Choosing a rooster

[LaFleche]

Ah LaFleche - sounds like a good one in the making. Probably going to ruin other roosters for years to come, haha. I had Bye, and I still miss him.

His father acts just the same way.

For more than 20 years I have been selecting and breeding my birds not only according to their respective SOP but also for health, robustness, egg production and excellent social skills.

It really pays off to detect and early cull males that lack essential social skills.
Good roosters maintain the peace in the flock thus reducing stress related health issues and loss to predators. They are a joy to have.

 

[LaFleche]

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Inspect the Black Copper cockerel closely for lice. His tail feathers appear to have some lice damage.

 

[Cluck Noris]

Inspect the Black Copper cockerel closely for lice. His tail feathers appear to have some lice damage.

I actually just looked them over last week, will check again in the morning, thanks.

 

[Cluck Noris]

Inspect the Black Copper cockerel closely for lice. His tail feathers appear to have some lice damage.

I didn't see any, but will probably hit them with some elector just to be on the safe side.

 

[SamLockwood]

I currently have two cockerels roughly 14 weeks old. A black copper marans that is dominant, and a blue copper marans. I am trying to decide which rooster to cull.

The black copper marans is larger, watches for danger, and generally is a good rooster for being young. The blue roo is also a good most of the time, but insists on trying to breed one hen, that keeps trying to refuse.

I wanted to keep the blue, as I prefer his colors and I was hoping to get some splash through breeding, but I am worried about his behavior toward the one hen. Will it change if I cull the dominant rooster? Or should I just keep the black and wait a generation to get some splash? I know they are young but I would rather try to address the issue now rather than see if it changes after they mature some. Any thoughts welcome. TIA.

It's very hard to tell exactly what you've got with cockerels until they mature. Their personalities can change quite a bit until they get about a year old.

I've had one that I thought I was going to have to cull due to being borderline human aggressive, until I found out that he's a total cat-food addict and very susceptible to bribery. He's a big boy who developed razor-sharp spurs early and is one of the first to welcome new birds when I introduce them to the flock.

I had another rooster that seemed pretty low key and even tempered until he turned a year old, then he started victimizing the smallest and most passive rooster and otherwise acting like a jerk. When I took an out-of-town trip he went too far with somebody because when I came home he was pretty beat up and being treated like a pariah by the rest of the flock.

I separated him and tried to treat him but he wouldn't eat or drink and expired within 48 hours in spite of his visible injuries being pretty minor.

My point is that unless one of them is doing something really awful try to let things play out for a while. Your Dr. Jekyll may turn out to be a Mr. Hyde, and vice versa.

One thing I've noticed is that if you start adding more birds to a mature flock the adult roosters tend to socialize the young cockerels and don't let the youngsters pull too much crap. Some of the really good ones will keep the hens from bullying the newcomers, too.

 

[PrettyChicky25]

I currently have two cockerels roughly 14 weeks old. A black copper marans that is dominant, and a blue copper marans. I am trying to decide which rooster to cull.

The black copper marans is larger, watches for danger, and generally is a good rooster for being young. The blue roo is also a good most of the time, but insists on trying to breed one hen, that keeps trying to refuse.

I wanted to keep the blue, as I prefer his colors and I was hoping to get some splash through breeding, but I am worried about his behavior toward the one hen. Will it change if I cull the dominant rooster? Or should I just keep the black and wait a generation to get some splash? I know they are young but I would rather try to address the issue now rather than see if it changes after they mature some. Any thoughts welcome. TIA.

Please don't kill the rooster. Give it away. Animals aren't put here for our enjoyment. They are living breathing beings that deserve respect.

 

[Cluck Noris]

Please don't kill the rooster. Give it away. Animals aren't put here for our enjoyment. They are living breathing beings that deserve respect.

I will respectfully eat him, I take it you live off water and mud pies?

 

[Cluck Noris]

My point is that unless one of them is doing something really awful try to let things play out for a while. Your Dr. Jekyll may turn out to be a Mr. Hyde, and vice versa.

I plan on letting it play out as long as I can, thank you

 

[Rock and Rhode]

What sourland suggested is a very nice plan. It'll take time for the blue male to show his true behaviour, but it will happen.

Keep in mind that whichever of the two you choose to keep, their behaviour can still change, especially in their first year, sometimes all the way up to 18 months

This is true. I have 24 hens and kept 2 roosters after researching ratios. They were fine until the 12 month when the beta (RIR) tried to kill the alpha (B Rock). The Alpha was better tempered so the beta became supper. The Alpha was gentler to the hens too. He is protective of them so I have to enter the pen with a stick