Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[SimpleJenn]

Good news! I emailed him and he got back to me saying that roosters are allowed in rural residential zones!

Now to finish up the run, build or buy a larger coop, and then hopefully add a rooster to the flock, maybe next year! Well... Probably a chick that will grow into a rooster.

Does anybody have any recommendations for roosters? Any certain breed(s) that you've found to be the best? Breeds I should stay away from?

Now I'm getting excited

I would be happy to give you one of my meatbird boys if you want one now. Or give you a boy in spring if you want a half polish boy.
Polishes have a reputation for being docile, marans are generally people safe, cochin are friendly, and legbars are good protectors.
Also I will not be offended if you go with something else haha. You just sound as roo crazy as me and I wanted a boy soooo badly!

 

[SimpleJenn]

I have a friend who says when her family settles on getting chickens she wants a Versace son or daughter. I told her there might be a line!

Speaking of, he is tidbitting...he runs off with the food to the smaller run and tidbits there so he won't be swarmed. Smart boy

 

[rural mouse]

I have 2 SLW, 2 BSL, and a mystery chicken (probably some type of RSL)

I have a couple breeders in mind to check out when the time comes!

Based upon those breeds, any wyandotte or any breed the sex links come from should be sized about right.

 

[Logar]

I have 2 SLW, 2 BSL, and a mystery chicken (probably some type of RSL)

I have a couple breeders in mind to check out when the time comes!

what about a standard old English game? they aren't too large (good as sex links can to be smaller and be weaker as they age), are very intelligent, tend to be friendly from what I have seen, and in my humble opinion are awesome. I want one so bad. A lot of the other gamefowl breeds would work decent just may not be quite as good for colder climates and tend to be harder to find.

 

[TOMTE]

Depends upon what you need AND size of hens. Roosters are larger than the hens of the same breed. If you have 1 small hen and several large hens, the small hen will get squished with a rooster of the same breed as one of the large hens. If you have all large hens, a small rooster is going to struggle a bit to get the job done. If you're in hawk high ways, an alert bird is wise, but if you've got smallish space, an alert bird (also usually means ACTIVE) may not be such a good choice.

We live on about 2 acres, half open and half wooded, with a LOT of predators (MANY hawks during the day, raccoons, possums, and probably foxes at night). I definitely want a rooster who will be alert, even if that means a lot of noise

I would be happy to give you one of my meatbird boys if you want one now. Or give you a boy in spring if you want a half polish boy.
Polishes have a reputation for being docile, marans are generally people safe, cochin are friendly, and legbars are good protectors.

I'll have to ask my dad about that! He's iffy on having a rooster... I'm trying to sway him. But if you'd be willing to gift us one instead of having to buy one (we are very low income), that might be the push he needs...

The only issue right now is that we only have one coop so idk how housing and introductions would work... And the coop we have is small for the 5 chickens we have already, so then I worry about fights over coop space if we add another.

 

[featherhead007]

I have 2 SLW, 2 BSL, and a mystery chicken (probably some type of RSL)

I have a couple breeders in mind to check out when the time comes!

If you have 2 SLW’s and 2 BSL’s
Possible RSL, shouldn’t you keep it on the QT, or maybe RSVP a response from the breeder? Hopefully they are BFF’s

 

[rural mouse]

what about a standard old English game? they aren't too large (good as sex links can to be smaller and be weaker as they age), are very intelligent, tend to be friendly from what I have seen, and in my humble opinion are awesome. I want one so bad. A lot of the other gamefowl breeds would work decent just may not be quite as good for colder climates and tend to be harder to find.

Something to keep in mind: originally bred for the cock fights.

Could be great, could be terrible. (But that holds true for ANY rooster). Also, make sure you read (repeatedly) @Shadrach article Understanding Your Rooster. Pay particular attention to how NOT to handle the ladies around the roo.

 

[SimpleJenn]

We live on about 2 acres, half open and half wooded, with a LOT of predators (MANY hawks during the day, raccoons, possums, and probably foxes at night). I definitely want a rooster who will be alert, even if that means a lot of noise


I'll have to ask my dad about that! He's iffy on having a rooster... I'm trying to sway him. But if you'd be willing to gift us one instead of having to buy one (we are very low income), that might be the push he needs...

The only issue right now is that we only have one coop so idk how housing and introductions would work... And the coop we have is small for the 5 chickens we have already, so then I worry about fights over coop space if we add another.

Absolutely. I think a legbar or olive egger(maransxamericana) would be a good lookout, active and protective.
I am not a good person to ask about introductions, I had them in sight but seperated (so I could check them over) during the first day then popped them into the coops at bedtime.
A rooster I believe will have to prove himself to the hens if he's introduced as an adult?

And yes, Shadrachs article on roosters is SO helpful. My girls are mostly just given chest or wing scritchies now and Ric Flair gives me a look if a hen squats. I bet if I stroked her then he would dislike it!

 

[rural mouse]

We live on about 2 acres, half open and half wooded, with a LOT of predators (MANY hawks during the day, raccoons, possums, and probably foxes at night). I definitely want a rooster who will be alert, even if that means a lot of noise


I'll have to ask my dad about that! He's iffy on having a rooster... I'm trying to sway him. But if you'd be willing to gift us one instead of having to buy one (we are very low income), that might be the push he needs...

The only issue right now is that we only have one coop so idk how housing and introductions would work... And the coop we have is small for the 5 chickens we have already, so then I worry about fights over coop space if we add another.

Adding a roo tends to work differently from adding a hen to a group of hens. Will there be a fight? Maybe....especially if the ladies are over a year old and he takes one look and tries to mate. It is equally possible they will circle around, eyeing each other and decide he's perfect.

If there is a spat, it shouldn't go to "I'm gonna kill you". Rather should settle into a respectful distance.

 

[RoyalChick]

Your hens seem to like the foliage/arbor .
Our first flock (2011) would sit under the climbing rose bush that was intertwined in the chainlink fence when I bought the property. Later the chainlink got replaced by block wall so the rose is gone now.
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We had to remove the rose bush & erected a popup canopy for chicken shade. (2011)
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I think my chickens like supervising. They don’t trust me to do a good job unless they keep an eye on me. And to be fair it is tricky picking which shoot to tie and predicting what the shrub will do next. It is a fun puzzle to solve and I appreciate all their advice.