Choosing a Rooster

[gg706]

I have several roosters , all are about 8-9 weeks old. I have someone who wants the ones I am not going to keep. How do I choose which 1 or 2 to keep. Are there certain things I should look for? I will have 7 or 8 hens, is 2 roosters too much? I also read somewhere someone said, they didn't like to give theirs away because they were afraid they would end up in a fighting ring????? Mine are not game birds, is this something I need to worry about, because if so I would rather just butcher them. Do they use regular breeds to "bait" the game roosters?

 

[chicmom]

Hello! I would only keep one rooster for 7 or 8 hens. What breeds do you have?

When you give away or sell your chickens, you really don't want to think about what happens to them. (At least I don't.) I truly don't know alot of the people personally that I give away my extra roosters to, and so I can't really say what they do with the roosters. Mainly, I've found people process them for food. I can live with that. But you would drive youself nuts wondering what happens after they leave you.

 

[Lollipop]

I have several roosters , all are about 8-9 weeks old. I have someone who wants the ones I am not going to keep. How do I choose which 1 or 2 to keep. Are there certain things I should look for? I will have 7 or 8 hens, is 2 roosters too much? I also read somewhere someone said, they didn't like to give theirs away because they were afraid they would end up in a fighting ring????? Mine are not game birds, is this something I need to worry about, because if so I would rather just butcher them. Do they use regular breeds to "bait" the game roosters?

I agree with chicmom, only keep the one that you like the best. Been around cockers most of my life and have never heard of anyone using a non sporting rooster for baiting. Relax, most extra roosters are for dinner.........Pop

 

[nunlef]

Hi,
1) when we got our first batch of chickens, we named one friendly because it kept flying up to us whenever we went out to see them. We thought " oh, it's so friendly". Well, it turned out to be a he, and we had to give him away last month because he went after me every time I let them out to have pasture time. The flying up at us was a bit of foreshadowing, because he was surprisingly aggressive for his breeding. He actually attacked me a few times the last week we had him, and I ended up needing to bring my dog with me when it was egg collecting/feeding time.
One future rooster was really good most of the time. As a chick, he would be the one in charge of deciding who got on the roost first, ect. Once he matured, he was really good with me, but did try to flog my 4 year old daughter. He died the next day, and I do regret my rule that "once was enough when it came to children". Although he was most certainly in charge, he was "fair". He did seem stand-offish, but even at 4 weeks old, he was just doing his job (I.e. looking out for his flock). I loved that dumb rooster.
Our 3rd rooster was so docile and late maturing, we thought it was a pullet until about 18 weeks. He didn't crouch like a hen might, but he was the easiest of all our chickens to pick up. Unfortunately our rotten dog got out one day while the chickens were roaming, and we lost him that night.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I thought I would let you know my experience. Btw, all 3 Roos came from the same farm. The temperament differences were truly just part of the chicken.

2) when we gave away our last rooster, I sort of interviewed the 3 people that contacted me. One stopped emailing once I asked for pictures of where it was going to live. One wanted him for dinner, but decided against it because of his slighter build. The guy I gave him to came to my house with his wife and showed me pictures of the coop, etc. I think it was the best I could do to for friendly the naughty rooster.

 

[Spangled]

I have several roosters , all are about 8-9 weeks old. I have someone who wants the ones I am not going to keep. How do I choose which 1 or 2 to keep. Are there certain things I should look for? I will have 7 or 8 hens, is 2 roosters too much?

I personally wait until they are about 12- 14 weeks to decide if they're keepers or not. Before that, I can't tell because they aren't mature enough, though other folks may be able to.

I ignore (don't pet, don't look in the eye, don't pick up and carry) any of my roosters. I try to look at them when they aren't looking at me. I don't want them to see me as anything but the person that sets out the food and water and moves things around.

If a male chick grow up seeing me as his mother, then it seems like he thinks I am what the female of the species looks like and he will be confused about who he's supposed to be in charge of and who he mates with. You see, he tells the hens where to go, when to eat, where to hunt for grasshoppers. Some hens will ignore him, but he'll usually intimidate hens into doing what he wants. He also talks to them and cajoles them. And when he mates with them he is also showing his dominance. If the males have been handled a lot as youngsters (and I don't know how much a lot is), then my experience has been that the males will be confused, think I am a chicken, and will want to dominate. I'm only talking about my roosters and those are usually breeds like New Hampshires, Speckled Sussex, Marans, Barred Rocks (which I gave up on because mine were just too unpredictable and scared the livin' daylights out of me), Wyandottes, Green Egg Layers.

I ignore them. Then I can usually pick the one that won't be a bother as a flock leader throughout the next couple of years. I don't choose the most dominant rooster -- the one that starts mating first. I don't pick the one that will thump up behind me as I walk to the coop in the afternoon to toss out grain. I don't pick one that shows any aggression to me at all, not even a peck. I will not choose a rooster that is rough on the girls -- sometimes it is adolescent exuberance, but I still don't like it. I usually choose one that I've never seen mating with the girls. After the dominant roosters are gone, then he will usually settle in nicely with his hens and start protecting them and telling when to go to bed, etc.

I don't ever kick them or hit them or carry sticks or brooms around. At no time will I play that game with them because that just leads them to viewing me as a threat and someone to fight any time I go out there. I also don't pick up hens with them around because the hens/pullets are their responsibility and the roosters see me as another rooster or predator trying to take their hens away. I don't walk straight into roosters; I side step them or wait and give them a chance to move out of the way, never cornering him. I carry sunflower seeds and toss them to distract and remind them that I feed them and that I am not a rooster. If he were to ever see me as the rooster, then he would have to fight me to figure out who is dominant. Even if I came out on top, then he would still have to test me out every couple of weeks to see if he was dominant yet.

