Gender Ratios Plus Docile Roosters

[lazy gardener]

I've always had great fertility with a single roo over a flock of up to 24 hens. If you have a mixed flock, and there is a particular breed you like in that flock, choose a roo to match. Or you might consider choosing a roo who will give you black or red sex links. My last roo (see avatar) was an EE. I chose him for the pea comb and blue egg genes that he would add to my flock. He produced great black sex links with pea or walnut combs that laid blue, green, or aqua eggs. My current roo is a Buck Eye. I chose that breed b/c of the pea comb, and b/c that breed is not common here in Maine. So, I'm thinking that Buck Eye chicks will sell well. He will also produce lovely little black and red sex linked chicks with pea or walnut combs. There is no way I would ever have the space or inclination to have roos to match all the breeds that make up my flock. Instead, I choose hens that will work with the genetics of the roo.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

My first question is why do you want a rooster? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. There are plenty of people on here that would not have a flock without a rooster, whether they want fertile eggs or not and whether they free range or not. There are plenty of people on here that would not let a rooster near their flock whether they free range or not. We all come up with our excuses whether we want a rooster or not but those are excuses. The only true reason is whether you want fertile eggs or not.

I also don't do ducks or geese so I'll only talk chickens. Why you want a rooster will have a lot to do with how many roosters you may want. How much room you have and how you manage them can have an effect. Each rooster has its individual personality, some can coexist in a flock while some can't. My normal recommendation is to keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That doesn't mean you are guaranteed problem with more roosters, just that it is more likely.

I don't get into one breed of rooster being more docile or aggressive because of breed. If you read through enough threads on here you will find a rooster of any breed that is tremendously docile and great but you will also find a post where a rooster of that same breed was a beast, RIR, Silkie, Buff Orpington, or anything else. You are dealing with just a few roosters, you will not have enough of any breed for averages to mean anything. There is a lot of luck in which individual you happen to get. Part of it is that a good breeder can breed aggressiveness or docility into a flock. You still get individuals but on average over time you can make a difference. Part of the problem with that is many breeders and most hatcheries don't care about those traits, they select which chickens get to breed based on other traits.

Then you get the thing that Aart brought up, nature versus nurture. How much of a rooster's behaviors are based on how they hatch and how they are brought up. A lot of experts a lot smarter than me argue about this. In my not necessarily humble opinion both play a part. Some chickens (male and female) are destined to be brutes from hatch regardless of how they are raised. Not that high a percentage but some. With most chickens nurture can have a huge effect. I'll let others discuss what behaviors affect that but since you have a history of having human aggressive roosters I'd think you should think about why you want a rooster pretty hard. I think they can sense when you are afraid of them and that can lead to aggression.

I don't know why you want a rooster. If fertility is not involved the correct answer for you may be zero. If you decide you do want one or more roosters, think about your other goals and how a specific rooster may affect that: size, appearance, or something else. It won't hurt to pick one that someone says is more likely to be docile but in my opinion that is pure luck when dealing with a small number of roosters.

Good luck and welcome, glad you joined.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice. I only wanted a rooster so I could raise my own hens and cull the roosters. I always loved my dads hens but could never be around them because the rooster hated me. He never bothered my dad I don't know if it was because he was a full grown man and I was a teenage girl or what his problem was. I always collected the eggs and he was always fine then one day he tried to flog me and after that I could even go in with him. I had to feed them in their outside pen then collect the eggs while he was outside. Then every rooster after that hated me mostly like you said because they knew I was afraid of them. I don't really care if he acts like a pet or if he loves me, I just want him to be docile enough enough that I can be around the hens whenever I want without having to constantly worry about the rooster

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

I've always had great fertility with a single roo over a flock of up to 24 hens. If you have a mixed flock, and there is a particular breed you like in that flock, choose a roo to match. Or you might consider choosing a roo who will give you black or red sex links. My last roo (see avatar) was an EE. I chose him for the pea comb and blue egg genes that he would add to my flock. He produced great black sex links with pea or walnut combs that laid blue, green, or aqua eggs. My current roo is a Buck Eye. I chose that breed b/c of the pea comb, and b/c that breed is not common here in Maine. So, I'm thinking that Buck Eye chicks will sell well. He will also produce lovely little black and red sex linked chicks with pea or walnut combs. There is no way I would ever have the space or inclination to have roos to match all the breeds that make up my flock. Instead, I choose hens that will work with the genetics of the roo.

