- Mar 31, 2009
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I have 9 roosters in my flock of 20 birds.
I have 2 German Spitzhaubens, 2 Yokohamas, 1 banty blue rose comb, 1 RIR banty, 1 mottled houdan, 2 that are either speckled sussex or spangled OEG (though one of them does not have dark green feathers in the tail, and may be just a mean hen).
They are all now 16 weeks old, so I think it's time to either re-home or make soup.
I'm going to try to keep 4 roos and see how it goes before I will dwindle them any more. I'm really quite attached to them.
What I would like to keep is roos that will be good for the flock. But how do you pick which one to keep and which one to nix?
So far most of them really don't act like a proper roo should. The only one that stays with the hens all the time is the Mottled Houdan. The banty blue rose stays with his blue rosecomb hen wherever she is, and doesn't seem to pay attention to anyone else.
One of the speckled sussex thinks he is a cat and stays on the porch all the time with the cats, while the other one (possible hen) has been banned from the flock and the coop by the german spitzs.
The germans, the yokohamas, and the rir red I call the backstreet boys because they are always together and in the opposite end of the acreage not really with the hens, until evening. Otherwise they do their own thing. But when they are with the hens, they abuse the mottled houdan roo.
The mottled houdan is my favorite, but i think he's at the lower end of the pecking order, which might mean he's a wuss and no good for rooing. But then if I were to get rid of some of those that torment him, he might step up to the plate. The sussex are big bullies, and they're asking for the butcher block.
The germans are clearly the dominant pair, but how do you determine if they are good roos? Just because they are dominant?
The banties don't seem to mind their place in the pack, but how good are banty roos to watch over standard hens?
I'm quite torn as to which one to get rid of!
Any help?
I have 2 German Spitzhaubens, 2 Yokohamas, 1 banty blue rose comb, 1 RIR banty, 1 mottled houdan, 2 that are either speckled sussex or spangled OEG (though one of them does not have dark green feathers in the tail, and may be just a mean hen).
They are all now 16 weeks old, so I think it's time to either re-home or make soup.
I'm going to try to keep 4 roos and see how it goes before I will dwindle them any more. I'm really quite attached to them.
What I would like to keep is roos that will be good for the flock. But how do you pick which one to keep and which one to nix?
So far most of them really don't act like a proper roo should. The only one that stays with the hens all the time is the Mottled Houdan. The banty blue rose stays with his blue rosecomb hen wherever she is, and doesn't seem to pay attention to anyone else.
One of the speckled sussex thinks he is a cat and stays on the porch all the time with the cats, while the other one (possible hen) has been banned from the flock and the coop by the german spitzs.
The germans, the yokohamas, and the rir red I call the backstreet boys because they are always together and in the opposite end of the acreage not really with the hens, until evening. Otherwise they do their own thing. But when they are with the hens, they abuse the mottled houdan roo.
The mottled houdan is my favorite, but i think he's at the lower end of the pecking order, which might mean he's a wuss and no good for rooing. But then if I were to get rid of some of those that torment him, he might step up to the plate. The sussex are big bullies, and they're asking for the butcher block.
The germans are clearly the dominant pair, but how do you determine if they are good roos? Just because they are dominant?
The banties don't seem to mind their place in the pack, but how good are banty roos to watch over standard hens?
I'm quite torn as to which one to get rid of!
Any help?
