Mixed flock, 4 weeks and 1 week old

[FowlNewb]

Hi (sorry this is long),

So I’m new to backyard chickens, and I wanted to get a few layer hens. I had done all the research about which breed I wanted and when I went (Sunday) into the local feed store to pick up the supplies to set up the brooders, I was talking to the employee about when the chicks I wanted would be delivered (next Tuesday). The employee was saying that this year was insane with people coming in for chicks and that lines were going out the store and they would recommend we come in first thing that morning delivery day to ensure we got the chicks we wanted. I had plans to send my husband to pick them up upon delivery, which he wasn’t thrilled about having to deal with a crowd to maybe get the chicks I wanted. A couple days later (Friday), we had to run back to the store for something and saw there were 3 chicks remaining from that week’s delivery. Hubby talked me into getting them as he felt bad that the were the “leftovers” and he really didn’t want to have to go back in a few days to hopefully get the chicks I wanted. So we wound up purchasing 3 straight run “assorted” bantams. We later identified them as being bb old red English bantams based of their look and the supplying hatchery’s available breeds. I wasn’t thrilled that we we took home batams which aren’t known for being good layers and that we didn’t know the gender.

Now that they are 4ish weeks old, we can now start to identify gender characteristics. One is obviously male, named Peanut, (red comb starting to develop) and another which is larger than the male but no red comb, Butters. The 3rd is much smaller than the others which is named Jelly. We decided that regardless of what the Butters’s gender is, we still want layers hens. We are keeping our bantys no matter what, but we decided to go get 3 more chickens.

I called around to the all of the different feed stores looking to see when their next delivery (which is the last for the year) tends to arrive as the incoming breeds where listed on their website, but as a rough delivery day estimate. All the stores I called actually still have chicks in stock and thus they canceled the final deliveries, none had my first or second choice of breed in stock, but one did have my 3rd choice (New Hampshires). So we went immediately to go get them. Thankfully these were pullets, but I am worried that we have at least one bantam cockriel, 1 bantam pullet, an unknown bantam, and 3 standard pullets. The original plan was that if our bantams were roosters, we would go have them neutered to turn into capons to prevent aggression. Now that we have 3 hens introduced, if we have only one rooster and the Butters is female, the question we have is whether we should get the rooster neutered or not as he will help maintain pecking order?

What would you recommend? What would you suggest if Peanut is male?

Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do you have a vet that will do that type of surgery on a chicken? In the past it was done without anesthesia, and not all survived it as it's a very invasive procedure.

You can possibly keep two bantam rooster with 4 hens, but it isn't ideal, and it can depend on temperament.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have committed to keeping all six no matter what gender they are so that takes a lot of options off of the table. It is possible you could have more than one male.

Your concern is about aggression if you keep one or more males. This might be human aggression or it might be aggression between the chickens. These are different things.

While any chicken could be human aggressive it is highly unlikely a neutered male would ever be. It is highly unlikely that a hen will ever be human aggressive unless broody but the odds are not exactly zero. Still the odds are really low, especially if the male is neutered before puberty sets in.

How likely is it that an intact male will become human aggressive? You can get a lot of debate on that. Some people seem to think it is very likely any intact male will become human aggressive. Some of us don't agree that it is practically inevitable, that the odds are reasonably low. But there is no question the odds of a neutered male ever becoming human aggressive are much less.

Then there is the question of aggressive toward other chickens. Some people think normal natural rooster-hen interaction to be vicious aggression that must be prevented. Some of us are more tolerant of natural behaviors but there are limits. Typically things can get pretty rough when they are going through puberty but settle down when the boys and girls mature. Typically does not mean always however. Some never grow up.

There is the chance you will wind up with more than one boy. Yours are only 4 weeks old, it is still too young to sex them for sure. If you have more than one boy they will determine which one is boss. That may be a fight to the death or they may reach an accommodation on how to take care of the girls. There is no way to know how this will turn out.

Some dominant roosters help maintain peace in the pecking order, some do not. When dealing with living animals you do not get guarantees. I personally would not put that high of a value on the odds of a rooster helping much with this, if it ever becomes a problem. Most of the time it will not, even in an all-girl flock. My hens do not fight that much, almost never unless one is broody with chicks.

My goals and desires are very different from yours. I would not get one neutered but I don't keep them as pets. From how I think about your goals and desires you probably should try to get him neutered. You'll probably feel better about it. At least you can avoid worrying about certain things.