I'm really interested in Ameracaunas and easter eggers because I like the different colored eggs for myself but I also like golden comets, black sex links, rhode island reds, and barred rocks because where i'm from you have the most luck selling brown eggs because people around here go crazy for farm fresh brown eggs. I also really like the speckled sussex I just think they're so pretty and different looking. don't know if maybe I should get a speckled sussex roo then so I could hatch pure speckled sussex chicks to keep for myself?

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I'm really interested in Ameracaunas and easter eggers because I like the different colored eggs for myself but I also like golden comets, black sex links, rhode island reds, and barred rocks because where i'm from you have the most luck selling brown eggs because people around here go crazy for farm fresh brown eggs. I also really like the speckled sussex I just think they're so pretty and different looking. don't know if maybe I should get a speckled sussex roo then so I could hatch pure speckled sussex chicks to keep for myself?

Crazy when you think about brown eggs vs white egs. Shaking my head over here. But, I know the same happens every where due to the myths of brown vs white eggs.
I don't think you would want a RIR rooster - as even the females can become aggressive especially to other breeds. As far as having all of these breeds have you thought about how you will keep them separated to keep their lines pure? Or is that not a concern for you?

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

Crazy when you think about brown eggs vs white egs. Shaking my head over here. But, I know the same happens every where due to the myths of brown vs white eggs.
I don't think you would want a RIR rooster - as even the females can become aggressive especially to other breeds. As far as having all of these breeds have you thought about how you will keep them separated to keep their lines pure? Or is that not a concern for you?

I'm not really worried about keeping the lines pure as I'm not really worried about selling chicks just eggs I'll probably keep hens for myself when I need them and cull any roosters I do like the speckled sussex chicken though and might want to keep them pure simply for myself so that I can always have them but I'm not really sure about how they are as roosters

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

And yeah I know the whole brown vs white egg thing is ridiculous but hey an egg is an egg to me so if people want to buy brown eggs then I'll raise brown egg layers doesn't make a difference to me

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I'm not really worried about keeping the lines pure as I'm not really worried about selling chicks just eggs I'll probably keep hens for myself when I need them and cull any roosters I do like the speckled sussex chicken though and might want to keep them pure simply for myself so that I can always have them but I'm not really sure about how they are as roosters

I have read about the speckled susex and the roosters can be nicer. I have also read orpington roosters are pretty chill. So much so that sometimes the ratio of rooster to hen is lower. Otherwise the job never gets done.
But, then you are always going to have the ones that don't fit the mold.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

Yeah I guess I might be over thinking it since I've had such a bad past with roosters. When I was little my dad had a fighting rooster (for no other purpose other than to simply have him) and he never bothered anyone thank goodness. I just want a roo that will let me enjoy my hens

 

[4 ever Orpington]

Hello again everyone!
I have two main questions to ask in this thread!

1.) What are good female to male ratios in a mixed flock? How many ducks should you have to a Drake? And geese to ganders and roosters to hens? There are 7 breeds of chickens that I am interested in and the hatchery I was looking at (Purely Poultry) has a minimum order of 3 each so that would make 21 hens total. How many roosters should I have for that many hens? Is one rooster fine or should I have more?

2.) What are some good breeds of roosters that are friendly and docile? I know that you need a rooster or roosters in a flock but every rooster that my family ever had when I was still living at home were mean and always tried to attack me leading to my wariness and borderline fear of roosters. So I was wondering what you guys think about breeds that make docile roosters. I've heard that Barred Rock roosters are pretty docile and easy going, is this true? And what other breed are there?

Thanks in advance for any replies guys!

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

Thank you