Help needed...which one to keep?

[gambit2178]

I have two beautiful roosters...unique in their own way, each one brings to the flock what the other lacks off. Unfortunately, it has come down to who is the alpha and who is not...The Buff Silkie is older but sweet as honey, gentle with the hens...the AOV is younger. In recent weeks he has adopted a more aggressive and dominat role, there is no fight between the two, but the younger one tends to be aggresive when doing his thing with the hens, he gets it when he wants it, as for the other rooster doesn't, he is more gentle with the hens. I like them both, but don't know if the behavior will change, I care about my hens over my roosters. What question is which rooster is better to keep in the long run based on your experiences? A more aggresive rooster or a more secure one?

 

[GhostRider65]

Keep the 1 who is nice to your girls, the other will likely not change his behavior, and keep abusing your hens...........
How many hens do you have?
maybe just not enough competition, I heard if you have room and enough hens 3 roos is better than 2 they fight less and seem to behave better..... not sure though where I read that.......

 

[flowerchicks]

That first one is beeeaaautiful

Maybe he just needs to learn the ropes.

 

[wbruder17]

Id go with the nicer one. The girls don't need to be bullied. The sweet one will do the job the same.

 

[Debbi]

I find here, that some of the younger cockerels will calm down with the girls as they get older. Much like a teenager who knows little of romance, they seem to get more "tact" with the ladies with age. I really like your AOV boy! How many girls are these two in with?? Being young, he may feel the need to hurry up with the deed in order to get more than his competitor. Have you tried putting him in another pen with a few girls of his own? That may help him to relax more..just a thought.

 

[chicmom]

They are both beautiful! I do think that the younger one will calm down....Truly, they need to "practice" alot and then they gain the experience and become more gentle.....Some don't though.....

My bantam Polish rooster, PJ was extremely rough with the girls at first, but now he's very nice with them.....

Maybe just give him some time....Since the roos get along, I'll bet he'll calm down with some time.

I know I often act quickly, and then later, I regret it.......I feel like I have to solve every chicken problem immediately! I am now learing, after four years of having chickens, to calm down a bit myself and give them more time to adjust......

Sharon

 

[gambit2178]

A thank you for each one of you and your input, it helped me alot. Originally the chickens were my ex's passion, he raised birds since he was a little boy. Great knowledge and experience, he was the one who built the coop they are in now plus the pheasant coop. I sat down and look pretty while he did all the work, and I must admit, my knowledge in building coops or woodshop is very limited. We had planned to built another coop so we could have two flocks. Long story short, an unexpected break up happened and I was left with all the birds. I fell in love with them and I learn something new about the beauty of raising poultry.
That said, I decided to build another coop, well to try and build a new coop, wish me luck, really need it, and go with the original plans.
I have a flock of 9 ladies, soon to be 10, 8 of them are 11 months, one is 7 months and the youngest is 6 months.
I'm spending more time with them, and whenever I see the younger roo misbehave, I let him know it's not ok...don't know if he understands, I think he does because he always talks back...unlike the older roo, he is just a sweet quiet fella.

Again, thank you for the input...I will keep you posted...my first attempt will be this coming Sunday, have to go buy the supplies, and that is an adventure all on it's own.

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Good luck on you new coop! Here are a few tips I learned:

1) Plan it out well, and ask questions at the lumber yard, most guys there are builders

2) Build it bigger than you thought you wanted it! Trust me, you'll see why in a few months down the road!

3) Make it so you can section it off for smaller breeding areas

4) Measure TWICE, (or three or four times!!), cut once! Lumber these days is expensive!! Have fun with it!