Keeping a rooster with a small backyard flock?

[Egg Snatcher]

I know I am getting a little ahead of myself with this post, but I am a planner! We have six chicks in the brooder, they will be four weeks old next Tuesday. They are all different breeds, from Murray McMurray and were supposed to be hens. We have suspicions of our golden laced Wyandotte being a little roo. Wing feathers coming in more slowly, only one with a short stubby tail, and only one with bright red comb area forming. I know that none of this means for sure. However, just so we can be thinking ahead and whether or not we will need to rehome, I would love to hear about people keeping a rooster with a small backyard flock? We have had chickens before, but never a rooster. I have done some research and seem to get conflicting info. I suppose much will depend on the temperament, although again that is part of my planning, if there’s any chance that this is a Roo and that we would keep him, I would think we should be spending extra effort socializing and handling him every day? We have four kids, and my daughter likes to handle the chickens anyway...
Any info you can provide would be helpful. Can he stay in the coop with them? Are we destined for “over-mating”, which sounds horrible to me, with a 5 to 1 ratio? We will just be eating the eggs, so not worried about the fact that the breedings wouldn’t make for good chicks since they are all different breeds. Thank so much!!!
This goes with my post

 

[aart]

Aart, have you ever kept Cochin? I haven't. Can they really not fly? Inquiring minds want to know. I cannot come up with any rational for a roost height of 0 to 2 feet for them. It badly fails the common sense test if they can fly.

Had a couple Cochin mixes when I first started.
Yes, they could fly.
Got rid of them because I didn't like the feathered feet, too messy in my climate.

Wonders who did the 'research' to compile that chart?
Kinda like someone who's never had chickens designing a coop...a lot of that out there too.

 

[Folly's place]

Years ago a Jersey giant breeder told me that her very large birds could injure themselves flying off roosts higher than about 2'. The Cochins a friend has, and the bantam Cochins i had, were all hatchery stock, not huge, and they have no problems getting up on higher perches, and can fly fairly well.
I also have no idea where that roost recommendation comes from!
Mary

 

[NatJ]

I'm guessing that chart is what works for their hatchery.
Possible explanations for the strange-looking numbers:

Mating ratio-- when they add more hens to the of that breed pen, fertility goes down. (But they don't want to feed any more roosters than necessary, so they use the fewest that will give them fertile eggs in their conditions.)

Roost height-- they probably had a Cochin jump down and break its leg, or maybe Cochins getting recurrent bumblefoot, so they lowered the roost, and kept lowering it until they quit having problems.

I'm puzzled why bantam Cornish would need a lower roost than standard-sized Dark Cornish, given that the bantams are smaller and lighter weight!

 

[aart]

I'm guessing that chart is what works for their hatchery.

Makes 'em look good..... to those who don't know any better.
Trips my 'false info marketing' trigger, big time.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Wow, okay thanks so much everyone, this is very helpful!! So we definitely won’t try to over socialize and handle him/her just in case. Our youngest, twins, are about to turn four. So not tiny toddler’s but still pretty young. I definitely don’t want a bird that I have to worry about hurting my kids. Maybe for now I will just hope and pray that it is actually a hen! Stubby tail, reddish comb area and slow wing feathers are not definitive, right??
it is great to hear that some of you have had positive roo experiences though!!

I agree that it is a crap shoot. But, after watching a past rooster of mine attack a 5 year old and draw blood (which was certainly his last act) I would say dispatch or give away once you prove he’s a roo. If you weren’t planning on this and you have your hands full with other projects I may suggest you wait until your kids are older and your roo project can be center stage.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I know I am getting a little ahead of myself with this post, but I am a planner! We have six chicks in the brooder, they will be four weeks old next Tuesday. They are all different breeds, from Murray McMurray and were supposed to be hens. We have suspicions of our golden laced Wyandotte being a little roo. Wing feathers coming in more slowly, only one with a short stubby tail, and only one with bright red comb area forming. I know that none of this means for sure. However, just so we can be thinking ahead and whether or not we will need to rehome, I would love to hear about people keeping a rooster with a small backyard flock? We have had chickens before, but never a rooster. I have done some research and seem to get conflicting info. I suppose much will depend on the temperament, although again that is part of my planning, if there’s any chance that this is a Roo and that we would keep him, I would think we should be spending extra effort socializing and handling him every day? We have four kids, and my daughter likes to handle the chickens anyway...
Any info you can provide would be helpful. Can he stay in the coop with them? Are we destined for “over-mating”, which sounds horrible to me, with a 5 to 1 ratio? We will just be eating the eggs, so not worried about the fact that the breedings wouldn’t make for good chicks since they are all different breeds. Thank so much!!!

He could possibly over-mate them, or he could not. You won’t know until he’s an adult. In my experience, handling him won’t result in negative behavior, so go for it. If you do decide to breed your chickens, their chicks won’t be “bad” because they’re mixed breeds. They’ll be just as good as any other chicken.