Buff Orp Rooster Survey

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Chic CAN said:
Thats how I look at it too... dinner time :p Thank you for the input that will be most helpfull. I ordered my roosters from cackle hatchery (straight run style) My older hens are from the feed store. I have noticed that some have tails and others don't. One of my hens even has a little speckled brown on the longer tail feathers. I was to keep them all pure so I only have buff orps. I researched for the best breed to suit our needs: Meat size, good egg production, lays in winter, quiet, and more docile. I figured I had a fair chance of getting a kind and safe rooster. Then I saw other people posts about their mean ones. That's why I am trying to figure out my chances.
Your rooster is gorgeous! So size and more of a prominent mane dictates which type of stock I ended up with? They are about 2 months old and are about half the size of the hens who are 2 months older. The largest one has a more prominent comb, is a cocky as I'll get out, and has some tail feathers. The other roos are smaller but all the same size and they do not have tail feathers just a ploom. Their combs are more rounded and shorter than the 1st. I'll have to take some pictures later. I am babysitting kids most of the week on top of my own.

I have a rabbit hutch inside the coop which I did intend to use for aggressive roosters when I let the kids in. However, I have 7 roosters and they potentially wouldn't fit if they are all buggars. I plan to keep 2 and give one to a friend the rest are meat. I was told 5 months is a good age to butcher size wise, does that seem right?
Click to expand...

If I were you, I would butcher all of the hatchery males. Attend a poultry show and acquire some show quality Buff Orpington cockerels. There will be plenty available this fall. These will be gentler than any from a hatchery and almost twice the size. You can then slowly upgrade your flock. Save the best pullets next year and either add new males or breed back to the sire.
 
Last year I bought a bunch of hatchery chicks all pullets. One turned out to be a cockerel. I decided to keep him and just keep my eye on him since at the time I had a 2yr old who loves the chickens. Long story short, he went to freezer camp.


I ended up replacing all my hatchery birds, males and females with birds from really good show lines. None of the roosters or cockerels from any of the lines I own has ever showed any signs of aggression towards any of us. Because I have a number of boys now and I want to control the breeding, all my boys are kept separate from the girls… most have their own pen. My daughter at 3yr old now knows who she can play with and who is off limits to her. She goes into the hen house with 30 plus hens and I don’t have to worry about her and she loves playing with all the hens.


My point is this…. yes I have found that the birds from good stock show less aggression then hatchery birds. I handle them only when I have to but if I’m in the pen with them I don’t worry about one coming up behind me and getting me in the leg. However, it may not be necessary to get rid of all your males. Keep the one/ones you want separated from your hens. Use him/them when you want some eggs to hatch then put him/them back in his/their condo when you’re done. I made my condos big enough for a trio so I bring the hens to them. When I’m done collecting hatching eggs, I move the hens back to the hen house with all the other girls. By far the best thing I ever did.



Chris
 
We moved a lot of birds around today, along with relocating several coops under the shade trees. Wife and kids washed out all waterers and added some new ones. Not one rooster was aggressive towards anyone. A Buff Orpington hen laid an egg on the ground. Nicole (7) went inside and recovered the egg. She had to move the rooster to get the egg. He barely moved. We really appreciate how gentle these Orpingtons are.
 
cool. My friend controls her rooster breeding that way, but mainly because her roos tend to start eating eggs. I took me 6 months to build my coop, I don't think I can handle building condos....... Its hard to be a sustainable living/ homeschooling parent of your kids and build everything too. My other half is hardly here military otherwise he'd be building it. I don't even know a thing about poultry shows what do I look for, where do I look, and when?

So far I think I am up to 9 roos now, one was a really late bloomer 4 months old before the comb and throat flaps (can't think of what they are really called) started growing. The others are 21/2 months old now. So far only one has shown agression(bited when you reach for him or next to him and raises his neck feathers while holding him)- I put him in isolated duty (the rabbit hutch) overnight and he was sorry the next day. Though he did bite my finger today... I think it was the same one. Looks like he may need to serve time again lol. The others are friendly.... thus far.

A friend of mine todl me that you can't inbreed? father to daughter.. because it genetically messes them up and they lay less eggs, therefore you have to order a new rooster every year unless you track the hatchlings and keep them from inbreeding. Now I though that wasn't such a problem with foul? I figured once I had a really good rooster or two- I'd keep them. I just want the to hatch theor own babies, that way I have a continual supply of meat and eggs, instead of a huge bulk of chicks that you have to exchange the older ones out for later and have to do mass butchering/freezing. I want to have fresh chicken when I'm in the mood, all that switcharooing seems too complicated to me. I do want to keep my buff orps pure buff orps, but I don't want to have to keep ordering or buying new birds every year.... it doesn't seem cost effective. I also have wooden eggs in there now- t hey all peck at them then loose interest...... I hope it keeps "egg pecking" out of their system.
 
HallFamilyFarm said:
We moved a lot of birds around today, along with relocating several coops under the shade trees. Wife and kids washed out all waterers and added some new ones. Not one rooster was aggressive towards anyone. A Buff Orpington hen laid an egg on the ground. Nicole (7) went inside and recovered the egg. She had to move the rooster to get the egg. He barely moved. We really appreciate how gentle these Orpingtons are.
Click to expand...
Most of mine seem to be pretty gentle. a few just want to keep their distance. When I researched breeds this one fit best all around. I checked cackle hatcheries website. They clain that they specialize in purebreds. My first batch of 14 are from meyer hatchery thru the feed store (haven't looked them up yet). The meyer hens have slightly long tail feathers compared the the "showy pictures I've seen of the breed, and most have some dark brown specs in their tails. There was one late blooming rooster from the meyer batch and he is very docile.... just runs away (normal to most). They all have really fluffy bottoms with a puffy ploom on the back of the hens (most of them). I need to take pictures. So far I'm too busy to remember to take the camera out there. Plus its been 100+ ouside.
 
Ok pics will be up later today- when my kids decide to give me a moment.
wee.gif
 

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