11- and 13-week old chickens--need to manage the flock. Please help with identifying and selecting?

[Jeanne Deaux]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and to chicken raising. I have four 13-week Black Australorp pullets and eight 11-week straight runs of which four are Dominiques and four are a mystery. Of the latter, one is all white (was a pure yellow chick) and three are reddish brown. I don't know if they are EEs, RIRs, Production Reds, ??? Two act assertive and have well developed combs and wattles. One is clearly a hen. As for the Dominiques, three are lighter and have varied size combs (the one with the least crowed first) and one is darker with no comb and acts like a hen. So I am guessing I got 5 roosters out of the 8 straight run chicks. Here's my question--which rooster to keep? They alternate picking fights--the largest red one was great until I got three new barred-rock hens (fully grown) and he tried to kill them through a wire barrier I erected. Someone told me never to keep red roosters as they grow too aggressive but I've also read that Dominique roosters are often very mean. Any advice much appreciated if you can identify the red ones and/or have ideas on which rooster to keep (the other four will go to someone who will finish raising and sell them).
Here is the first mystery red who I think is a cock:







Here is the second mystery red who acts very much like a cock:





This is the third 'red' chicken; I think she is a hen:


And this first photo is the only Dominique I think is a hen--the others (two of three are in second photo) are lighter and have combs coming (plus at least one has crowed):

Finally, this is the all-white one who came with the reds. Will she (assume it's a hen) lay white eggs?


Can anyone confirm my suspicions and/or advise about roosters?
Thanks very much!! Love this forum--have been reading nonstop---
j

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Cockerels usually have advanced comb development and face and head redness than a pullet. 4 of your birds seem to be pullets, 3 are almost surely male, the remaining 5 is anyones guess.

Look at the earLOBE of the white bird. If the earLOBE (as opposed to the earHOLE) is red it will lay eggs with colored shells. If the earLOBE is white then it will lay a white shelled egg. Hope that this helps.
The bird below is a good example of a chicken with a white earHOLE but a red earLOBE. She should lay brown shelled eggs.

Quote:

 

[Cowgirl71]

Yes, looks like your guesses are correct.....

First three reds are cockerels, last is a pullet. First Dominique is a pullet, last two are cockerels. The white is a pullet.

The reds appear to be Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, or Production Red, crossed with something else, I'm not sure what.

The white pullet looks like she'll lay you brown eggs. The white egg breeds are from the Mediterranean, and have a very slender build and flighty temperament. Check the earlobes. 99% of the time red = brown eggs, and white = white eggs. Yours is probably a White Plymouth Rock.

As for choosing a rooster.......

Do you have any experience around other large/potentially dangerous animals? Such as horses, cattle, aggressive dog breeds, or???? It's the same rules. Never, ever, let the animal lose respect of you. Once he knows you're afraid of him, and he's stronger than you (or in the case of a rooster, can make you run because of his beak/spurs), it is difficult to reestablish a healthy relationship. Just be kind, yet firm. I don't recommend making the roosters into pets, unless you know what you're doing. If you handle them a bunch, they can lose a healthy fear/respect of humans, and get too comfortable. Go out of your way to make him move out of the way for you every now and then. Some people even recommend to never let your rooster breed a hen in your presence, because the dominant rooster wouldn't allow that. If you need to walk somewhere, and he's in your path, make him move, don't go around him. In animal talk, walking around him means that you recognize him to be the dominant animal, and are afraid/respectful of him. In fact, go out of your way to make him move for you. If he should flare up at you, immediately discipline him. Training him respect when he's young is far easier than trying to fix a problem adult. I've kept many mature roosters. The only one that has ever attacked me was the one my brother raised as a pet. Each time he attempted to flog me or when I sensed he was even thinking about it, I'd discipline him. It took a few weeks, but I did cure him of it. All this to say, if you raise him right, aggression shouldn't be an issue.

How to pick a rooster? I pick based on three primary things......

Appearance. Who doesn't want a handsome rooster?

Nice to the ladies. This one is often the most important, and yet the hardest to evaluate when they are young. I like a rooster that will call the ladies over to the bug he's found, rather than eating it himself. I also want a gentle breeder, some cause more feather loss for the girls than others. I also like a rooster that is fairly nice to all the girls. Some will have a favorite few hens, and then aggressively peck the other hens if they get too close to "his" girls.

Potential as a sire. This of course only applies if you plan to hatch chicks. First, breeds. What makes the most sense, considering the hens you have. Also, because half of the chicks will be cockerels, I like to try to pick a cockerel that is at least average for breast meat plumpness, and size. If you're not planning to hatch, you may want to pick a smaller cockerel. He'll likely be easier on the hens and eat less.

 

[Jeanne Deaux]

Thanks to you both. Advantages of Dominque roosters vs. RIRs or whatever they are? I'm not planning to breed (or eat them), just keeping one cock to help protect when I let them free range. But at the moment NONE of the 5 roosters let the girls eat first. I guess they are still too busy competing among themselves?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! They are still very immature, and will be for a couple of months yet. The above advise is right on, although I have found that cockrels who challenge me tend to grow up badly, and will be likely to attack humans in general. Not worth the risk to family and friends!!! I watch the group as they grow and interact, and make choices based on temperament, size, and breed. Right now I've got 28 birds who are 17 weeks old, half cockrels. So far one of the Chanteclers has challenged me, and he's wearing the "You're dinner!" leg band. I'm choosing two cockrels to keep, and the rest will be gone this week. Freezer, or rehomed to other flocks. You have some time to see how things go, and with luck will pick a good boy, not a jerk. Some cockrels will get ugly later, even next spring, but you have to cull hard before then, unless you will have another coop and run away from the pullets. Mary

 

[Jeanne Deaux]

Thanks for the welcome! So even though some are crowing and fights have occurred, they are still to young to cull? I added three Barred Rock mature hens yesterday and though I have them separated by chicken wire, there have been spats. Also those three have not laid an egg since I got them. I'm hoping to let them in the hen house after dark when the others are sleeping so they can get to the nest boxes and roosting poles. I hope they aren't attacked! I thought maybe I should reduce the number of cocks for the sake of the hens but if you all think it is too soon...

 

[Jeanne Deaux]

Also, do you really mean you put on a leg band? I'd love to be able to keep track of the three Dominque roosters that way. How/what do you use?

 

[Cowgirl71]

But at the moment NONE of the 5 roosters let the girls eat first. I guess they are still too busy competing among themselves?

Yes, they're still too young unfortunately.....

RIR vs Dominique? Hmmmm..... I've never had Dominiques, but a friend of a friend has them and loves them, they're her favorite breed. I really like my RIRs, they're one of my top favorite breeds. The best two roos I've ever had (in terms of how they treated the ladies) were an RIR and a RIR/Easter Egger/Red Sexlink mix.

Really, it's basically whichever appeals to you most. Pick your favorite and go with it. So long as you raise him to be respectful, you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Also, do you really mean you put on a leg band? I'd love to be able to keep track of the three Dominque roosters that way. How/what do you use?

"Three Dominique roosters"???

The darkest is a pullet.......

 

[Cowgirl71]

Look at the earLOBE of the white bird. If the earLOBE (as opposed to the earHOLE) is red it will lay eggs with colored shells. If the earLOBE is white then it will lay a white shelled egg. Hope that this helps. [quote url="[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/7051666/[/URL]"]

[/quote] Very good advice. Except this bird is a cockerel. At just 11 weeks with a comb that size..... He's not laying eggs, brown or white.