VictoriaTemple
Songster
I wonder too if Silkies, Nankins, and other bantams tend to favor males because they are bred for show. Ornamental breeders tend to prefer male plumage, don't they? Not something I have any experience with, just wondering.
My current flock is too young to personally prove my theories about chick ratios, we are in First Egg mode right now, and also in the process of moving, so I won't allow any brooding. (Much to the chagrin of my lone Rhode Island Red, who is determined to show me what Easter Egger/RIR chicks look like even though she just started laying last week!) However, I keep 3 roosters with 14 hens for now, with the intention of keeping back or purchasing 1 or 2 more boys and the same for girls after the move. They get along famously, even though my Easter Egger roo is fairly aggressive (the Jersey Giant keeps him in line). Both 1 1/2 year olds (the JG and the EE) are sexually active, and are gentle lovers to the hens that have matured so far. Lots of fertile eggs from my Black Copper Marans and my RIR, and they are both new layers. My youngest roo, a Marans, is 4 months old, and he will be a very respectable rooster (handsome, sexed up, wicked smart, quiet, cautious, attentive, and obedient to the JG flock leader). The girls seem happy, but I know my JG roo wants another male his size, he loves to display and throw his weight around, and my EE can't compete with him. Boys need an outlet for their aggression, and if the hens didn't like that, they would breed it out. (Can't say I blame them, I like alpha males too!
)
My current flock is too young to personally prove my theories about chick ratios, we are in First Egg mode right now, and also in the process of moving, so I won't allow any brooding. (Much to the chagrin of my lone Rhode Island Red, who is determined to show me what Easter Egger/RIR chicks look like even though she just started laying last week!) However, I keep 3 roosters with 14 hens for now, with the intention of keeping back or purchasing 1 or 2 more boys and the same for girls after the move. They get along famously, even though my Easter Egger roo is fairly aggressive (the Jersey Giant keeps him in line). Both 1 1/2 year olds (the JG and the EE) are sexually active, and are gentle lovers to the hens that have matured so far. Lots of fertile eggs from my Black Copper Marans and my RIR, and they are both new layers. My youngest roo, a Marans, is 4 months old, and he will be a very respectable rooster (handsome, sexed up, wicked smart, quiet, cautious, attentive, and obedient to the JG flock leader). The girls seem happy, but I know my JG roo wants another male his size, he loves to display and throw his weight around, and my EE can't compete with him. Boys need an outlet for their aggression, and if the hens didn't like that, they would breed it out. (Can't say I blame them, I like alpha males too!
)
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