Good morning!
This is going to be terribly long... I hope you'll bear with my rambling. I realize I'm asking for advice/opinions, and that if I can get three people to respond, I may get four different answers.
I guess I'd just like a few chicken-people to talk this out with. I don't know any other chicken-people around here.
I'm to the point where (unfortunately) I need to choose which roosters will remain with my flock of ladies, and which will go to that Big Henhouse in the Sky. Most of them are sweet boys, but there are just too many to live peacefully together in with my girls. I've actually tried listing them on craigslist and in our local bulletin board, but to no avail. I won't be able to do it myself (they think of me as mommy and rush forward to eat treats out of my hand with goofy looks on their little chicken faces), but I've made arrangements for a friend of mine to come this weekend to do the butchering.
Now I'm faced with choosing which ones to keep. Some are not difficult choices. There is a beautiful little bantam barred cochin rooster that is MEAN... not to me, but to all the other chickens, even to those 5 times larger than he is. I have a huge SLW who has always been rather aggressive. A Salmon Faverolles rooster is mean... that's quite surprising, since all my other Faverolles boys are sweet as pie. No problem deciding that these boys will have to go.
However... Now I have three more SFs that--as I said--are sweet as pie. I'd like to keep at least one to breed with my SF hens. I also have a rather runty little SF boy named Henri who is at the bottom of the pecking order. He had problems hatching, had spraddle leg (which I fixed), and generally has had a rather rough time of it. I'd never breed him, but the poor thing snuggles rather desperately with me and falls asleep on my lap. I'd almost like to keep him as a charity case.
I have three speckled sussex roosters that are quite young, yet--about 12 weeks--and don't seem to be either particularly aggressive or sweet. They are somewhat friendly, though not snuggly like the SFs. I have speckled sussex girls of the same age, so presumably I could keep one to breed with them. The truth is, however, that as nice as the girls seems to be--they're incredibly forward and friendly, and VERY beautiful--I don't really like the breed personality as well as I do the SFs, which seem to be shier, harder to win over, but cuddlier and more tender in the end. My SFs are just darlings... and if I'm not going to breed the sussex, why keep a sussex rooster?
The other girls I have are Wheaten Ameraucanas. Unfortunately for me, I only got two of those eggs to hatch. They're both pullets, and at first I was rather overjoyed at that. Now, though, the Ameraucanas are SO FRIENDLY, that I regret not having a rooster to pair with them. These Ameraucanas are so friendly, they'll actually launch themselves at at anyone within their range of sight. My husband, who goes into the coop maybe twice a week, is showered with affection from these two. One likes to perch on my arm and stretch her neck over my shoulder to sleep while I stroke her back. In other words, in order to feed my addiction, I MUST order more eggs from the breeder this spring and hope I get a rooster to add... which is another reason, perhaps, not to keep a sussex.
I also have buff silkies. One is a definite hen. Two are roosters (most likely). One could be either, and the last is probably a hen. I would like to keep a breeding pair of these, but silkies are so hard to sex, I'm a little afraid to get rid of any too early, even though I'm 95% certain about the roosters.
I only have about 19 girls (+ or - with the Silkies being uncertain), but I have room for about twice as many. As I said, I'd like to add more Wheaten Ameraucanas in the spring. In other words, there is plenty of room in the coop. I live in a place with four seasons, and we have 45 acres. They range on 2 or 3, although there will doubtless be times in the winter when they will want to stay inside.
So... throw the opinions at me. Should I keep Henri? How many Faverolles roosters should I keep? Should I keep a sussex? What are your opinions?
Windy Ridge
This is going to be terribly long... I hope you'll bear with my rambling. I realize I'm asking for advice/opinions, and that if I can get three people to respond, I may get four different answers.
I'm to the point where (unfortunately) I need to choose which roosters will remain with my flock of ladies, and which will go to that Big Henhouse in the Sky. Most of them are sweet boys, but there are just too many to live peacefully together in with my girls. I've actually tried listing them on craigslist and in our local bulletin board, but to no avail. I won't be able to do it myself (they think of me as mommy and rush forward to eat treats out of my hand with goofy looks on their little chicken faces), but I've made arrangements for a friend of mine to come this weekend to do the butchering.
Now I'm faced with choosing which ones to keep. Some are not difficult choices. There is a beautiful little bantam barred cochin rooster that is MEAN... not to me, but to all the other chickens, even to those 5 times larger than he is. I have a huge SLW who has always been rather aggressive. A Salmon Faverolles rooster is mean... that's quite surprising, since all my other Faverolles boys are sweet as pie. No problem deciding that these boys will have to go.
However... Now I have three more SFs that--as I said--are sweet as pie. I'd like to keep at least one to breed with my SF hens. I also have a rather runty little SF boy named Henri who is at the bottom of the pecking order. He had problems hatching, had spraddle leg (which I fixed), and generally has had a rather rough time of it. I'd never breed him, but the poor thing snuggles rather desperately with me and falls asleep on my lap. I'd almost like to keep him as a charity case.
I have three speckled sussex roosters that are quite young, yet--about 12 weeks--and don't seem to be either particularly aggressive or sweet. They are somewhat friendly, though not snuggly like the SFs. I have speckled sussex girls of the same age, so presumably I could keep one to breed with them. The truth is, however, that as nice as the girls seems to be--they're incredibly forward and friendly, and VERY beautiful--I don't really like the breed personality as well as I do the SFs, which seem to be shier, harder to win over, but cuddlier and more tender in the end. My SFs are just darlings... and if I'm not going to breed the sussex, why keep a sussex rooster?
The other girls I have are Wheaten Ameraucanas. Unfortunately for me, I only got two of those eggs to hatch. They're both pullets, and at first I was rather overjoyed at that. Now, though, the Ameraucanas are SO FRIENDLY, that I regret not having a rooster to pair with them. These Ameraucanas are so friendly, they'll actually launch themselves at at anyone within their range of sight. My husband, who goes into the coop maybe twice a week, is showered with affection from these two. One likes to perch on my arm and stretch her neck over my shoulder to sleep while I stroke her back. In other words, in order to feed my addiction, I MUST order more eggs from the breeder this spring and hope I get a rooster to add... which is another reason, perhaps, not to keep a sussex.
I also have buff silkies. One is a definite hen. Two are roosters (most likely). One could be either, and the last is probably a hen. I would like to keep a breeding pair of these, but silkies are so hard to sex, I'm a little afraid to get rid of any too early, even though I'm 95% certain about the roosters.
I only have about 19 girls (+ or - with the Silkies being uncertain), but I have room for about twice as many. As I said, I'd like to add more Wheaten Ameraucanas in the spring. In other words, there is plenty of room in the coop. I live in a place with four seasons, and we have 45 acres. They range on 2 or 3, although there will doubtless be times in the winter when they will want to stay inside.
So... throw the opinions at me. Should I keep Henri? How many Faverolles roosters should I keep? Should I keep a sussex? What are your opinions?
Windy Ridge
un 
