Help! Do I have 5 RIR roosters and 1 hen?

[Mother2Hens]

We bought six Rhode Island Red chicks at Rural King at the first of March, so they are around 3 months old. We had an amazing large coop built, have enjoyed them, but we are worrying that we might have at least 2 roosters. Or maybe 5! Please see photos. Effie seems to obviously be a rooster. She crows, is the largest, and most aggressive. She has two tail feathers that flare out. Zipporah (also crows) had the same types of tail feathers until Effie pulled them out yesterday. Checkers, Rhoda, and Atilla all have thick green feathers that indicate they are roosters, but they don't crow or act aggressive. It's strange that 2 are alike, 3 are alike, and we have 1 (Nene) that is certainly a hen. If we do have 5 roosters and have to take them to a farm, how can we add 2 or 3 hens that are the same age as Nene? We are really upset because we were supposed to have pullets, and we are attached to all of them. Thank you to anyone who can advise us.

 

[bloom_ss]

I would say that yes, you do seem to have 5 cockerels and 1 pullet there. Hopefully someone else can give their opinion also since I am still not an expert at this sexing thing yet. lol So sorry you won't be able to keep the boys where you live. =( I have to re-home a roo also...my favorite Barred Rock.

 

[mi chicken]

x2

 

[chickenmaniac]

x3

 

[BlueCamas]

Yep, sorry, 5 cockerels and one pullet.

 

[carmelia]

I concur....

 

[birdpond]

It is terrible to have to give up the roos - Sorry you have to go through that - Great looking chicken housing, though! Are there more photos of it online anywhere?

 

[Mother2Hens]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. We are really sad that we will have to figure out what to do about our roosters, and we are really angry at Rural King for our so-called pullets! What are the odds that five out of six would be cockerels?! If we didn't care about them so much, I would take my husband's tongue-in-cheek suggestion and bring them to Rural King and put them on the Customer Service desk! I called a local chicken farmer (300 of another breed) today for advice. He hates Rural King. The only suggestion he could offer is to list them on the farm section of craigslist. We just don't know what to do.

About our coop . . . no I haven't gotten around to posting more photos, but I plan to. We based it on the "Florida Coop" in the "Backyard Chickens Guide to Coops and Tractors" book. (We live in Southwestern Indiana, so we have extra panels for winter). A friend who owns a small construction company had it built for us.

 

[Mariposagal]

I have seen several posts about this same problem regarding Rural King selling "hens" that turn out to be roosters. We are also victim to this. We purchased 8 hens and so far at least 1 is a rooster. Unless our hen has learned to crow! We suspect that another of our Americaunas is also a roo. It just hasn't started crowing yet, lol.

We are not allowed to have roosters so this is a definite stressor for us. We have also discussed going into Rural King and placing the rooster on the service desk and leaving. We are animal lovers and don't want to be cruel. It is a living breathing creature and it's not the animals fault. However if we had known, we would not have purchased from them. I agree with your hubby about taking them back to the store. Let them stress out about what to do with the roosters.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Yes, I haven't heard any positive comments about Rural King's handling of livestock --including turkeys. It was very disappointing to find out that we had to find homes for 5 of our RIR that we had raised since they were a week old. It was very time-consuming and stressful finding good homes and letting them go. I called a local farmer whose name I tracked down on a carton of eggs that I had purchased at a farm market. He had an invaluable tip to post the roosters on craigslist farm/garden for sale. I knew that pets could not be listed on cragislist, but this farm section opened up a whole new world. I met several nice people who either had backyard chickens or had large free range farms. Apparently roosters become more aggressive the older they get, so people like getting a younger rooster to tend to their hens. I was pleasantly surprised that I met many nice contacts in my area.

Another stressor has been reassembling a flock. We had only one RIR hen, and decided to keep the nicest RIR rooster to see if he might work out. I traded one rooster for a one year old black Jersey Giant hen and another rooster for a four month old Ameraucana hen. The Jersey Giant is ruling the roost, but she has not laid eggs since we have had her (a week). I know that she needs to adjust. Our four month old RIR hen and rooster stick together, and the Ameraucana is kind of an outcast. They all get in the coop together at night, but the Ameraucana isn't allowed on the perch. If anyone has any tips about encouraging them to become a cohesive group, please let me know. Thank you!