Looking for feedback in selecting my rooster

[buckabucka]

I'm thinking about replacing my current EE rooster. He appears to be infertile (2 of 30 eggs developed this spring) and he has begun to run at my husband.

I have 7 roosters, all olive-eggers, I am growing out separate from the adult flock, along with 6 hens, now almost 12 weeks old. I hope to put 6 roosters in a bachelor pen to finish growing out for the freezer, and select one to be our new rooster.

Background: One of the young roosters was raised by a broody, - her only chick. I had to keep the broody hen and chick screened off from the flock, due to attack and injury on the chick. When the broody was ready to wean the chick at 6 weeks, I moved 12 other same-age chicks in with the solitary one. Unfortunately, the solitary chick, a rooster, was petrified for a while, being the odd-man out in an established group. Now, 6 weeks later, he is the lowest in the pecking order of the roosters, and as far as I can tell, second from the bottom with the hens.

I would like to keep this rooster for two reasons: 1. I am attached to him slightly, after watching the broody raise him. 2. He seems more in tune with his surroundings than the non-broody raised roosters. I'm not sure I can explain exactly what I mean by this. He is better at finding food, and seems to be listening to everything going on with the main flock, - on the other side of the screen.

My questions: Is there hope that after I remove the other roosters that this one will become more dominant with the hens as he matures? He is a bit of a loner. Are social skills ingrained, or is he permanently scarred from being raised alone? My other option would be to keep two of the young roosters (I have 22 hens), but I think that may be asking for trouble.

I appreciate any advice in selecting a rooster.

 

[the Pollo Loco]

I experienced something like that, in that I had a very dominant roo who was the alpha rooster in my pen. I introduced 2 younger roos in the pen because space was limited and I didn't want to send them to freezer camp yet. So the alpha roo would chase one of these roos around the pen because the young roo would just want to come out and eat, and I felt like this young EE would always be a wimp and not ever be a good rooster because he was bullied all the time. Well the alpha rooster had to go because he was becoming too aggressive so now this young ee has grown all up and now is the alpha rooster and he is actually very tame. So maybe you should keep your rooster of choice because in the end I believe he'll man up and become your #1 roo!!

 

[buckabucka]

Thanks! Glad to hear someone else's success story.

I've decided to put all the roosters except this shy broody-raised one in a bachelor pen sometime in the next couple of weeks. The younger birds are still separate from the main flock, so that will give the shy rooster a chance to fit in with his small flock (6 hens) first. I'll keep our questionable EE roo out with the main flock until I make my final decision. The bachelors won't be going into the freezer until the end of September-ish. At that point, I can get rid of the EE and then try to integrate all the younger birds.

I suppose if the shy rooster does not work out, it is easy enough to pick up a rooster somewhere!