Choosing rooster or 2 to keep

klunderwood

Chirping
Apr 30, 2018
23
40
99
Wooster AR
Good Morning! I searched the site and read several posts about roosters, but still would like an opinion or 15 about my situation.
I have been raising chickens for 4 years. Right now I have 27 2-year-old hens. Six months ago, we had a hatch of 5 from these hens. Three of those are roosters. The alpha started crowning and mounting 1st. The Beta was soon after but is a little timider. The Delta was way slower, in fact, was one that liked to be held and carried. I thought he was a hen until the spurs nubbed out. Alpha is a little aggressive, for example, he will knock the Beta off a hen during mating, chases hens and pulls their tail feathers out for no reason I can see. A couple of times made a move toward me, but quickly backs down (or he would already be gone). Now it seems like the A and D roos are a team and will mate a hen one after the other, but still knock the Beta off if they see him mounting. During the free-range time, all 3 roos act as protectors and are good watchers. My instinct is to get of the Alpha because I am a tiny bit afraid of him coming at me and no one likes a bully. Also, the tag team thing is not good for the hens.
What do you think?
Thanks in advance
 
i tried grabbing an aggressive roo and pinning it down for about a minute. i saw video on youtube. it worked! ...after 3 tries.
I did that too. Pinned it down, wrapped the legs, hung it off the scale, noted the weight, set up the culling table, and gave it an extended vacation to freezer camp. Absolutely ZERO recidivism.
 
Six months ago, we had a hatch of 5 from these hens. Three of those are roosters.
You do not have any roosters out of these three. You have immature cockerels, each with a different level of maturity, its own stock of hormones, and its own personality. It's a difficult age to determine what their personality will be when they finally mature. As mentioned, a more dominant boy can affect how a less dominant bird acts. Behaviors can change as they mature, for the good or the bad.

What are your goals as far as these boys? Why do you want a rooster? To make a good choice I think you need to know what you want. That can still be challenging with cockerels but it gives you a better chance. Do you plan to hatch chicks? If you do, which cockerel gives you the best chance of getting chicks that you want? If one of these ticks more boxes for what you want that might help you narrow it down.

My instinct is to get of the Alpha because I am a tiny bit afraid of him coming at me
If you are afraid of him he can likely sense that. That could make him more likely to go after you. In this case your behaviors may factor into which rooster. I've had a few that might test me just when the hormones hit and work out OK if they back down, but that doesn't always work. Don't tolerate a human aggressive cockerel or rooster. If you are a bit afraid of him I'd get rid of him now before that behavior carries over.

My suggestion is to eliminate any you can now based on your goals or behaviors. That's always my first step in narrowing it down. Then observe and see what you see. Leaving just one with the flock while the others are locked up might be instructive but they are still juveniles. Behaviors can change as they mature. Like I said, this is not always real easy.
 
Sourland provides solid advice. Anytime a bird is removed, pecking order may change, and behaviors (particularly when an Alpha is removed) may alter when birds who were previously "kept in check" by the more dominant bird have a chance to again express themselves.

That said, fear of a chicken is never a good thing. I'd sort out Alpha with the expectation of culling, and wait to see if bad behaviors arise in Beta or Delta. Good news is that older hens *tend* to be less tolerant of bad behavior from young roos, and often help to moderate poor behavior even when an alpha is removed.

You should also give thought to end goals. I have a project, and slow to maturity is NOT a desired trait for me. Delta would already be in my soup pot.
 
Can you say more about monitoring my behavior?
I make sure they are both kind of afraid of me and also know I won't hurt them.
I only handle them enough so they know they won't die if I touch them. I do this at night off the roost and use my soft voice with them, just grab them handle them a bit touching them all over, then put them back on the roost. I also handle the females the same way and more often, so both he and they know I won't hurt them. I also spend a lot of time walking thru the coop and run, never getting out of their way but walking 'thru' them. I don't try to touch or handle the birds in the daytime, I leave them to be chickens. Hand feeding can help too. It's most important to be calm and cool while around the birds, if you are nervous/fearful, it makes them nervous and more likely to panic or attack.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom