I have been raising 9 chickens, originally supposed were all pullets, now I realize only 2 are...I have 2 Australorp pullets, 5 roosters, plus 4 Barred Rock roos...now my decision is to figure out which ones I will keep, the two pullets for certain, but which roos? Do I breed the BR to the Aust. or keep the same roos? Help...I am new to this and am not sure what to do?
I would keep an Australorp roo. Aussies are better layers than Barred Rocks, and then you can hatch purebred Aussie chicks!
The one thing that would make me keep one of the barred rocks, instead of one of the australorps, is if you are planning on a mixed flock of various breeds anyway and one of the BRs is a much better rooster. Some roosters are really great and some roosters are not, from a behavioral standpoint. They have different instincts and temperaments. If I had one that was good to the hens, watched out for the hens to keep them safe and was good with people, I would keep that one. If I had one that was rough on the hens, didn't protect them or was extremely aggressive to people, then he'd be going to freezer camp. Sometimes you want to choose based on what breed they are, sometimes on what they look like or how well they match the breed standard, but sometimes it's how they behave that makes your choice.
it kinda depends on what yuor goal is? Are you wanting to breed or are you looking to have a roo with the flock for protection? If not breeding I would keep the best behaved roo
I would only keep a roo that keeps to my basic standards... 1) Not aggressive with people. 2) Not aggressive with hens. 3) Calls hens over to food. 4) Doesn't run hens down to breed them, but instead does the little courtship dance in front of the hen. 5) Relatively gentle with the hens during breeding. If you still have good roosters from both breeds after eliminating any of them that don't meet this criteria, then I would keep an Australorp just so you can hatch purebred chicks if you want to. A Barred Rock x Australorp would also make some good dual purpose birds and they would be colored like a purebred Barred Rock, except males would be darker like a purebred BR hen because they'd only be heterozygous for barring, rather than homozygous like a purebred BR roo.
Quote:2x and I woudl pick the Aussie boy for purebred chicks. Mixed chicks do not sell well in most cases unless you are selling them as EEs (if you had an EE roo). IMO
