Help choosing flock rooster from batch of roos

[six_chooks_for_now]

Thank you all for the input - it's really helpful. I'm glad the rooster trial period is a good idea, I think it will help us narrow down our choices and also make sure we don't miss a good one. For example I thought one of the Delaware boys was pretty handsome, but we might not have tried him if the first Brahma worked out.

We are getting ready for our first butcher - but being complete newbies at that part we will probably only do 3-4 at a time, and a few weeks apart between butchers. But I do agree with @NatJ in that the sooner we can get rid of the Mr. Wrongs, we can find the Mr. Rights

 

[3KillerBs]

I want to watch this thread because this is just the sort of thing I want to do next year. (I'm hoping that all my sexed pullet chicks are actually pullets -- one of the Brahmas is suspicious).

I'm trying to come up with a list of things I want from my chickens so that I can make decisions with more objectivity than emotionalism.

I want good health, eggs (with a mix of good colors), good temperament, and colors/patterns that I find attractive. I'd like to have a few broodies, but since I want eggs I can't have the whole flock going broody for months.

A list of goals might help you sort out the candidates to try.

 

[Glennzo]

Just be mindful that some teenage roosters can be quite aggressive towards the matriarch hen, he will want to assume dominance over her. This is pretty normal behaviour but needs monitoring. It doesn’t mean that he is aggressive though. If they attack you when you enter the coop, that would be aggression.

 

[six_chooks_for_now]

Just be mindful that some teenage roosters can be quite aggressive towards the matriarch hen, he will want to assume dominance over her. This is pretty normal behaviour but needs monitoring. It doesn’t mean that he is aggressive though. If they attack you when you enter the coop, that would be aggression.

Thank you! After reading some of the other comments I realized that the Brahma's behavior was unlikely to get better and he will be going in the soup (at some point). Good to know about the matriarchal hen - she is very protective of HER hens so I will prepare myself for some scuffling as the rearranging of status happens.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would also not be too quick to make that final choice. As your cockerel mature they may change in confidence. Are you able to keep some through the winter and into next spring when hormones surge?

I had a lovely barred rock cockerel I will use as an example. He was wonderful to his flockmates, he looked out for them and took great care with them. The following spring he started to move up the rooster ranks in my flock. One day I found him pecking the old lady hens in the head, and he went that day.

I personally prefer a rooster that charms the ladies, not dominates. I don't tolerate certain behaviors here.

Most roosters take 2 years to fully mature.

My point being sometimes you don't know the true nature of a cockerel until he goes through his first adult spring. So sometimes it pays to hold onto a few extra candidates.

I personally like those that often fall on the bottom of the rooster pecking order when there are multiple in a batch. In my experiences they fit what I'm looking for in a rooster.

 

[six_chooks_for_now]

I want to watch this thread because this is just the sort of thing I want to do next year. (I'm hoping that all my sexed pullet chicks are actually pullets -- one of the Brahmas is suspicious).

I'm trying to come up with a list of things I want from my chickens so that I can make decisions with more objectivity than emotionalism.

I want good health, eggs (with a mix of good colors), good temperament, and colors/patterns that I find attractive. I'd like to have a few broodies, but since I want eggs I can't have the whole flock going broody for months.

A list of goals might help you sort out the candidates to try.

That makes sense! We had made a small list of sorts - good layers, mellow temperament (not stressy, aggressive, but also not too friendly), decent body weight for table birds. I tried to judge them based on chicken conformation like I would a horse, but really not my strong suit haha! We would always be interested in "fun" or "pretty" coloring, but maybe that is something we can work on down the road.

For now we like to enjoy watching and interacting with our birds but are a bit utilitarian. None of them are lap birds for example, but will follow us around or hang out looking for snacks if we are sitting under the tree. Our mixed birds are our best layers for size and regularity (easter egger, sapphire gem, color pack, and then maybe our buff orpington if she would quit finding places around the yard to lay in), so it will be interesting to see how crossing other genetics will effect their offspring.

You should post your Brahma on the "what sex is this" page! They were great and guessed all of my brahmas were male when I thought one might be a pullet.

 

[six_chooks_for_now]

I would also not be too quick to make that final choice. As your cockerel mature they may change in confidence. Are you able to keep some through the winter and into next spring when hormones surge?

Yes! We certainly are set up to overwinter a few and it was our intention to keep one or two as boss Bachelor (tell me if that's a bad idea..) when we bring in new cockerel growers.

I personally prefer a rooster that charms the ladies, not dominates. I don't tolerate certain behaviors here.

I think that this is really good advice as we would not like to stress our ladies out. We would just choose not to have a permanent flock rooster if there wasn't one they ultimately got along with.

My point being sometimes you don't know the true nature of a cockerel until he goes through his first adult spring. So sometimes it pays to hold onto a few extra candidates.

I personally like those that often fall on the bottom of the rooster pecking order when there are multiple in a batch. In my experiences they fit what I'm looking for in a rooster.

I think this is good advice too, in that we trial and find our top contenders but don't stress about actually choosing one until next year when they are more mature and maybe more solidified in their personalities.

 

[Folly's place]

Everything that @oldhenlikesdogs already said!
Eliminate the obvious ones soonest; the rest will have more time to develop. Life is too short to deal with human aggressive birds in the flock, and they can pass this temperament on.
My plan here is to first eliminate any who behave badly, or have physical faults. Then, I want larger rather than smaller for my dual purpose flock, and have the cockerels out with the hens (how many hens do you have, and any pullets?) and watch them grow a bit longer. Then I'd pick my best (it's still guessing!) two or three, for longer term decisions. For a breeding group, having two cockerels through the winter makes it more likely to have at least one still acceptable and alive by spring.
For a smaller group of females, it may be necessary to keep fewer males, but if possible keep two.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

This should be fun! So many choices! See how your cockerels do when they are out with the hens, and I wouldn't put only one out at a time, at least two or three (how many hens?) and let the ladies humble them a bit.
Here we have all the chicks with the adult flock much sooner, ranging together by the time the chicks are six weeks old. They stay with their hatchmates, so separate groups out there, and all the cockerels get educated by the adult hens and roosters.
Right now I've culled the April cockerels down to only five, and have two adult roosters, with forty-two hens and pullets. Having three breeding groups, not only one, has complicated things here for several years. We used to have two breeding groups, so four males. Now, it's six males. Everyone has to get along!
Mary

 

[six_chooks_for_now]

Everything that @oldhenlikesdogs already said!
Eliminate the obvious ones soonest; the rest will have more time to develop. Life is too short to deal with human aggressive birds in the flock, and they can pass this temperament on.
My plan here is to first eliminate any who behave badly, or have physical faults. Then, I want larger rather than smaller for my dual purpose flock, and have the cockerels out with the hens (how many hens do you have, and any pullets?) and watch them grow a bit longer. Then I'd pick my best (it's still guessing!) two or three, for longer term decisions. For a breeding group, having two cockerels through the winter makes it more likely to have at least one still acceptable and alive by spring.
For a smaller group of females, it may be necessary to keep fewer males, but if possible keep two.
Mary

We only have 6 hens right now. We were supposed to get more after we got the boys but there was a shortage of pullets everywhere with the covid stock piling! I was hoping we would get a pullet or two in with our boys, but they did a fantastic job of sexing all males ha! Never works in the opposite favor of getting free pullets I suppose We will probably not want more than 12 hens, so really only looking for one flock rooster. But we're open to keeping a mature bachelor rooster or two as a fallback.