Managing roosters

[CBinSantaCruz]

Hi,
Newbie.
I have twenty four 2 week old first run chicks. I bought a Rainbow mix from an online place. It looks like I have some RIR, Leghorn, Americana couple others. How do you deal with the roosters? My preference would be to
have them all grow up to a certain size at the same time and process them all at once. But maybe save one for breeding?
Will the roosters mature at different times and kill each other before I get around to slaughter? How do you decide when it is time for them to go?
What traits make a good rooster worthy of not being eaten?
I'm sure there are a million threads on this type of thing so if you could just point I'd appreciate it.

 

[Judy]

Most likely they will fight squabble, but not kill or even seriously injure each other. Most roos are protective of their flock, watch for predators, call their hens to come for treats and wait til they have eaten to eat. Also, some are much rougher when they mate than others, cutting hens' sides and tearing out feathers, while others will "ask" to mate first (there is a wing down dance,etc. and the hen says "OK" by squatting. Some are human aggressive and will attack with wings and claws; others keep their distance from humans; sometimes one will enjoy being held and cuddled. It is sometimes said that if they are very tame as chicks, they tend to feel they are dominant over the human after the hormones kick in. That's a quick summary; you are right, there are lots of threads and some articles about roos here. Opinions on how to manage them do vary. I won't keep a human aggressive roo, and you shuld not if you have kids. Here's a good one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/dealing-with-roosters-roo-behavior

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Most likely they will fight squabble, but not kill or even seriously injure each other. Most roos are protective of their flock, watch for predators, call their hens to come for treats and wait til they have eaten to eat. Also, some are much rougher when they mate than others, cutting hens' sides and tearing out feathers, while others will "ask" to mate first (there is a wing down dance,etc. and the hen says "OK" by squatting. Some are human aggressive and will attack with wings and claws; others keep their distance from humans; sometimes one will enjoy being held and cuddled. It is sometimes said that if they are very tame as chicks, they tend to feel they are dominant over the human after the hormones kick in. That's a quick summary; you are right, there are lots of threads and some articles about roos here. Opinions on how to manage them do vary. I won't keep a human aggressive roo, and you shuld not if you have kids. Here's a good one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/dealing-with-roosters-roo-behavior

X2 There are a lot of factors involved with each of your questions.

But as far as keeping them for meat, they should all be ready to process around their first crow. We call that our dinner bell, around here. They will spar and play fight before then, but they'll be young and won't hurt each other.

You should identify a couple of potential keeper roosters, and process the rest. Let the potentials grow up to be a year old or so if you can--a rooster's personality often changes around a year old as they get out of their nasty teenager syndrome. You can't really evaluate a rooster until a year old.

One thing to think about--if you keep the RIR, you can make sex-linked chicks! We keep a RIR for that reason.