Need Advice! Which rooster do we keep?

[8WarEagleChicks]

We have three EE roosters that we hatched last August. I got the eggs from Gabbard Farms and they seem like really nice looking birds...all of them....but we don't have room to keep three roosters. We'd like to keep one in the hopes one of the girls goes broody.

My dh has a friend interested in taking two of them but which one do I keep? Each one seems to have such a different temprament. I just read on this forum that they go through an adolescent phase right about 4-6 months so I wonder how much they might settle down by this spring?

I have 6 kids (youngest 2yr old) so I can't have an aggressive roo. I can handle a feisty roo just not aggressive. I have been doing all the suggestions for handling the roos.

Bottom line...I need you expert advice since I have very little rooster expereince.

Domino-

He is the biggest EE boy I have...much bigger than all the others (even the BSL roo I had last year who had to be re-homed) Right now he just makes that warning sound when I am around and he just stays close to me and watches me (which makes me feel like he's trying to find the softest place to dig in!). If you try to pick him up he will peck at you. Will that get worse? Or with more handeling can it improve? I like his size

Cinnamon
He is the top roo right now and is very feisty. He does the wing dance to all his ladies ...even Domino to "protect" them from me. He has never pecked anyone. He will puff up if you offer him your foot... to push him away. He is always warning everyone when I am around but he will let you pick him up and I often do walk around with him as I fiddle in the run area. He seems like all bark and no bite to me right now. Will that stay the same? I like his protective nature and he is the 5yr old's chicken...she would not be happy if he had to be re-homed.

Bobby- (sorry no pic) (He is the skinny necked bird in the back of Cinnamon's picture)

Well Bobby looks just like Cinnamon (above) only he is not as filled out. He is very low on the totem pole. He is very jumpy and silly not aggressive at all. I wonder if he is the lone roo how that will change. He is jumpy and skinny so not sure I want his genes to carry on?

So far they do not fight with each other...will that change?
I guess this is a no brainer but I wondered what you all thought? Look into your crystal balls and tell me what the spring willl bring?

 

[Lofty Dreams]

What colors are your hens [if your breeding for color] and what is your setup
Some of my roos have went from nice to mean to nice typical around the end of winter and spring

 

[8WarEagleChicks]

We are not really breeding for color. Mostly for the blue egg gene if possible.

I have one Australorp pullet (which is my best shot a someone going broody) 3 EE pullets, 3 RSL hens..and the three EE roos. I have even considered getting rid of all three EE roos and getting a big AU roo instead. We have a 4x8' coop and a 16'x16' (cattle panels) run surrounding. Most days...They run all over our acre of land. So far we have 10 birds in the coop and have not had picking issues. They get to free range everyday.

 

[Lofty Dreams]

When my roosters threatened to atack me I picked up a stick then they respect you

I have a back up rooster In case one of my Jersey giant roosters was to die

We are not really breeding for color. Mostly for the blue egg gene if possible.

If I was breeding for the blue egg gene I would select a bird that came from a darker or lighter blue egg laying strain.
Light egg backround roo with dark egg background hen. Vise Versa

What to you mean by RSL and AU

Hens and roos need 3-4 feet roughly in your 4x8' coop
your birds would have 3.2 feet with ten birds
with 9 birds 3.5 feet
and with 8 birds 4 feet

The more the space the less you have to clean the coop

 

[Mahonri]

Both are beautiful.

If they were mine, I would keep Cinnamon. He looks almost like a wheaten ameraucana.

 

[pkw]

Domino is the prettiest rooster you have.

BUT with my experience with easter eggers, they were sort of aggressive so I butchered all them.

I have a columbian wyandotte rooster that used to be low in ranks (I had 3 roos at the time). First in rank was Whitey (a white orpington roo) and next was Blue (Blue Laced Red Wyandotte) and then Colibear (my columbian wyandotte). Whitey got butchered once he decided he liked to attack from behind. Blue became boss roo but we sold him because he liked to start fights with Colibear (everyone here calls him Coli but I call him Colibear ) and Colibear was very passive when the other 2 roos was here but once he became the only rooster, he decided he was going to try to be big bad roo. I separate him from his girls when he tries to attack humans. That works better than kicking at him. He leaves me and my 16 year old daughter alone but when my husband enters the chicken yard he makes a bee line for my husband to attack him. That is because my husband is afraid of him (he tells me Coli needs to be put in the freezer). I told my husband the key to our rooster is to show him who is boss and he will leave him alone.

 

[8WarEagleChicks]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I am really wondering if anyone has ever had an EE turn out to be a nice rooster when they act this way at 6 months?

 

[Mrs. K]

I know you want to keep the rooster, but if I had a two year old, that regularly went to the hen house with me, I would not have a rooster. That is who he will attack first, often times with no warning. They can go from very nice to very ugly in a heartbeat.

IMHO you are risking a great deal, as in your child's vision. I am going to suggest that you consider getting someone elses fertilized eggs to slip under a broody hen. It is a great deal of fun and your children will love to watch a broody hen.

Many, many children hate chickens all their lives because of being attacked as a small child. If you do this right, this can be a hobby that you share with your children for years to come, making great memories.

You really cannot trust a rooster, any rooster of any breed with a small child.

MrsK

 

[Mrs. K]

Once your children get bigger, then you can safely try a rooster. IMHO

 

[AZKat]

I had a EE rooster (recently rehomed because the crowing annoyed the neighbors) who was a very gentle, non-aggressive bird, so it can happen. From the pics and your descriptions, I'd keep Cinnamon.