choosing a rooster to keep

[chuckyd]

Hi,

I'm new at keeping chickens and got a SR of RIRs nearly 10 weeks ago. Now I have 5 roosters and 4 hens, I'm quite sure of that judging from the comb and waddles. I expected they would have started crowing by now, but nothing yet. I think I would like to keep 1 of the roosters, but from my research, 4:1 is not a very good ratio. Also from my research, it looks like some roosters could have a much better temperament than others and I wonder how long before they start to "act up" and what to look for in choosing the keeper. Early on, one of them was hard to distinguish if he was a rooster or not because his comb wasn't developing as quick as the others, and now his comb and waddles are still the smallest out of the 5, could this be an indication of some sorts? I've been procrastinating in thinning the flock, but I know its inevitable. The person I bought them from is willing to take the roosters back, and he says hes not going to sell or eat them, and they will be part of his flock (I only hope he is being truthful with me). I just don't want to give away the nicest rooster in the bunch.... Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[chuckyd]

I also plan to raise chicks, so I look at temperament, size and lack of physical defects when choosing possible keepers.
As a first year chicken keeper, removing all of them might work best, so next year you will have adult hens to help raise a new batch of cockerels.
Any human aggression, gone. Any obvious physical defects, gone. Then best size, and of course best behavior with his flockmates.
Young cockerels will take some time to learn proper social skills and mating behavior, and agemates won't be interested as early as he is. That's still no excuse for him to cause any injuries to the pullets!
And most cockerels are meant to be dinner for some family! It might be possible to rehome them to other chicken keepers, but don't feel as if every one is entitled to his own flock, it just doesn't work that way.
Mary

Thanks for the information. I know what you mean about "every one is entitled to his own flock", I guess that is why they are hard to re-home. I'll have a hard time killing them, but probably better I do it, than taking them to someone else to do it. At least it would be a shorter process for them and put some meat on my table.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hi,

I'm new at keeping chickens and got a SR of RIRs nearly 10 weeks ago. Now I have 5 roosters and 4 hens, I'm quite sure of that judging from the comb and waddles. I expected they would have started crowing by now, but nothing yet. I think I would like to keep 1 of the roosters, but from my research, 4:1 is not a very good ratio. Also from my research, it looks like some roosters could have a much better temperament than others and I wonder how long before they start to "act up" and what to look for in choosing the keeper. Early on, one of them was hard to distinguish if he was a rooster or not because his comb wasn't developing as quick as the others, and now his comb and waddles are still the smallest out of the 5, could this be an indication of some sorts? I've been procrastinating in thinning the flock, but I know its inevitable. The person I bought them from is willing to take the roosters back, and he says hes not going to sell or eat them, and they will be part of his flock (I only hope he is being truthful with me). I just don't want to give away the nicest rooster in the bunch.... Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Depends on your desires for your flock. Its my understanding that RIR typically start to lay in the 18-22 week range, which is pretty early, but not so early as 10 weeks. I'd expect noises from your cockerels before that date, but probably not consistently before week 16.

Personally, I'm breeding, looking to put some meat back on DP birds (together with other goals) - and have found 1 good young cockerel can easily cover a dozen birds+ with acceptable fertility rates in the eggs. And because I'm breeding, apart from excluding any obvious problems of coloration, my selection of males would be for size and earliness of maturity. By 12 weeks, I'd cull the two smallest for my table, and watch the last two - see who starts doing his duty first, and which of the two have the biggest size. Use that to make my final selection, and until then, I have a "back up" in case of disease, predation, or injury.

I'm guessing, reading between the lines, that is not the purpose (or perhaps, not the end) you desire for your birds. In which case, I'd suggest (if you have time and resources) setting up a second house and large run for a "bachelor flock".

 

[demonic]

Hi,

I'm new at keeping chickens and got a SR of RIRs nearly 10 weeks ago. Now I have 5 roosters and 4 hens, I'm quite sure of that judging from the comb and waddles. I expected they would have started crowing by now, but nothing yet. I think I would like to keep 1 of the roosters, but from my research, 4:1 is not a very good ratio. Also from my research, it looks like some roosters could have a much better temperament than others and I wonder how long before they start to "act up" and what to look for in choosing the keeper. Early on, one of them was hard to distinguish if he was a rooster or not because his comb wasn't developing as quick as the others, and now his comb and waddles are still the smallest out of the 5, could this be an indication of some sorts? I've been procrastinating in thinning the flock, but I know its inevitable. The person I bought them from is willing to take the roosters back, and he says hes not going to sell or eat them, and they will be part of his flock (I only hope he is being truthful with me). I just don't want to give away the nicest rooster in the bunch.... Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Even if the rooster won’t hurt you or the other roosters it will abuse the hens by mating them a lot. You want a rooster that will do the mating dance and Doesnt just go on top and abuse the hens. You also should observe what rooster gives his hens treats and let’s the hens eat first and then eats the remaining food. If you find a rooster like this, the 4:1 ratio can work

 

[3KillerBs]

What is the purpose of having a rooster in your flock? Does one of these roosters fit that purpose better than the others?