That's my limited experience with large dual-purpose fowl and just one male bantam that would be awfully fiesty if he thought I were a large rooster. He's a character, but at 2 or 3 now, he's settled in very well and doesn't get antsy when I move him from his roost at night. But he is demanding of sunflower seeds when I collect eggs. As in he gets on a roost and tells me that he wants sunflower seeds. Now. He's at almost eye level, and I am leery that one of these days he's going to peck at my eyes. But he hasn't ever tried to peck me or spur me.

Bigger combs usually is an indicator of better fertility, so a tiny comb is not something I look for, but I don't choose the largest because they're usually more aggressive than I want. I want a wider rooster across the hips because that often transfers to his daughters. I don't like knock knees because I believe that will transfer to the daughters and I don't think it's wise for egg laying.

Now, that's just my experience and what has consistently worked for me. Lots of folks have different methods and great success with other methods of choosing a rooster. Chickens are unpredictable and thrive under all manner of management techniques. So you've got to do what fits with your personality, your family, and your chickens.

Two roosters is probably too many for 7-8 hens, which is too bad because it's always nice to have a backup. You may not notice that it's too many until next spring, though. Spring is breeding season and that's when my hens get a few frayed feathers. I have 2 roosters for about 20 hens and mating is severely restricted in the cold and dark of winter. So, you might be able to keep 2 over the winter and give one away in the spring. You'll just have to monitor your hens' backs and if they start getting thinly feathered, you can give your backup rooster away. If you give extra lighting to the hens over witner, then the roosters will be more "matey," so I'd only go with one rooster over winter if you're keeping any type of lighting (even red) on them throughout the winter. But, truly, you just never know. My chickens are always surprising me.

 

[gg706]

Thank You all for the replys and the great info! I appreciate the advice! I have Araucanas (not EE or Americanas), BLR Wyandottes, and Lavendar Orpingtons. I have I think 2 Araucana roos, 5 or 6 BLRW roos and 1 LO roo
I guess I have alot of learning to do...I didn't know I wasn't supposed to handle the roos. I have been handling all of the chicks since day one. I actually kinda like one of the roos in paticular. He is an araucana roo. HE IS GORGEOUS! And seems to have a good personality. I have seen alot of hen bullying (makes me SO mad

), sparing, and posturing going on between the roos mostly. I have never seen this Araucana roo beat up on a hen. I have only seen him spar maybe twice. However, I am worried about him turning into a jerk! I do have children age 9 and 12......I am rethinking keeping ANY of the roos. I like to socialize with the chickens and so do my kids. Raising up the chickens is a project my son and I are doing together....he LOVES it so telling him to stay out of the coop and not handle the hens is probably not going to go over well. The first place he runs when he gets off the bus is STRAIGHT to the chicken tractor to play with the chickens. I I would really enjoy watching the rooster crow and strut around the yard. But if he turned nasty I couldn't keep him. I also don't want my hens all torn up. With 1 roo to 7or 8 hens would they get all torn up?

 

[Lollipop]

Thank You all for the replys and the great info! I appreciate the advice! I have Araucanas (not EE or Americanas), BLR Wyandottes, and Lavendar Orpingtons. I have I think 2 Araucana roos, 5 or 6 BLRW roos and 1 LO roo
I guess I have alot of learning to do...I didn't know I wasn't supposed to handle the roos. I have been handling all of the chicks since day one. I actually kinda like one of the roos in paticular. He is an araucana roo. HE IS GORGEOUS! And seems to have a good personality. I have seen alot of hen bullying (makes me SO mad

), sparing, and posturing going on between the roos mostly. I have never seen this Araucana roo beat up on a hen. I have only seen him spar maybe twice. However, I am worried about him turning into a jerk! I do have children age 9 and 12......I am rethinking keeping ANY of the roos. I like to socialize with the chickens and so do my kids. Raising up the chickens is a project my son and I are doing together....he LOVES it so telling him to stay out of the coop and not handle the hens is probably not going to go over well. The first place he runs when he gets off the bus is STRAIGHT to the chicken tractor to play with the chickens. I I would really enjoy watching the rooster crow and strut around the yard. But if he turned nasty I couldn't keep him. I also don't want my hens all torn up. With 1 roo to 7or 8 hens would they get all torn up?

GG, Don't be too criticle of roosters. About 99% of them are great gentlemen after they get through the teenage boy stage when their labido is in high gear. That cockeral stage, up until about a year old, is when they are learning how to treat a lady and some are kinda rough. They do pass through this stage, though. Really I agree that the main reason for handling a rooster should be to get him out of the way if you intend to catch one of his hens. It's a sorry rooster that won't come to his ladies rescue, if she starts hollering. To eliminate most of the stress in catching a chicken, do it at night when they are drowsey and don't see well. To address your concern about them posturing and such, it's natural for pullets and cockerals to posture and play and have what is called "chick fights", which amount to nothing and will cease as they mature. What seems rough, in appearance, is normal stuff to a chicken and shouldn't be cause for concern unless you see blood, or perhaps feathers lost in large amounts. Sounds like you have made your choice for a rooster. He will probably be fine, but be aware that he has growing pains to go through. Keep a light heart and have fun. Worry will make you old.........Pop

 

[gg706]

Thanks Pop I think that is good advice. I think I am going to give him a try, and educate the kids on what I have learned to hopefully be able to keep him.