How to choose culls?

[PhiberOptikx]

I am curious to get everyone's opinion on how they choose which birds to cull. I purchased 26 straight run birds anticipating some roosters for the freezer. I plan to hold on to two roosters but am stuck on how to decide which two. My first cull will be purely visual. But after narrowing it down I don't know what factors should go into my final selection. Mathematically I should have 13 hens. I want to keep two since they will be 90% free range and am anticipating losing one. My concern though is that I will narrow it down to two and then one will attack me and be forced to go into the freezer. Should I keep three cockerels until fully mature and then eliminate one? I just don't want to get rid of too many and have something happen. So, basically my ramble can be narrowed down to "How do you decide which rooster, and how many should I set aside?"

 

[Ravynscroft]

I start with Stew, Soup and Casserole, lol...

Really, it comes down to what you want in your flock... looks is a factor, but I base mine on temperament first... the first bad mannered or aggressive boy becomes Stew first and go from there... I wait on culling til they start showing their temperaments... I would keep 2, but you might be able to keep 3 if you have an exceptionally docile boy...

 

[PhiberOptikx]

At what age do they typically start to show their "true" temperament? I have read that they don't usually get too hormonal until after about a year. So should I keep 3-4 until they are a year and then choose from that? or will they be trying to kill each other before then? Also, they will all have been raised together so that should help slightly.

 

[junebuggena]

Some boys will start showing aggression towards people before 6 months old. Those should be culled. Any rooster that is picking so many fights with the other birds that there is no peace in the flock should also be dealt with. If you do only end up with one boy with the looks and temperament to keep, you can always hatch a few eggs and raise one of his sons. Temperament is one thing, when it comes to chickens, that is usually inherited.

 

[steve232]

Don't think I would worry too much about not having a rooster. At least in this area its no problem finding a rooster pretty cheap of most any kind so if something should happen to your roosters and you had to get another one at least you would know it was from a different blood line.

 

[donrae]

Don't stress so much about picking the perfect rooster. If you free range, chances are good you're going to lose a bird from time to time, hopefully that is the rooster you lose instead of a hen. Replacement roosters are a dime a dozen so picking up another one isn't much of a challenge.