He is attacking my son! (was: Help me choose a rooster)

[Hope119]

I am changing the title to reflect my last post. Please, give me some ideas

We hatched 24 chicks, we thought 9 were hens and the rest - roosters. Now turns out that one of the hens... well, does not look like a hen anymore and he is the only one left from the farm eggs (there were 3 total, 2 went to freezer among 7 we processed), the rest of the flock is from my friends', so they all are brothers and sisters, all have the same father and some (we don't know which) are brothers and sisters by both parents. Their father was also a brother to their moms. Asfaik, their grand parents were from a hatchery and therefore, hopefully, not related to each other.

Here is my dilemma:
we want to eventually be able to hatch our own eggs. So I am thinking that keeping that "farm" rooster will reduce the chances for chicks to have birth defects, since their father would not be related to all the moms. He is of the kind like shown on pictures here https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=918825, we don't have others of this kind. On the other hand, there is another rooster that we like better - although he (unlike the farm one) was many times seen wanting to mate/mating, and he can crow a lot, he in general seems to care for hens better and also a better looking one (with smaller comb, which will have smaller the chance of frost bite). We have not heard the farm one crow, but that is probably until he is alone in the flock.

How big are chances to have deformed chicks if we keep the second rooster, tightly related to all the hens?

Another question, OT this time... we are in NY and the days are colder and shorter... our chicks were hatched around April 23. Is there still chance that they will start laying this year? Can the reason for not laying be that there is the same number of roos as there is hens, meaning way too many roos? I am thinking to buy 2-3 laying hens to add to our flock, so we have at least some eggs over the winter.

don't have the current pics, but these are both roosters when they were younger, about 2 months ago http://picasaweb.google.com/1034166...nGqM_o7wE&feat=directlink#5503280811473991794

 

[ZuulLanceMaster]

ok, i'm confused w/the lineages. the nicer one is the uncle and the father? usually i'd choose the nicer one, but that's a whole lot of inbreeding!
how many hens do you have? are they pets? are there wild animals that the rooster would have to protect the hens from?

 

[gryeyes]

I think you're okay to keep the rooster you'd like to keep (the "family reunion date") instead of the "farm" rooster if you add some other bloodline later on into the mix, but inbreeding is one of the ways breeders improve certain features. The usual concern is not that you will end up with "deformed" progeny, but that you may pass on "undesirable" traits.

Inbreeding isn't the same sort of problem with chickens as it is with mammals, especially human beings.

Someone really involved with genetics and poultry breeding may have other information to support or disagree with my statement.

 

[Hope119]

Quote:
The nicer one is a brother to all 8 hens

. And their parents were also brother and sisters.

Yes, there are predators and they are free-ranged.
They are pets to some extent... you don't normally eat your pets and I have one cooking on the stove right now

, but we are caring for them like for pets, they are on organic feeds, I soak grains for them, we feed them the best kitchen scraps, all 24 have names (well, now there are only 16 left and 7 of them have to go too), etc.

Thanks for all replies!

 

[Hope119]

That one we plan to keep is bothering my 2yo son. Dh said this morning the roo was circling around ds, like wanting to do something. And in the afternoon when ds and I went to feed our chickens and I turned around to pour fresh water, I think the roo has attacked ds. Ds started crying, I saw dirty marks on his hands (the roo made them somehow, but I don't know how and I did not see any blood) and ds was saying that the roo pecked him. I don't really know what happened, but ds was really upset and I would love to find out how I can stop that roo's behavior in the future. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Chicken Chat]

You have to show your rooster that you are the alpha or he will not respect you. I had a problem with one of my silkie roos, beautiful but a bad attitude. He would try to attack me even before I got into the gate and when I did, he would continue his attack, very hateful. On several occasions, he drew blood. To look at him today, you would call me a liar. He dances for me, allows me to pet him and hold him, and if any of the other boys act up and try to challenge me, he always comes to protect me and corrects the naughty roo. He doesn't even peck my hand when I extend it to him now, which is saying a lot.
What I did was every time he attacked me, I would kick him off me, mock chase him, and pick him up everyday and carry him like a baby. They have to know you mean business and that you will not tolerate bad behavior.

 

[Hope119]

I did kick him and hit him a few times after he attacked my son - I was really mad. But if *I* do it (catch, hold, etc..), would he stop attacking a 2 yo? My 2 yo won't even be able to hold a rooster even if I catch and give him to my son.

 

[speckledhen]

Inbreeding is not usually much of an issue with chickens. In fact, to breed father to daughter and granddaughter is called linebreeding, a perfectly acceptable practice. Hatchery birds are not likely related anyway.


ETA: NO rooster should be around a small child, even if you trust him. They react differently to little kids than adults.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Your son's eyes. Protect your child. My youngest child has to wear sunglasses in the chicken pen. Don't laugh! I have a lot of roosters!

Roosters are unpredictable, and I have had a roo that drew blood on my youngest child, then tried to kill me. We put him down.

Don't let your child around the roo unless you are ready to attack the roo at any moment. You can try to retrain your roo, but don't wait too long....

Yazzo's thread on roosters:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/fo...11&PHPSESSID=2e3cad39c1bfa0c116a0bb60013f4c44

 

[Chicken Chat]

If you are really concerned, you could wait until your little guy is older and bigger before entering the chicken pen with you or when he is in the pen with you to keep him very close, so that when the rooster tries anything, you can immediately correct him. You may be able to train your rooster, but if he still tries to attack your son, you might want to rehome him. There are too many nice roos to have to live with a mean one.