when.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

1. What age range are Cockerels considered teenagers?

I think this varies because different breeds mature at different rates

2. Is it true that generally the other roos don't crow if there is a dominate one?

Idk for sure, but I don't think that's true

3. Does anyone have any experience with Orpington Rooster's? I've seen a number of people have issues with SS. Anyone have a Marsbar and have any comments on their behaviour.

I have an English Orp cockerel that is 35 weeks old, he's massive, but a nice chill boy

4. Is 2 roos to 20 hens to many? The Orp and SS are the youngest in the group.

Most folks say 1 roo per 8-10 hens

5. We may cull the roos we don't keep, I know the meat might not be the best but at what age is the best time to process these boys?

I think @Mrs. K has a chart, but most recommend before their hormones kick in because it makes the meat tougher I believe (don't quote me on that though)

6. What age do they stop growing? The Orpington is already bigger than I knew a chicken could get.

Again, I think this depends on the breed

7. Just for fun who would you keep? I'm thinking the Marsbar and the Orp with stay but so long as they don't start crowing we'll give them more time to see who behaves well. If they do start crowing they'll have to go, we don't have the space in the garage for 4 boys!

I would be partial to the orp

 

[Tretinker]

Keep which ever one you want if your not breeding for quality. Id personally only keep one rooster for all those hens as he will mate them all. And all roosters crow its just a matter of when.

Apologies I know they will crow but I should have worded better as in being a dominant crower, so they'll crow here and there throughout the day but not persistent if they aren't the dominate one.

We want to breed for quality in terms of good laying, strong birds, with good temperament but no 'show' birds yet. We don't have the setup to have multiple breeding pens that's our future plans.

 

[Tretinker]

I think this varies because different breeds mature at different rates

Idk for sure, but I don't think that's true

I have an English Orp cockerel that is 35 weeks old, he's massive, but a nice chill boy

Most folks say 1 roo per 8-10 hens

I think @Mrs. K has a chart, but most recommend before their hormones kick in because it makes the meat tougher I believe (don't quote me on that though)

Again, I think this depends on the breed

I would be partial to the orp

Thank you, I've added some notes to explain I'm asking some questions specifically about these two breeds as my original queries were a bit vague.

We are limited on space so I need to be sensible about my options.

I've read a few people say their Orps are chill, the reason I'm considering the SS is so when crossed with our barred hens the chicks would be sex-linked (or auto-sexed) I forget which. But our Marsbar and the Orp don't have that going for them

 

[Mrs. K]

I think your roosters are in the darling stage...which is a great deal of fun, and seriously leads you to believe that we are all nuts and you might just have gotten the lucky 2-4 birds that will get along and be nice.

It generally does not last long, and the more roosters you have, the greater the chance of it going horribly wrong. DO have a dog crate, and a fish net so that if needed you could separate fighting birds. If you never need it so much to the good, but do have it ready to go in case they do fight.

I would not keep more than one rooster unless I had more than 30 head. People who have multiple roosters successfully genearally have a huge amount of space. Much more space that the amounts recommended on here. IMO - roosters take more room than chickens.

Do know that when you remove one or two - the others will change in their behavior. I am making a giant assumption here, but I think that there is probably one or hopefully two, that you don't really think you will keep. Go ahead and cull those, and clear the forrest so you can see the trees - then wait a week or two and make a final decision.

Multiple roosters can and do set up crowing contests, which can be dang annoying.

Your pullets would actually do better if you got rid of all the roosters, 4 cockerels are soon be going to make their lives miserable. Cockerels are ready long before pullets are, and can chase and harass them without rest.

If this is your first year with chickens, I would recommend letting all the roosters go. Get some experience. Roosters take a lot of experience, and many inexperienced people vastly underestimate how violent roosters can be.

Not what you want to hear, but most often times, the way it goes. The darlings become the nightmares.

Mrs K

 

[Tretinker]

I think your roosters are in the darling stage...which is a great deal of fun, and seriously leads you to believe that we are all nuts and you might just have gotten the lucky 2-4 birds that will get along and be nice.

It generally does not last long, and the more roosters you have, the greater the chance of it going horribly wrong. DO have a dog crate, and a fish net so that if needed you could separate fighting birds. If you never need it so much to the good, but do have it ready to go in case they do fight.

