Last year I ordered my first flock of chickens and built my first coop and with the advice of everyone here things seem to have worked out well. My chickens seem happy, I am getting lots of eggs and enjoyment is being had all around. However, the time has come to thin the heard as I have two roo's and only want one. In fact, I had three but he was an evil bird that hated me from the time he was three days old and has since become soup but I digress. Just how do I go about deciding which one to keep, from a logical standpoint. Emotional is easy as I have a favorite. Is that enough of a reason to keep him?
Some more in depth information. I have buff orpingtons, 2 roo's and 15 hens. They are a little over 9 months old and for the most part everyone gets along. No real fighting just a peck here or there if the smaller roo does something the larger one does not like. In fact, the larger roo seems to treat the smaller one as if he were a hen. Neither are overly aggressive with the hens and show no aggression toward me. (I know, there is time for this to change.) These are just hatchery birds and I only plan to keep the roo because I want to hatch a few eggs here and there for my mom and my aunts and maybe to start a small secondary flock. And of course because I like them, lol. As such, I am not really worried about the looks or anything like that. Moving on, aside from playing favorite which could backfire a few months down the road, just how do I decide?
Extra information: When I say small roo, he is really about average size. I have not weighed him but if I had to wager a guess I would say he is 8-9 pounds. That seems reasonable for a hatchery bird from what I have read. I would say the larger roo is about 11-12 pounds and he is very tall. He is quite stunning too.
Thank you for any help you may offer, it is really appreciated.
Some more in depth information. I have buff orpingtons, 2 roo's and 15 hens. They are a little over 9 months old and for the most part everyone gets along. No real fighting just a peck here or there if the smaller roo does something the larger one does not like. In fact, the larger roo seems to treat the smaller one as if he were a hen. Neither are overly aggressive with the hens and show no aggression toward me. (I know, there is time for this to change.) These are just hatchery birds and I only plan to keep the roo because I want to hatch a few eggs here and there for my mom and my aunts and maybe to start a small secondary flock. And of course because I like them, lol. As such, I am not really worried about the looks or anything like that. Moving on, aside from playing favorite which could backfire a few months down the road, just how do I decide?
Extra information: When I say small roo, he is really about average size. I have not weighed him but if I had to wager a guess I would say he is 8-9 pounds. That seems reasonable for a hatchery bird from what I have read. I would say the larger roo is about 11-12 pounds and he is very tall. He is quite stunning too.
Thank you for any help you may offer, it is really appreciated.
