Need help deciding on which roo to keep :)

[NC29mom]

Just keep them both! What the heck? You won't be happy if you get rid of one, you'll be wishing you kept him!!

Why can't you keep them both???

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
Not sure how many hens/pullets the OP has, but if it's less then 15-20 with two roos the hen can get very over-bred. I tried keeping a few extra roos once and I'll never do it again. My poor hens got torn up and stressed out. Egg production went up by 20% within three days of dispatching the extra boys. I'm sure it could work if you could make a bachelor pad for the extras, but my experience was not a good one. I had six roos and 25 hens/pullets which was way too many.

 

[peepinator]

Thank you all for the great responses! I sure appreciate it

After careful consideration...I decided to keep Big Red. It was so tough because I loved that Hootie had the green legs, and though he was 2 weeks younger than Big Red...(they are 12 and 10 weeks old) he was so agressive...running around pecking all the hens and trying to take on Big Red, Spike, Elvis and Rocky, my other roos. He would get his butt kicked from the other roos, but he wouldn't stop picking on the hens and some of them would fight him back but others cowered--he chased them around constantly picking fights. He just had to go...not matter how much I loved how pretty he was. I had 5 roos and 20 hens...so I had to weed out 2 and then I'll weed out again as soon as I see how they react to the hens when they come into laying. So far, Spike (he's my golden boy! Buff Orphington beauty) is the top dog roo, then it's Big Red and Elvis is last in the pecking order. They all get along but I'll have to see how it goes when my hens are more mature. I love the roosters...they are so pretty. They are all really loveable to me too...they will fly into my lap to get their tummy's rubbed, it's just the cutest thing. Thank yo again for all the input. BTW...if I would have had baby chicks to try out that food trick, I would have, but I don't have any babies. My birds are all still quite young themselves

Have a great week everyone!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Oh, Man! They're both beautiful!

I'd keep the Silver One.

 

[galanie]

From a quote posted elsewhere by Wisconsin Anne:


"A while back I posted about figuring out which of the cockerals would be a good flock roo. Cyngbaeld suggested putting the roo in question in with much younger chicks and a bowl of food...if the roo attacks the chicks..he's stew meat. If he eats the food but ignores the chicks..he can stick around. If he clucks over the food and shows it to the chicks..he's a KEEPER!"

I love this. Making notes for later, that sounds like a super idea! Kinda what the OP did, too. Culled the meanest.

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

Quote:
I have to agree with this statement. You'll need someone who knows genetics better than me but I believe leg color is supposed to be indicative of egg color. ???

Dave