I would not keep more than one rooster unless I had more than 30 head. People who have multiple roosters successfully genearally have a huge amount of space. Much more space that the amounts recommended on here. IMO - roosters take more room than chickens.

Do know that when you remove one or two - the others will change in their behavior. I am making a giant assumption here, but I think that there is probably one or hopefully two, that you don't really think you will keep. Go ahead and cull those, and clear the forrest so you can see the trees - then wait a week or two and make a final decision.

Multiple roosters can and do set up crowing contests, which can be dang annoying.

Your pullets would actually do better if you got rid of all the roosters, 4 cockerels are soon be going to make their lives miserable. Cockerels are ready long before pullets are, and can chase and harass them without rest.

If this is your first year with chickens, I would recommend letting all the roosters go. Get some experience. Roosters take a lot of experience, and many inexperienced people vastly underestimate how violent roosters can be.

Not what you want to hear, but most often times, the way it goes. The darlings become the nightmares.

Mrs K

Thank you for your in-depth response it's very helpful.

We are definitely getting rid of 2 that 100% for sure, if no one wants them we are culling them.

Right now I don't know that they know they're boys but this will change in the blink of an eye. I've seen roos go psycho and I would never turn my back on anyone one of them. Right now these late blooming boys are like toddlers and definitely in the darling stage but I know this won't last!

Charlie the only boy we knew we had has been very good so far, he doesn't over-mate yet. He calls the girls when there are treats and he dances for them. I've never seen him chase a girl.

We have a dog crate which Charlie spends his night in but we have alternative accommodation for him if he needs a sick bay.

It is my first year owning chickens myself but it's not my first year caring for them. I'd never done chicks but cared for mostly ex-batts and the odd Roo. Ex-batts are really vicious!

I get the feeling the SS have the most potential to be violent beasts. I don't know what it is about them but they I think will be the first to go. Dh wanted to get more female SS and create a breeding pens using one of the boys but we work full-time and building a whole new enclosed space and housing for another group will take time and I don't believe they can stay with the hens/pullets while he builds it.

All the boys are younger than the girls, half of the girls are a year old and they are not afraid to put anyone in line. We call them the Mean Girls.

I do understand the reason to hold off on roos but we want to hatch our own chicks. We found it very difficult to source pullets and chicks last year. Which is why I was considering keeping only a SS so we could sex the chicks from our barred hens but it looks like we'll keep Charlie and maybe the Orp and process any roos from hatch as soon as it's apparent. Once we move we'll raise the roos to meat stage in a bachelor pad, even if it's just food for our dogs.

I think we will see how Charlie and Orp go and whoever is the best behaved as time goes on then we'll pull the other. We do have the possibility of a bachelor pad.

The most disappointing thing is the crowing competition! I really hope that doesn't happen!

If they get too much though they will go in the pot.

Unfortunately in England at the moment we are under a housing order and so when not housed they free range, at the moment they are undercover and could be until May! This means although they have a huge run it's not free range so we are limited in the amount of hens we can keep. If it looks like they are being over-mated or upset by the boys in anyway then both boys will be out.

 

[Mrs. K]

One rooster will give you chicks. And having older birds really help raise up nice rooster, if there are not too many. Ridgerunner, a respected poster here, always goes with an early maturing rooster, I think. And the early one sounds good so far.

As for your husbands ideas, those are good ideas, but do not to be done at once, you have years to enjoy this hobby.

Over crowding, or tightly confining birds causes very ugly behaviors. What I would expect, is in the next few weeks, as in 1-3 weeks the tension in your flock will really start to rise. If you have a bachelor pen ready to go, good, if not you are shortly going to be out of time.

I know, last summer, I had 7 boys, all was fine, until it wasn’t. I do have an old coop, and it was amazing how the tension dropped when I pulled the excess boys out.

I re-read your post, and being raised together has almost no influence on adult behavior, once the hormones kick in.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

@Mrs. K always has good advice!
Charlie sounds like a good boy so far, although he still could decide to change. your other cockerels are younger, right? Might be too soon to judge, but it's still reasonable to remove at least two of them now. Planning ahead, deciding on the best breeder prospect makes sense .
It's always a guessing game! Sometimes the right bird is obvious, sometimes not. You are thinking things through, good for you!
Mary

 

[Poultrybonkers]

If you have ss hens you should keep a ss rooster even if you hatch you can sell pure bred ss chicks as those would be mottled the rest would all be split so you could tell them apart