Even with 1 rooster to only 4 hens you'll need to watch for signs of over-mating and excessive feather wear.

 

[chuckyd]

Even if the rooster won’t hurt you or the other roosters it will abuse the hens by mating them a lot. You want a rooster that will do the mating dance and Doesnt just go on top and abuse the hens. You also should observe what rooster gives his hens treats and let’s the hens eat first and then eats the remaining food. If you find a rooster like this, the 4:1 ratio can work

Okay, thanks for the information, I will look for these indicators of a keeper. Cheers

 

[Driley62]

Hi,

I'm new at keeping chickens and got a SR of RIRs nearly 10 weeks ago. Now I have 5 roosters and 4 hens, I'm quite sure of that judging from the comb and waddles. I expected they would have started crowing by now, but nothing yet. I think I would like to keep 1 of the roosters, but from my research, 4:1 is not a very good ratio. Also from my research, it looks like some roosters could have a much better temperament than others and I wonder how long before they start to "act up" and what to look for in choosing the keeper. Early on, one of them was hard to distinguish if he was a rooster or not because his comb wasn't developing as quick as the others, and now his comb and waddles are still the smallest out of the 5, could this be an indication of some sorts? I've been procrastinating in thinning the flock, but I know its inevitable. The person I bought them from is willing to take the roosters back, and he says hes not going to sell or eat them, and they will be part of his flock (I only hope he is being truthful with me). I just don't want to give away the nicest rooster in the bunch.... Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I also took a chance on a RIR straight run from tsc and got 4 rir and 4 isa(pullet)...out of the 4 rir I got...you guessed it...4 cockerels...so what I did as they were growing I worked with them daily just before I turned in for the night. Held them and pet them so they got comfortable with me. All 4 seemingly were all friendly but what we did was we picked the one we could walk right up to grab him and pet him without a struggle....meant he was comfortable with us. Now he's a year old he doesn't really care to be picked up much anymore but once you are holding him in his comfortable position(like a football under the arm) he's completely fine and will let you pet him. With that said he's not mean in the slightest. I have learned however, that no rir are the same. I have a friend that had a rir roo and he is the devil with wings and a wattle. He keeps him around right now to protect the flock from hawks and he's done a damn good job at it. He also worked with him nearly every day and he came out to be aggressive. Only time he isn't is when he's roosted for the night. In the end I've heard and learned when it comes to this breed, it's hard to truly know which end of the spectrum you're gonna get.

 

[Folly's place]

I also plan to raise chicks, so I look at temperament, size and lack of physical defects when choosing possible keepers.
As a first year chicken keeper, removing all of them might work best, so next year you will have adult hens to help raise a new batch of cockerels.
Any human aggression, gone. Any obvious physical defects, gone. Then best size, and of course best behavior with his flockmates.
Young cockerels will take some time to learn proper social skills and mating behavior, and agemates won't be interested as early as he is. That's still no excuse for him to cause any injuries to the pullets!
And most cockerels are meant to be dinner for some family! It might be possible to rehome them to other chicken keepers, but don't feel as if every one is entitled to his own flock, it just doesn't work that way.
Mary

 

[chuckyd]

Depends on your desires for your flock. Its my understanding that RIR typically start to lay in the 18-22 week range, which is pretty early, but not so early as 10 weeks. I'd expect noises from your cockerels before that date, but probably not consistently before week 16.

Personally, I'm breeding, looking to put some meat back on DP birds (together with other goals) - and have found 1 good young cockerel can easily cover a dozen birds+ with acceptable fertility rates in the eggs. And because I'm breeding, apart from excluding any obvious problems of coloration, my selection of males would be for size and earliness of maturity. By 12 weeks, I'd cull the two smallest for my table, and watch the last two - see who starts doing his duty first, and which of the two have the biggest size. Use that to make my final selection, and until then, I have a "back up" in case of disease, predation, or injury.

I'm guessing, reading between the lines, that is not the purpose (or perhaps, not the end) you desire for your birds. In which case, I'd suggest (if you have time and resources) setting up a second house and large run for a "bachelor flock".

Thanks for the information. I have no intention of breeding them, I am considering keeping one to protect the hens when I occasionally let them free range, and I also like the look and sound of roosters. I wish it was easier to re-home roosters, but I'm finding out it is hard to even give them away, and its not so easy for me to kill them. Its a nice thought to make a large run for the bachelor flock, but a little to much money and effort for me.

 

[chuckyd]

You may want to think about keeping 2. One as a backup incase something happens to number 1. Anything from a predator to illness. With just one if Anything happens and it can and happen fast your back to square one

Thanks, thats a good point, but Im affraid it will be hard to keep the peace with a 2:4 ratio.