Wouldn't you know it, I managed to get a very small set of last year's hatchlings at the end of the season--total end. And we thought I got almost all hens (maybe one roo). Well, I ended up with one hen and the rest roos. *sigh* So I need help deciding which roos stay and which are re-homed. I'm going to try, for my first time, posting pictures. So let's see how that goes. Well, that didn't work. So I can send you to a photobucket album where you can see them all at once. I have five roos. Two are living with one hen, two are living in bachelor pads, and one is running with the hens (because he matured faster and has Little Man Syndrome which worked until the bigger ones caught up with him and surpassed him in size by about 1/3). Now he's going to be rehomed and replaced with a bigger brother. Please help me decide which two of the five brothers I should keep and which I should let someone else enjoy. I think this link will work for a slide show. http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/kfielding_photos/Buff Orpington Roosters at 7 months/ I have labeled the five brothers: Short Tail Long Tail Damaged Comb (another rooster tore off the front part of his comb) Brother 4 Wiley Coyote Thanks for any help you can give me choosing the better roo! This will be a good lesson in learning type for me. So thanks to all who respond.
I liked the Long Tail Brother the best. He is really broad and deep which is important. Also he has good wing carriage which is lacking in several of the others. Wiley Coyote is very poor in type being lightly built. I don't pay much attention to combs as there are few points given to them in a show. Long Tail has great type and width. All that being said disposition is also very important. I'm not an Orpington expert so someone else may be more help.
I'm quite surprised as I had picked the short tailed brother. Now these boys are just 7 months old, so I would guess they will change somewhat. Brother four is smaller than the others--probably 7/8 the size of the short tailed (who seems to be the largest in height). I'm keeping two because I want to put one on my others that I have had for a while--I think I purchased them from Cackle, but I don't remember anymore--they're a couple of years old. I can then keep him available all the time, and he can breed them in case I decide I want to try to raise some of their offspring (they're much smaller birds). I doubt i will since I have some of the better ones in the incubator now. And I also will be raising some babies shortly, so I want to keep two in case I get a lot of pullets--hasn't worked out that way so far, but I can hope. I also purchased some chicks from the same lady hoping I would get at least a few pullets. I think I have five out of the ten I purchased (which isn't bad). Thanks so much for your replies. I feel so ignorant about how to judge a bird that I'm almost ashamed to tell you what I don't know. In fact, I can't say what I don't know. I don't know what I don't know. Pretty sad eh? Thanks again.
Oops, I forgot to tell you. I have spent little time with them as I have been busy delivering calves for several months, so they've been ignored for the most part. But when I went in today, they were quiet, watched me, moved when I asked them to, and tried to avoid me, but they were not bad at all. They did no fluttering or flapping, and of course, they didn't go after me because I wouldn't consider a roo like that to keep. They are such nice boys to be around that I really like the breed because of the great disposition of these birds. I didn't know how quiet the Orpingtons were until I got these guys. The others are a bit more exciteable, but they are still pretty quiet. Wiley Coyote is the wildest. He probably knows his days with the females are numbered.
