Meyer Hatchery Chicks not so breed standard, and there's a rooster

[penella22]

I got my first chicks ever from Meyer Hatchery earlier this spring. They arrived on May 29th, at 2 days old. They're roughly 6 weeks old right now, and I am everything but 100% sure that one of the 2 Welsummers I ordered is a rooster.

Given the fox family living in the field next to my house, and the abundance of other wildlife, having one rooster doesn't seem like a bad thing. And I've heard that Welsummer roosters are the nicest roosters. He certainly seems to be so far.

But I ordered 3 Wyandottes, 1 Orpington, 2 Ameracaunas, and 2 Welsummers. And I think what I got are all Heinz 57's. The Ameracaunas do have muffs, and the Welsummers are Welsummer colored (and the Orpington actually looks like an Orpington!) but the Ameracaunas have blue/ pink legs & feet, one Welsummer has yellow legs & feet and the other has tannish brown...at least the Blue Orpington has blue legs! My point is while they arrived very healthy and are good tempered chicks, I am wondering, now that I have a rooster, if it is irresponsible to let them have chicks next year? I suspect the answer is yes.

I know if you're not looking to have chicks you just stay vigilant about collecting the eggs! Otoh I do think it would be neat to have baby chicks raised naturally, by their mom.

I am thinking that this flock may never be a good flock to use for breeding purposes (nor were they ever intended to be used that way) but that next year I may try to get a breeding pair or two (or four) of one of the Heritage breeds.

I know this is probably different for everyone, but I just wanted to know what other people's standards are--no chicks in this case, or it's fine?

 

[4HCountryChick]

Hey

Personally, we just let the eggs fall where they may! We have always had one hen go broody, and hatch a couple out, but there are no guarentees about how they will survive! We just let the mother take care of them, and we ended up loosing all but one (who is alive, but has lost a foot....). However, if you do not want them going broody, even if the eggs are fertilized, if you splash the broody hen with COLD water, she will stop sitting on the eggs until the next heat when she becomes broody. Weird, yes, but it should work. No guarentees unfortunately. If you would like to breed your Welsummers, you have the option of splitting the hen and the rooster alone once she is sitting on a clutch, then putting him back, but as well as ensuring that the chicks are purebred, there is no telling if you have a rooster or even five. This seems like a perfectly fine flock to breed if you would like Mutts, or even purebreds. I hope that this helps....

 

[SunnySky]

Sounds like you have a beautiful variety of chickens! First off, the 'Ameraucanas' you have are not Ameraucanas at all. They're Easter Eggers. Hatcheries call them Ameraucanas as a selling ploy but they are by no means purebred. Ameraucanas have a very strict SOP that the must follow to be true Ameraucanas. Hatcheries cross breed all their chickens at one point or another so nothing you get will be purebred as noticed by the different leg colors with the same breed. They are closer to a Heinz 57 than pure stock. With that being said, it's not bad at all to breed them if you want to. You just can't sell them as 'show quality.' They would be considered backyard egg layers.

As far as Welsummer roosters go, I had one a long time ago and he was the meanest rooster on the farm. He was ok for the first year then progressively became more and more aggressive. He would attack you from behind without warning. Needless to say, he is no longer around. I think Welsummer roosters are by far some of the most beautiful roosters around. It broke my heart to have to get rid of him but I have too many roosters to keep aggressive ones.

I have hatchery chickens for my egg layers (the eggs we collect to eat) and they rarely go broody. (chickens that I breed and sell eggs/chicks are from SQ stock) Hatcheries breed their chickens to be mass producers of eggs. They have had most of their innate mothering abilities bred out of them. It's not to say it won't happen. I did have a hatchery hen go broody earlier this year so it's possible, just rare. If you do want to hatch chicks from your eggs I'd recommend having an incubator on hand in the event that a chicken doesn't go broody when you're wanting to hatch. I've only had one go broody in a year.

Good luck with your chickens! And, I agree with what 4HCountryChick says, you may have more roosters than just the one which isn't a bad thing! Orpingtons are very easy to tell at this age. Easter Eggers, on the other hand, can take months to figure out. If they're raised together they can often all live in harmony and provide fantastic flock protection.