Family ties

[mossyroo]

Just acquired 9 chicks from a local breeder that are Australorp and Aus x Lavender Orp. It remains to be seen what I will end up with sex wise. I was planning on culling down to 1 roo but was wondering if it would be a better idea to get rid of them all and bring one in from another source?

 

[Den in Penn]

There is always some concern when you are buying from a small breeder on how much they are already inbred. That aside. It really depends on what you plan to do. You can keep one to breed without any problems for a few generations. Many breeders mate parents to offspring for to help fix traits they want in the flock. Since you already have crosses there is less concern of bad traits showing up. If you want to keep it going for a while without worrying, then after a couple of years bring in fresh blood.

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters are often a crap shoot, the one you really like, the predator gets, the mean one, attacks you or yours, don't get to attached to roosters, one can ALWAYS find roosters. Some turn out fantastic, some are nightmare, and some go from one to the other in a heartbeat.

If you are just getting started with chickens, I would get rid of all of the roosters until you get some experience under your belt. Roosters can be challenging and take some experience. A lot will depend on how much space you have, and I think that roosters that grow up in a multi-generational established flock, are better roosters. The worst rooster I ever had, grew up with just flock-mates. He was the only roo, and he got bigger faster.

Mrs K