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.

 

[cren21]

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.

Thank you for your reply! I have one rooster for sure that seems to be respectful…but they are still so young, so I understand that could change. I am 80% sure about 3 more. Would you recommend that as I start now and continue to find new homes as things become more apparent, or just go with my gut and try to find new homes for the big suspects now? The 80% sure ones are the ones who have been pecking and trouncing on everybody and two of them pick on the third one. The for sure one (well almost 100% sure) pretty much keeps to himself. I’d like to figure it out as much as possible before they are all ready to head to the big coop.

 

[ChaosMom]

Thank you for your reply! I have one rooster for sure that seems to be respectful…but they are still so young, so I understand that could change. I am 80% sure about 3 more. Would you recommend that as I start now and continue to find new homes as things become more apparent, or just go with my gut and try to find new homes for the big suspects now? The 80% sure ones are the ones who have been pecking and trouncing on everybody and two of them pick on the third one. The for sure one (well almost 100% sure) pretty much keeps to himself. I’d like to figure it out as much as possible before they are all ready to head to the big coop.

I will quote our amazing resource @Mrs. K and advise that you always solve for peace in the flock. If your three troublemakers are girls after all, do you want to have three bully hens? I’d rehome now. There are bound to be takers in this year of shortages.

 

[DemeterAD9]

If you are unsure on gender then post some photos to get a second opinion. 3-5 week old chicks will scuffle a bit regardless of gender, this is especially true if they are still in a relatively small space. Once they are out in the run, if they aren’t already, the scuffles will die down a bit.

 

[ChaosMom]

If you are unsure on gender then post some photos to get a second opinion. 3-5 week old chicks will scuffle a bit regardless of gender, this is especially true if they are still in a relatively small space. Once they are out in the run, if they aren’t already, the scuffles will die down a bit.

Thanks for adding this! I had lost track of the fact that they’re still littles.

 

[Mrs. K]

I will quote our amazing resource @Mrs. K and advise that you always solve for peace in the flock.

Thank you for the lovely compliment.

My advice for first time people is that you have years to do this hobby, and it is a hobby in which birds will come and go, and as poultry keeper you will have to make this decision multiple times over the years. First timers worry that they will discard the wrong bird, or keep the wrong bird, and yes that could happen, but you will never know. This is not a hobby in which if you get it set up perfectly it will go perfectly, it really needs to be adjusted at least yearly. It should always be adjusted to keep peace in the flock.

So, as cockerels can be difficult to give away, I would start immediately. Post at the feed store, contact your local county extension agent, poultry clubs, or 4-H clubs, and on social media. Do not ask what they are going to do with them, once they are someone else's birds, that is their decision.

There is something called chicken math, 'more is better' and trust me, we have all been bitten. But actually, especially the first year, less is better. Thin out your cockerels, and I agree with the above, send all of the cockerels down the road for a couple of reasons:

• Often times, cockerels raised by inexperienced people, in flock mate only flocks do not turn out. Not 100% but definitely very often. They become aggressive to both pullets and people. If you have children under the age of six, I strongly promote this, kids can take an attack in the face.
• As stated they are ready for sex long before the pullets and can make pullets lives miserable.
• But, also if you are considering keeping one to hatch with, well pullet eggs are not good to hatch, they just are not big enough until they have been laying for several months - which would put you into winter. Wait until then to add a rooster. Roosters are easy to get, what you want is a rooster that is about a year old, and is so darn nice he has not been culled by people who would have culled him if he wasn't.

The other part of this is, if you do not fill your coop solid this year, well then you can hatch out, or add birds next year. This will create a multi-generational flock and a more natural chicken society.

It does require that you cull and hatch or add chicks. Some people do not want to do that. They want a single flock, but then all of your chickens get old all at once, eggs production drops off, and you get more disease. I like a multi-generational flock, with broody hens raising chicks in the flock, but it also means that I will butcher excess cockerels, and older hens.

So in a nutshell, get rid of all your cockerels this time around. Look to add a year-ish old nice rooster next spring. Plan to enjoy all the aspects of this wonderful hobby for years to come.

Mrs K