help me do the "Odds" math

[Egghead_Jr]

THANK YOU,

Now for my next question,

of the above breeds,

what one would be best to get in a Rooster
as in quietest,,LOL,,,nicest,,,,good temperament

If from hatchery stock it's going to come down to luck if you get good temper or an ***** that flogs you every time you bend over to change water or turn your back to leave the pen. Getting a bird from a breeder greatly increases odds of a good bird. They deal with their birds on a one on one basis and don't tolerate bad behavior. It wont be bred forward. This is not always true as some "breeders" tend to breed everything just to get out numbers with little regard for temper or even the SOP. Know your birds source and choose wisely. Many great tempered birds come from craigslist as the people can't keep cockerels or have too many. That way you get to see the bird before actually acquiring it. If any breed will do then just wait for late summer when folks are giving them away for free and find a good mannered one.

 

[Pork Pie]

gawd, i remember those days with my kids, 2 girls and 1 boy, my odds then weren't good iether
one holy terror
one that drove my hair to a snow white
one that was a sweet calm explorer

and here i thought raising chickens was going to be FUN

 

[junebuggena]

Order all pullets, at least one will be a cockerel. Brahmas and Easter Eggers tend to have higher-than-average sexing errors. Brahma roosters are usually gentle giants. Easter Egger roosters are hit or miss. Mine have been decent boys, not aggressive, but not exactly pets either.

 

[aart]

Order all pullets, at least one will be a cockerel. Brahmas and Easter Eggers tend to have higher-than-average sexing errors. Brahma roosters are usually gentle giants. Easter Egger roosters are hit or miss. Mine have been decent boys, not aggressive, but not exactly pets either.

Good advice^^^

 

[CrazyTalk]

Order all pullets, at least one will be a cockerel.

And if you don't get a cockerel, they're really easy to get - especially if you're not looking for a show quality bird. Almost everyone who hatches chicks has extra cockerels.

 

[Mrs. K]

I vote for the order all pullets too, then get a grown rooster that is nice if you don't get one as a chick.

Really there is no perfect way, and it will all work out in the end, even if it doesn't go quite to plan!

 

[aart]

I vote for the order all pullets too, then get a grown rooster that is nice if you don't get one as a chick.

Really there is no perfect way, and it will all work out in the end, even if it doesn't go quite to plan!

...and it rarely does, only thing you can really plan is to be flexible and have some options ready to go.

 

[Amina]

Here's another thought, based on you saying you don't mind selling extra chickens or otherwise culling them. If you want to be sure of ending up with one female of each of those breeds plus one rooster, you could consider ordering one extra female of each breed, and ordering a cockerel of whichever breed is most appealing to you. Then when they're a few weeks old, you'll know who's a boy and who's a girl. At that point you'd sell or give away your extras. You know you'd want to get rid of unwanted males, but you could also sell extra pullets. Keep whoever has the best personality at that point and sell the other pullet. You should have no problem selling extra pullets. If no one wants an extra male that you might get from a sexing error, then you raise him to about 12 weeks and slaughter him yourself.

It just depends on whether you'd want to go through the hassle of selling chicks or slaughtering a second cockerel, how much space you have for brooding, and how important it is to you to end up with the breeds that you want.