Help! Rooster troubles

[OPPT]

or who to eat!

 

[bobbi-j]

or who to eat!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

At the end of last March I hatched 12 eggs (barred plymouth rock). 11 of them have grown to adulthood. Five were roosters. We gave 2 away, and seemed to have a stable flock with 3 roosters and 14 hens. Ferdinand, the smallest, and the one with foot deformities, was dominant, but no one was too aggressive and everyone seemed to get along. Then yesterday, Big Jim and Lucky formed a partnership and began attacking Ferdinand. I thought that maybe once the coup was over and the dust had settled, that everyone would get along again, but poor Ferdinand can't even stick his head out of the coop without them attacking him. They just went after him so aggressively that he managed to fly though the hawk netting right out into the yard. What should I do? Capture Ferdinand and put him back in and hope things settle down? Leave him to his fate in the woods? (I'm fond of him; hate to do that), put the other roosters in the yard? Buy a new coop? Unbelievable. Please give me some advice!!

It would of been much better if Ferdinand had been culled as a hatchling. Any chicken with a deformity will draw persecution like road kill draws flies. Ferdinand has two such deformities. Besides his deformed foot he is also the runt of the litter.

I have often said on these pages that the pecking order is dynamic, not static. Here is the proof.

 

[OPPT]

I guess it's anthropomorphizing. I'm a physical therapist, and in the people world, it's all about integrating differently abled people. So I was always proud of Ferdinand for being top rooster even though he had disabilities. You don't have to say it though; these are chickens, not people. What is your take on who I should keep? Big Jim is the current top dog, but I sure have a soft spot for Ferdinand.

 

[aart]

Keep the one that you like best.....if they're just pets.
If you want to breed from them. keep the one that has the attributes you want to pass down.

 

[Folly's place]

x2! Ferdinand won't be a good individual to breed on, and will have problems with any other cock that comes along. He's going to have a very tough life out there, and may develop arthritis early too. Either keep only him, or only one of the other cockerels, or no males at all. Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

Keep the one with the best temperament (including his treatment of the ladies and being not at all people aggressive), and the best body.