5 roosters, 11 hens

[RemiD]

We have 16 chickens, I just recently realized that there are 4 silver laced wyandotte cockerels and 1 prairie bluebell egger cockerel. I believe the only two breeds of hens we have are barred rock and the bluebell egger. I read that wyandotte roosters like to be with their own breed. Should I keep the prairie bluebell egger or the silver laced wyandotte rooster? I'm worried that the wyandotte will end up being too large for our bluebell egger hens and injure them when mating. But I thought it might be cool if they bred and created offspring that laid the olive green eggs. I'm at odds and need better information!

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

We have 16 chickens, I just recently realized that there are 4 silver laced wyandotte cockerels and 1 prairie bluebell egger cockerel. I believe the only two breeds of hens we have are barred rock and the bluebell egger. I read that wyandotte roosters like to be with their own breed. Should I keep the prairie bluebell egger or the silver laced wyandotte rooster? I'm worried that the wyandotte will end up being too large for our bluebell egger hens and injure them when mating. But I thought it might be cool if they bred and created offspring that laid the olive green eggs. I'm at odds and need better information!

As long as chickens grew up together it shouldn’t be a problem with what breeds roosters would like to be with because they simply don’t know it yet and this flock is all they know
I would get rid of some of the roosters and if they are being kept together problems could start to occur

 

[RemiD]

As long as chickens grew up together it shouldn’t be a problem with what breeds roosters would like to be with because they simply don’t know it yet and this flock is all they know
I would get rid of some of the roosters and if they are being kept together problems could start to occur

Thanks!! Oh we are definitely getting rid of them lol! I'm just trying to decide which one to keep. The prairie bluebell egger hens only top 4-5 pounds and the wyandotte rooster gets to about 9 pounds. I'm just wondering if he will be too big for the smaller hens and end up injuring them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We have 16 chickens, I just recently realized that there are 4 silver laced wyandotte cockerels and 1 prairie bluebell egger cockerel. I believe the only two breeds of hens we have are barred rock and the bluebell egger. I read that wyandotte roosters like to be with their own breed.

You can read all kinds of nonsense. A Wyandotte rooster is not going to reject a hen because she is not a Wyandotte.

Should I keep the prairie bluebell egger or the silver laced wyandotte rooster? I'm worried that the wyandotte will end up being too large for our bluebell egger hens and injure them when mating.

When chickens mate the hen squats. This gets her chest on the ground so the rooster's weight goes through her entire body to get to the ground, not just through her legs. That is nature's way of protecting the hen. The rooster is standing on her back but if you look at how much his feet spread out that weight is not concentrated. If you had bantams I'd be more concerned, but that Bluebell Egger is a cross between a Leghorn rooster and an Araucana hen. She should be OK. Your Bluebell rooster should be plenty big enough to mate with your Barred Rock hens.

But I thought it might be cool if they bred and created offspring that laid the olive green eggs.

Since your Bluebell Egger is a cross between a Leghorn and Araucana, they only have one blue egg shell gene at that gene pair. Silver Laced Wyandottes do not lay really dark eggs. Barred Rock don't either. That means a Wyandotte rooster over your Bluebell hens should give you pullets where about half lay green eggs but they won't be that dark. The same is true for your Bluebell rooster over the Barred Rock hens. Do not expect any olive eggs with either.

The Wyandotte over the Barred Rock hens will give you black sex link chicks. That means the boys will be barred and the pullets will not. You should be able to see the spot on the boys' heads at hatch. Your Bluebell rooster over the Barred Rock hens will also give you barred boys and not-barred girls but you should not be able to see the spot at hatch on some of them. An Araucana can come in many different colors and patterns so it is hard to talk about what their offspring will look like.

 

[RemiD]

You can read all kinds of nonsense. A Wyandotte rooster is not going to reject a hen because she is not a Wyandotte.


When chickens mate the hen squats. This gets her chest on the ground so the rooster's weight goes through her entire body to get to the ground, not just through her legs. That is nature's way of protecting the hen. The rooster is standing on her back but if you look at how much his feet spread out that weight is not concentrated. If you had bantams I'd be more concerned, but that Bluebell Egger is a cross between a Leghorn rooster and an Araucana hen. She should be OK. Your Bluebell rooster should be plenty big enough to mate with your Barred Rock hens.


Since your Bluebell Egger is a cross between a Leghorn and Araucana, they only have one blue egg shell gene at that gene pair. Silver Laced Wyandottes do not lay really dark eggs. Barred Rock don't either. That means a Wyandotte rooster over your Bluebell hens should give you pullets where about half lay green eggs but they won't be that dark. The same is true for your Bluebell rooster over the Barred Rock hens. Do not expect any olive eggs with either.

The Wyandotte over the Barred Rock hens will give you black sex link chicks. That means the boys will be barred and the pullets will not. You should be able to see the spot on the boys' heads at hatch. Your Bluebell rooster over the Barred Rock hens will also give you barred boys and not-barred girls but you should not be able to see the spot at hatch on some of them. An Araucana can come in many different colors and patterns so it is hard to talk about what their offspring will look like.

Thank you so much for the information!! One more question. Are Bluebell egger roosters or silver laced wyandotte roosters less aggressive?

 

[Tonyroo]

Thank you so much for the information!! One more question. Are Bluebell egger roosters or silver laced wyandotte roosters less aggressive?

Aggressiveness depends on there developing personality and environmental conditions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Agreed. It just depends on the individual.