Choosing Mr. Right

[Taebird]

Okay... NEWBIE CHICKEN Q: So I'm trying to decide which one of the roosters I'm going to keep.... I'm not interested in hatching eggs. I also do not intend to let my chickens free graze when I'm not at home. (My flock will have approx. 6-7 chickens--- perhaps I shouldn't keep one at all?)

The two lucky candidates are: a white jersey giant x
and
a blue splash bantam chochin

So I've been reading some in the forums about desirable/undesirable rooster behaviors and characteristics, and now I am really unsure of which is the better choice.
They are 2 1/2 months old, and both crowing (pitifully).

I incubated the jersey. He is very easy to handle, and follows me around the yard like a puppy. From what I read, I should probably be curbing his desire to hop in my lap and get on my shoulder... he is just super friendly-- is this likely to turn into aggression?

The bantam cochin is not the most observant little dude, or outrageously friendly, but man, is he cute! I got him at about 3 wks. He is also very easy to handle, but I wonder if he will be a good leader for the chicken heirarchy. Nobody seems to respect him. Could his size also make him a poor choice?

The rest of the flock consists of:
2 Bantam cochins (hens)
1 Bantam Sizzle (?)
1 Silkie x (?)

1 Wyandotte (hen)
1 Brown Chicken (average sized hen)
Cuckoo Maran (possible roo)


All that being said, I really don't want to make the choice at all, but I was hoping some experieced advice might make this easier....

 

[gryeyes]

Well, there is no real, actual rule restricting a flock to just one rooster. I hear it claimed all the time, but mine is one of the flocks in which several roosters are members. One is dominant, others are "sergeants" and often develop their own favorite hens. Without fighting.

But if you MUST restrict yourself to just one roo, I would suggest you keep the JG. They are great leaders. My bantam Roos are sergeants....

 

[Taebird]

Thanks! I was under the impression they would just inevitably fight. Could my number of hens be too low for two roosters?
I am afraid I am pressing my luck in keeping just one rooster, in our close knit subdivision. Would two be worse? Or can/do surbordinate roosters leave the crowing to the alpha rooster? Sorry.... This is my first adventure in chickens...

 

[Poultry Couture]

I say keep them both if you really like them both. I have LOTS of roosters in one pen and each only have one hen and they're perfectly fine!

 

[eggorthechicken]

Yeah keep them both....the bigger may be alpha but they may do just fine. I love love love cochin roos!!

 

[Taebird]

How about with crowing? I realize that it most likely varies with roosters; but from a "noise perspective" will this be another bird to chime in when crowing becomes routine?

 

[eggorthechicken]

maybe some dont crow as much and some have crowing matches....I have a serama pair in my basement and he hears the one outside and crows back....its cute. I dont mind the crowing at all since I had a few female guinea fowl and promtly got rid of them....those are awful...I welcome the crow :0)

 

[Chambertin]

We have 3 roos in our flock of just over 20.
2 silkies and 1 Houdan. The houdan is dominant and does a good job watching the flock and is still very nice to me.
I trained him with the flip method. The two silkies are really easy going, but will get in shoving matches from time to time.
Crowing isnt much of an issue once they pass the teenage phase. Plus the silkies are really quiet crowers, at least this kind is.

No fighting is ever seen between the three in earnest (only the bumping match between the silkie brothers), but when one guy mates another's favorite girl he comes over and pecks both of them to show his displeasure.

We did have 4 roos, but the second Houdan was just a mess. Always crazy always running all over. The poor guy was so juiced up that he would constantly hump a towel we had in the kitchen.
Constant panic calling and other factors influenced us to change the dinner menu a while back.
Ever since then the whole flock is a heck of a lot happier.

So to sum it all up, what really detirmines whether to keep a roo or not is the roo itself.
If your boys act up, make soup.
The whole flock will thank you 10 times over in the end.
Plus that guy would just never have been happy. His little juice balls were about 2 times the size of normal. Poor dude.
They were so big he made our thanksgiving tom turkey look like a girl.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

You can't tell right now which rooster to keep. Your boys are too young, and you can't know their adult personalities this soon. You may not see their true personalities until they are over a year old. There are some early aggression warning signs in your Jersey Giant, but you don't know yet if he'll be aggressive. And your Cochin may mature and find his leadership qualities. Why should a hen respect him now? He's just a teenage boy to them.

If there's no need to get rid of one ASAP, don't. Wait and see. Either it will become very clear to you which to cull, or you'll find that they both get along and you can keep both. Pay attention to how they treat hens. If you have a rooster who's excessively rough, spurs hens, pulls the feathers off their heads when mating, is over-aggressive when chastising a hen, you'll know which one needs to go.

Yes, you will have more crowing with two. In fact, you may have more than double the crowing. When we just have one boy, he crows less because he doesn't have to assert himself over other males. When we introduce another rooster, it's almost like they have crowing contests! You probably won't see a lot of fighting until their blood starts to run hot in the spring. Our roos coexist beautifully until the Spring, and then we have fights. Then the boss rooster wins the fight, and everyone settles down for another year.

Yes, you can keep both if they don't fight. However, in your small flock, keep an eye out for over-breeding. Sometimes the roosters both decide on just a couple hens as the favorites, and those hens end up practically bald and skin and bones because they never get a minute's peace.

 

[Poultry Couture]

We have 3 roos in our flock of just over 20.
2 silkies and 1 Houdan. The houdan is dominant and does a good job watching the flock and is still very nice to me.
I trained him with the flip method. The two silkies are really easy going, but will get in shoving matches from time to time.
Crowing isnt much of an issue once they pass the teenage phase. Plus the silkies are really quiet crowers, at least this kind is.
No fighting is ever seen between the three in earnest (only the bumping match between the silkie brothers), but when one guy mates another's favorite girl he comes over and pecks both of them to show his displeasure.
We did have 4 roos, but the second Houdan was just a mess. Always crazy always running all over. The poor guy was so juiced up that he would constantly hump a towel we had in the kitchen.
Constant panic calling and other factors influenced us to change the dinner menu a while back.
Ever since then the whole flock is a heck of a lot happier.
So to sum it all up, what really detirmines whether to keep a roo or not is the roo itself.
If your boys act up, make soup.
The whole flock will thank you 10 times over in the end.
Plus that guy would just never have been happy. His little juice balls were about 2 times the size of normal. Poor dude.
They were so big he made our thanksgiving tom turkey look like a girl.

well, had a houdan rooster for my two houdan hens and he ran away. He NEVER mated with them! Even being a year old! I need your old houdan!