Help me choose between Cream Legbar and Welsummer cockerel

[Weirdness555]

Hi there,

We are due to get our mini flock of about 6 hens, and I'd really like a cockerel with them to reduce arguments and just to look and sound pretty. There are chickens all around us, including 2 noisy cockerels over the road so I don't think anyone will mind a 3rd one.

The problem is I'm stuck. We know we want to get some cream legbar hens and some welsummer hens, and I'd like our cockerel to be the same breed as one of these because if we were to hatch chicks I'd like pure breeds. Both breeds will lay different coloured eggs to the rest of our mini flock (silkies and light sussexXRIR) so we'll be able to select the eggs for incubation easily either way. Also both breeds are autosexing, so we'll be able to sex the chicks at hatch with either one.

They are also both stunning looking birds.

So it all comes down to character, which will vary between individuals, so I wanted to ask if anyone had any other points to consider before I go out and buy a cockerel

If anyone has had experience with both that would be great too

Thanks BYC

 

[Pyxis]

I don't think welsummers are autosexing, as far as I know. I know they say you can tell by the crispness of the v on their heads and the amount of 'eyeliner' they have, but it's not 100%. Legbars definitely are autosexing 100% accurate, so if you want to be able to sex when they hatch, that's the direction I'd go. That said, I have a welsummer rooster and he's fantastic. Sweet, silly, and he has the best crow. He'll climb into my lap and beg me to pet his wattles if I sit down outside with the chooks. Of course, my buff orp rooster is also nearly as friendly, so I could just be how I raised them.

 

[Weirdness555]

Do you have any tips on raising them? I'm also torn between getting a day old roo like the rest of our flock (we don't have much space for introductions) and an adult because then we'd know his temperament when we got him. Will a well handled roo always grow up to be friendly, or does it depend on character as well? I wouldn't mind an unfriendly roo as long as he isn't aggressive, I can't make a case for his usefulness if he attacks people when they try to get eggs.

 

[Pyxis]

All three of my roos turned out pretty well, so I think it was their constant exposure to me at a young age. They lived in the house for two months and they saw me constantly and I treated them just as I did the pullets, no special treatment. I let them out to play when I was around and they came to recognize me as a source of good things, whether it was food, water, or playtime. They don't treat me like another rooster, which is why most other roosters attack people. They know I'm not a threat to the hens. They just realize we're different species and I'm a source of good things, not danger. I really think that it's because I spent so much time with them all. But you never know. Getting a chick is a gamble, because sometimes they decide you're a threat, or a rival, and then you end up with a rooster chasing you around the yard.

But then adult birds can be weird too. I had a nasty BO roo that moved in from the neighbors and flogged me any chance he got. I rehomed him to a person who wanted him just for breeding and didn't care. I'm told he's very docile in his new home. My aunt had a gorgeous rooster who wasn't friendly, but wasn't aggressive, that she raised in her basement. Her friend's kid came over one day and started kicking at him. After that the rooster would go for children, and then for anybody. She had to put him down.

So getting an adult rooster can be a gamble too. You just have to be careful and go for the most docile one you can find if you get an adult. Also check out the roo's father. If the father is friendly and docile, that's a good sign.

 

[Weirdness555]

Great, I'll bear that in mind. I think it may come down to which breed is around when we're looking. Also, should we get the roo before or after the pullets go out? If we got him first he'd have the run of the coop until the girls go out, if not then well have to put him into an established pecking order. I'm thinking it's better if he's in first? Or might that make him nasty to the girls?

 

[jesirose]

I'd go with Cream Legbar, they are SO pretty.

Yes, a well handled rooster can be friendly. I have one I bought from a girl who raised him by hand and you could tell she spent a lot of time with him. He lets anyone pick him up with very little struggle. I got two from a guy who just kept them outside, and he had to use a net to get them. I also have a few that are babies that I'm making sure I handle them a lot, I think it makes a huge difference.