Best Rooster

[ardagh23]

I have two choices, Rhode Island Red or Ameraucana for the rooster for my small flock of 4 hens. Which one is the better choice and why?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Very much depends on the chickens you have, and whether the Ameraucana is indeed an Ameraucana or is an Easter Egger. Can you tell me what your hens are and where you got the Ameraucana?

I keep both RIR and Ameraucanas for my flock, but for different reasons, so more information would help.

 

[ardagh23]

I got the Ameraucana from a feed/supply/chicken store. If you want the name I think it's Urban Farm Store.

How does one tell the difference between an Ameraucana and an Easter Egger?

The hens are as follows; 1.) WelSummer 2.) Barred Rock 3.) Ameraucana (from the same place as above) 4.) Faverolle

Thank you for your advice!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I would choose the am as rir are so common. Lol

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I got the Ameraucana from a feed/supply/chicken store. If you want the name I think it's Urban Farm Store.

How does one tell the difference between an Ameraucana and an Easter Egger?

The hens are as follows; 1.) WelSummer 2.) Barred Rock 3.) Ameraucana (from the same place as above) 4.) Faverolle

Thank you for your advice!

If you bought them from a feed store, they're Easter Eggers, not Ameraucanas. The only way to get an Ameraucana is to buy from a breeder. It's very frustrating that so many hatcheries call their EEs Ameraucanas when it's absolutely not true.

Ameraucanas are a recognized, showable breed of chicken. They only come in a few standard colors, have pea combs, beards and muffs, lay blue eggs, and have slate legs. EEs are mutt chickens that carry the blue egg gene. They can be any color at all. They can have any color legs, but the legs are often willow. They can lay any color of eggs, from brown to blue to green to pink, but green seems to be most common. EEs often have Ameraucana blood in them. You can't show an EE.

For breeding purposes, the biggest difference between an EE and an Ameraucana is that you know the Ameraucana will be homozygous (have two copies) of the blue egg gene. Because EEs are mutts and the blue egg gene is dominant, an EE could be (and probably is) heterozygous for the blue egg gene (the other allelle is probably a brown gene or a white gene). That means that when you breed an EE to an EE, you may or may not make blue or green egg layers. If you were to breed an Ameraucana, the resulting hens would definitely lay green or blue eggs since the Ameraucana can only pass on blue egg genes.

As far as what rooster to keep, it depends on what you're going for. The RIR will bring good egg-laying ability to your flock. The EE will bring some blue egg genes to your flock, but they might not be as good layers as the RIR crosses. Also, if you cross the RIR with your barred Rock, you'll get sex-linked chicks, which makes life a lot easier.

All things being equal, choose the rooster with the best temperament. If either of the boys is pretty forward, runs toward you demanding to be petted, or shows any signs of aggression at all, keep the other one. Aggression in poultry has a very strong genetic component, so breeding an aggressive rooster will make more aggressive roosters.

 

[sport14692]

I prefer tho looks of the RIR's but not sure which one is better

 

[ardagh23]

My family really wanted a lot of blue/greens eggs, thus the reason for purchasing what I thought were two Ameraucanas hens. Now I found out they're Easter Eggers and although we may still get blue/green eggs the odds seem pretty low because one of my "Ameraucana" hens turns out to be a rooster and both are not even Ameraucanas. It seems like I'll need to find a breeder to be positive about what I'm purchasing.


In regard too temperament it is really hard to tell because the RIR does peck at ALL of them a little bit and sometimes gets confrontational with the Easter Egger Rooster. It seems like the RIR is the dominant rooster. Also please note they're all about 4.5 - 5 months old, raised from chicks together. The Easter Egger (Ameraucana) Rooster is not allowed to spend time around the rest of the flock, anymore. He seems to be a loner and I suspect that the Red may be chasing him off because the Red doesn't want him near the hens. Sometimes I see the Easter Egger (Ameraucana) Rooster trying to chase after the hens and then the RIR comes in and chases the EE Rooster away. Also they've started crowing and I'd like to keep this to a minimum. Any tips on how to reduce the amount of crowing from these guys?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

RIR do have the reputation of being aggressive, although I've never had a problem with mine. Is your EE pretty? Some EE Roos are pretty motley fellows.

Don't feel badly about them being EEs. EEs are great birds, and often lay more and larger eggs than Ameraucanas. I keep an Ameraucana rooster specifically to make more EEs!

If you like him (which is the most important criterion here), I'd personally probably keep the EE. If he is heterozygous for the blue egg gene, then three quarters of his offspring with the EE hen will lay green or blue eggs. Half of his offspring with the other hens will lay green eggs. If your family wants blue and green eggs, this is the way to go.

Unfortunately, the crowing may only get worse before it gets better. I swear, young Roos have to announce their manliness every five minutes. He may settle down once he has no competition and is a little older, but Roos do crow all day long.

Finally, if he turns out to not have a nice temperament, don't hesitate to cull him right away and look for a new one. Since EEs are often sold straight run, there are lots of cull EE roosters around that need homes. Roosters can be dangerous, especially to children, so don't let him hang about if he attacks someone. Instead, cull him and look on Craigslist or BYC for a free replacement and try again.

Good luck!

 

[ardagh23]

One more question Sunshine. Can you please tell me what you mean by sex-linked chicks and why that makes life easier? I'm a total newbie, if you haven't already figure that out.

Thank you!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The hens are yours so do as you please. Before I added a rooster to a 4 hen flock I think that you need at least 6 more hens.
What is likely to happen is that you'll have a frustrated rooster, and four hens who spend too much time on the roost because of too much male attention.