"he or a "she"? We have 2 birds in question...

[pkupchk]

It sound like this is your first experience with chickens and with 18 hens, you can be getting
16-18 eggs a day when they start laying and through early summer. If you planning of keeping these birds, long term, they will need a rest to molt (late summer) and get ready for laying in the spring.
If you're keeping your hens long term, rest/molt will help keep them in relatively good production for several years. On keeping a rooster, just remember that when you're hatching your own chicks, you're going to hatch chicks that will be "straight-run" about 50-50 male/female and you'll have to eat of sell your young roosters. Also, young birds you raise as "replacements" need to be introduced to the rest of your flock carefully without problems. If your flock is mostly free ranging it's not as big a deal. In hatching your own, another issue is artificial incubation, which there is a wide range of
learning curves to getting a good hatch. A broody hen and 8-10 eggs might be a useful way to start if you go the "raise your own" route, and the kids would really enjoy the experience. Good luck.
Phil

Thank you for the info. We have incubated eggs and raised the chicks for a few months in my classroom (in previous years) but we ultimately ended up donating them to friends. We wanted to start our own flock this year so we opted to buy day old chicks and will also be hatching more eggs soon for classroom purposes. Our plan is to keep the chicks we want and donate the rest but we hadn't planned on having a rooster in this first flock because we purchased all females from the hatchery. I appreciate all the insight you have offered thus far.

 

[The Golden Egg5]

We have a large family (7 kiddos at the moment) and we will be sharing eggs with my parents so we were wanting a lot of eggs. Can I ask if there is a practical purpose for keeping roosters if we aren't wanting to incubate eggs and hatch new chicks? We will plan to add more babies when our hens start to age but we weren't planning to right now.  

Roosters provide the hens with protection and also can keep them from fighting too much.

 

[Cel45]

Yep, both cockerels

 

[donrae]

Since you're fairly new to birds, and have littles, and didn't want roosters in the first place, I'd say get rid of them. I'd start looking for new homes now, before you have more feed invested in them.

Roosters and kiddos don't always mix well. Hormonal birds don't like sudden movements, loud noises, unpredictability. And we know children NEVER have any of those traits

.

If, in a year or so, you're more comfortable with your flock and want to add a rooster, there'll be ample opportunity.

 

[pkupchk]

Since you're fairly new to birds, and have littles, and didn't want roosters in the first place, I'd say get rid of them. I'd start looking for new homes now, before you have more feed invested in them.

Roosters and kiddos don't always mix well. Hormonal birds don't like sudden movements, loud noises, unpredictability. And we know children NEVER have any of those traits

.

If, in a year or so, you're more comfortable with your flock and want to add a rooster, there'll be ample opportunity.

I appreciate your feedback. I think that is the route we are wanting to take right now.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with donrae. Plus hens seem happier without a rooster harassing them.

 

[BantamLover21]

Like other members have said, you have two cockerels (one RIR and one BR).

Agreed