6/7 month old.. possible rooster?

[tha5150]

Oh boy... This is going to be tough. We should get rid of one of them. We have a total of 9 including the 5 new 3 week olds which I hope are all hens.

What are the pros and cons of having a rooster in the flock? What about 2?

 

[Casey76]

Having more than one cockerel when all chickens are free ranging can lead to fighting between the cockerels as they collect their own flock.

Having 7 hens and 2 cockerels is borderline for the flock to naturally divide into two, as one cockerel would naturally collect upto about 10 hens, but is often happier with fewer.

Another risk factor is having the cockerels the same age. Often if one cockerel is older and/or mature to the other then things tend not to flare up so much.

If you wanted to keep the two cockerels, I would see if you could divide the flock and have them housed in two separate areas.

Though, in my experience, it is easier for a backyard flock to have only one cockerel.

If they haven't started already, get ready for the crowing... and contrary to popular belief they don't crow only on a morning, they crow all day long, and if there is competition they can keep each other going for hours!!!

 

[tha5150]

Great info, thank you!

 

[tha5150]

Mind helping out with our Americana? Rooster or Hen? Should be same age as all the others, give or take a week. We have a Leghorn that's been laying for 2 weeks now. We would assume this one should be laying now too.

Side note/question.. Miranda, the mixed one, smells like bad fish and we gave him a bath today with baby shampoo and smelled great for a few hours. Now has a smell again. Any reasons why? One thing to note is that he is the only one who doesn't dust himself like the other 3 in the flock. Heck, our month olds are trying to dust themselves in the pine shavings in their little box in the garage. So cute to watch and think they are actually doing any good. Of course we are not going to tell them otherwise

Please help us out

 

[Eon69nc]

Pullet for sure, notice her neck and back have rounded feathers. Comb development is next to nothing

 

[tha5150]

Great, thanks! Any idea why she isn't laying yet?

Also, verifying Americana and not an EE? Not too sure of the difference to be honest. Thought EE was just a nick name

 

[Eon69nc]

She will start soon enough, you can not compare her to a leghorn which usually start earlier than most and were bred specifically for egg laying.

 

[ftfarmer22]

Miranda and Kiesha are cockerels

X2

 

[tha5150]

The Americana has been mounted between 5-8 times a day for the past few days. She hasn't started laying any eggs yet.

We are curious if this is a sign that she is about to start or not. Just curious if this is an "any day now" type of behavior or not for another few weeks?

 

[Eon69nc]

Hmmm, are you free ranging them, could she possible have a nest somewhere? if she is allowing mating, I will bet she is very close or laying already.