Decisions on what to keep

[cren21]

New to chickens this year, but have been thinking about it for years! I have several chicks from a store and also acquired a dozen mixed straight-run chicks from a friend-of-a-friend. The store ones are about 3 weeks old. The friend ones, I was told were just a few days older, but looking at their size now, I believe she gave me the wrong hatch dates. They look to be closer to 5 weeks old. We have enough space for them at this point according to measurements.

It appears that several of the straight runs are roosters (huge bodies, bright combs, and wattles starting to come in already). I was hoping to wait a bit to see which ones for sure, but several of them are already fighting with each other. I would like to find new homes for them, but don't know which ones to sell off. I don't have a definitive answer for sure which ones are roosters, but based on what I read here, I can take a guess. I want to keep one rooster.

1. Is there a way to make the decision of which ones to find a new home for?
2. Any temperament that would make it easier?
3. Should I list them as straight runs, since I don't know for sure? Thanks for any advice!!!

 

[DemeterAD9]

Fighting amongst themselves is fine as chicks so long as there are no injuries and the bullied can get away from the bully. It is all normal pecking order behavior. Once they hit maturity at around 15ish weeks they should have an idea of who is top dog among themselves.

The problem with young roosters is you don’t know how they will turn out till about 20+ weeks or so. Some start off super sweet as chicks and love to be handled, then turn into demons once they hit puberty. They’ll harass the pullets before they are even ready for breeding and they may even start attacking you or other people. But then again, you just might get one who is pretty good even going through rooberty who will at least flirt with the girls and not force them when they are unwilling. Took me 8 bad ones (3 were REALLY bad) to get 1 really good one! I find the better rooster is one who was not coddled as a chick and who was never particularly interactive with people. One that moves away when I walk towards them but does not attack me. My current roo does not like to be pet but will take food from my hand and lead the flock to meet me when I walk over with food. We give each other space and I’ve had no issues with him. As a chick he was pretty spastic and skittish. The most aggressive I’ve seen him is the one time my little dog accidentally scared him and he did the head down neck fluffed out stance before walking off.

Cockerels mature a few weeks faster than pullets and that means they’ll be looking for love before the girls are ready for that. If you have the space, I suggest either making another pen or sectioning off part of the run to grow out the cockerels separately. That way you can raise them up a bit more before deciding who stays and who goes while keeping the girls safe. I find it easiest to do my sorting in batches. Get rid of all the ones you are certain you don’t want and keep the rest you are on the fence about. Then make your final decision later once the best rooster is apparent. As for how you make the decision, that depends on what you want. Other than behavior, do you want a pretty one or maybe one that is large and more likely to produce meaty offspring? After personality, I chose based off of body shape and weight as I want a good dual purpose flock where I can process any extra birds and get a decent carcass weight.

 

[cren21]

Fighting amongst themselves is fine as chicks so long as there are no injuries and the bullied can get away from the bully. It is all normal pecking order behavior. Once they hit maturity at around 15ish weeks they should have an idea of who is top dog among themselves.

The problem with young roosters is you don’t know how they will turn out till about 20+ weeks or so. Some start off super sweet as chicks and love to be handled, then turn into demons once they hit puberty. They’ll harass the pullets before they are even ready for breeding and they may even start attacking you or other people. But then again, you just might get one who is pretty good even going through rooberty who will at least flirt with the girls and not force them when they are unwilling. Took me 8 bad ones (3 were REALLY bad) to get 1 really good one! I find the better rooster is one who was not coddled as a chick and who was never particularly interactive with people. One that moves away when I walk towards them but does not attack me. My current roo does not like to be pet but will take food from my hand and lead the flock to meet me when I walk over with food. We give each other space and I’ve had no issues with him. As a chick he was pretty spastic and skittish. The most aggressive I’ve seen him is the one time my little dog accidentally scared him and he did the head down neck fluffed out stance before walking off.

Cockerels mature a few weeks faster than pullets and that means they’ll be looking for love before the girls are ready for that. If you have the space, I suggest either making another pen or sectioning off part of the run to grow out the cockerels separately. That way you can raise them up a bit more before deciding who stays and who goes while keeping the girls safe. I find it easiest to do my sorting in batches. Get rid of all the ones you are certain you don’t want and keep the rest you are on the fence about. Then make your final decision later once the best rooster is apparent. As for how you make the decision, that depends on what you want. Other than behavior, do you want a pretty one or maybe one that is large and more likely to produce meaty offspring? After personality, I chose based off of body shape and weight as I want a good dual purpose flock where I can process any extra birds and get a decent carcass weight.

Thanks for the quick reply and thorough answer…I appreciate it! I’m not sure in our run if we would have a great space for all the potential roosters to be separated and be happy. They do all seem to be picking on one, which is one I would have considered keeping, but now not so sure. I like your idea of separating into batches. There are a couple that seem to go around picking/pecking on all the other chicks…those are the ones I was considering finding a new home for sooner than later. I overthink most things, so this decision is no different

 

[ChaosMom]

Thanks for the quick reply and thorough answer…I appreciate it! I’m not sure in our run if we would have a great space for all the potential roosters to be separated and be happy. They do all seem to be picking on one, which is one I would have considered keeping, but now not so sure. I like your idea of separating into batches. There are a couple that seem to go around picking/pecking on all the other chicks…those are the ones I was considering finding a new home for sooner than later. I overthink most things, so this decision is no different

To add: consider unloading ALL of the cockerels this time around. Then add on next year when your girls are now hens and can smack him around if necessary.

Even better, give all the guys away now, wait a year, and look for a 1+ year old rooster who has finally developed some sense, is kind to the ladies at his current location, is loved by his humans, but they just can’t keep him.