Older Rooster or same age rooster

[WVBassFan]

Hopefully this is the right group to ask this question... wanted some input... I lost all my chickens over the winter to predators so I'm starting all over with a new coop... hopefully predator proof this time... I will be hatching my own eggs (barnyard mix) however there are some young roosters available for sale now... I'll be starting my eggs within the week... I will only keep one rooster and as many hens as I get... Should I get a young rooster now or pick one from the hatch? is there any benefit to having rooster a little older than the hens? or the contrary ?

 

[BirdLeaf]

Sorry for your loss! If you’re looking to hatch you’ll want 1 rooster per 10-12 hens or you might not have very many fertile eggs, depending on how many chickens you have. I would say pick some from your current flock and that way they won’t fight much when they’re older.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have a theory that roosters raised with hatch mates, tend to get bigger faster, sexually mature earlier, and can run pullets ragged without older birds in the set up. I would not get these roosters, I would not plan to keep the hatch mates as a rooster. I would advise waiting until your pullets are laying and then look for a rooster from a multi- generational flock. Roosters are easy to come by.

 

[Mrs. K]

Wait - I am confused, how are you hatching your own eggs, if you lost all your birds over the winter?

 

[WVBassFan]

I have a theory that roosters raised with hatch mates, tend to get bigger faster, sexually mature earlier, and can run pullets ragged without older birds in the set up. I would not get these roosters, I would not plan to keep the hatch mates as a rooster. I would advise waiting until your pullets are laying and then look for a rooster from a multi- generational flock. Roosters are easy to come by.

well thats another thought... makes sense, thanks

 

[WVBassFan]

Wait - I am confused, how are you hatching your own eggs, if you lost all your birds over the winter?

incubator ... neighbor is giving me some fertile hatching eggs

 

[Mrs. K]

oh, I see... I was like, wait, that is not going to work. haha

 

[WVBassFan]

oh, I see... I was like, wait, that is not going to work. haha

I have a great neighbor... I just moved here and there was an existing coop so I put a few hens and a roo in it... one by one I found them dead... still can't figure how it got in but I eventually trapped a possum in the coop... a few days after it killed the last chicken

 

[WVBassFan]

now I am ripping it all down and will build it right... I built a "bombproof" one at my other place so I know how, just seemed nice to already have one...

 

[Mrs. K]

I have so been there, with me it is coons! Bane of my poultry... Fingers crossed.