Colorado

[krcchickens]

So guys I have a mixed flock. I'm CONSIDERING getting a rooster. If I do what breed would you guys suggest. This is what I have now, all pullets.
3 Easter Eggers
1 blk Austrlorp
1 Buff Orpington
1 Speckled Sussex
1 Barred Rock
1 partridge Plymouth Rock
2 golden laced Wyandottes
1 Rhode Island Red
1 silver laced Wyandotte

 

[Denverchickee]

Hello fellow CO chicken friends!
Opinion please. I'm supposed to have a hen but I'm pretty sure I just saw "her" trying to mount another. 17 week old Cochin. This chicken seems gianormous! But maybe cuz I have a bantum Cochin?

Thoughts on this pic?

Maybe this pic is better

 

[Denverchickee]

My beautiful evening! How about yours?

 

[suncatcher]

Troche, I can so relate to you. We had pipes burst at 3am during a very cold snap this past winter, minus six degrees outside, dogs started barking, and I could hear water gushing, went in the bathroom and it was like a waterfall on the wall!!! Broke from the shower. It took a long time for that floor to completely dry!!! But, it did dry eventually.

Ehook, that is a good size cockerel on his way to becoming a huge rooster! I would say either way you would be fine.

Pfunk, I thought it was you..... Well, that may be why the site is slow, just a little incentive to up ones membership!!!! Hey, I can stay strong, I had dial up until last year! LOL This is nothing!!!

Mtn Marge, We had it in the 80's today, not hot, but hot enough!!!!!! Yep, we still have towns run by the Good Ole Boy mentality, can't say I like it, but it is what it is. Why would Phx close their airport?? Too hot on the runways?

I have read good things on the Red Rangers and the Freedom Rangers.

 

[suncatcher]

My beautiful evening! How about yours?

Beautiful here too. Actually this was last night, but I just downloaded it tonight.

 

[suncatcher]

So guys I have a mixed flock. I'm CONSIDERING getting a rooster. If I do what breed would you guys suggest. This is what I have now, all pullets.
3 Easter Eggers
1 blk Austrlorp
1 Buff Orpington
1 Speckled Sussex
1 Barred Rock
1 partridge Plymouth Rock
2 golden laced Wyandottes
1 Rhode Island Red
1 silver laced Wyandotte

Do you want to raise chicks in the future? You might want to get a rooster to match your favorite chicken breed so you can do this.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Well the Cuckoo Marans looks like this:


The other two are Buff Brahma (late maturing) and Partridge Rock (I think average maturing)

Nice looking girl! I ordered 2 Silver Cuckoo Marans this spring (along with 6 other chicks) one arrived very weak and didn't make it through her first night and I'm becoming more and more convinced that the other is actually a rooster. He's much lighter than your girl (which I understand is one of the ways to tell) and he's also much larger than my other pullets of the same age (7 weeks)...any chance you are interested in a Roo?

 

[krcchickens]

But

Do you want to raise chicks in the future?  You might want to get a rooster to match your favorite chicken breed so you can do this. 

they are all my favorite!! lol were interested in adding a few new ones a year

 

[samsr]

So guys I have a mixed flock. I'm CONSIDERING getting a rooster. If I do what breed would you guys suggest. This is what I have now, all pullets.
3 Easter Eggers
1 blk Austrlorp
1 Buff Orpington
1 Speckled Sussex
1 Barred Rock
1 partridge Plymouth Rock
2 golden laced Wyandottes
1 Rhode Island Red
1 silver laced Wyandotte

I really like my leghorn. He is quite gentle with the hens and doesn't come after the family. I had a Buff Orpington that would attack anything that moved. The rest of my family terrified of him until we got rid of him. He went to freezer camp at chicken fest this spring.

 

[Pozees]

So guys I have a mixed flock. I'm CONSIDERING getting a rooster. If I do what breed would you guys suggest. This is what I have now, all pullets.
3 Easter Eggers
1 blk Austrlorp
1 Buff Orpington
1 Speckled Sussex
1 Barred Rock
1 partridge Plymouth Rock
2 golden laced Wyandottes
1 Rhode Island Red
1 silver laced Wyandotte

It depends on your reasons for wanting a rooster. If you mainly want a flock protector, enjoy hearing them crow, and don't need it to be one of the breeds you already have, I would look for one that is old enough to have shown he is gentle with people. That doesn't always mean one that has been handled a lot, in fact that's sometimes a bad thing, as they can be bolder with people than they should be. A rooster should lead his flock, but be submissive to humans.

As a general rule, getting a rooster from someone who breeds with a purpose, rather than a hatchery oops, is more likely to result in the temperament you want. Breeders usually won't tolerate bad temperaments in their males, they are too much trouble to manage and create chaos in the flock. Hatcheries just want fertile males with high production females. There are many hatchery males who turn out fine, but honestly, there are plenty of nicely bred roosters out there that have minor flaws when considering the Standard of Perfection who will make excellent flock members. I know Wendell (wsmith) will have extra Dominique males later in the year, I have extra Speckled Sussex cockerels and an extra Egyptian Fayoumi cockerel that I already know I won't be keeping, odds are Mayah (coloradogal) has extra males of varying breeds on hand she would be happy to part with, and though we are all a bit far for you, I mention us as examples of people with availability of nice males that are not much different in age from your girls.

If you specifically want a rooster that will sire chicks that are good egg layers, lay colored eggs, or are going to be better birds to process for eating, you can narrow your list by choosing breeds better suited to those purposes. You might just want something that's small and cute, or has feathered legs, or adds color to the flock, there are many possibilities for you.

It sounds like you are still in the hmmmm stage, so as you consider various aspects you can list breeds you may be interested in here in case anyone wants to weigh in with their own experiences and availability. You can even just say, if I want to achieve X, what are breeds that might help me do that?

We all love to talk chicken, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts on this topic