Need help picking which rooster to keep... Breed advice please

[Kelly&Co]

If they were my chickens, I would keep all of them.

Yeah, well we don't want to spend the money to feed them to just hang around causing problems. We'd much rather get some good meals out of them and have a peaceful flock.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Yeah, well we don't want to spend the money to feed them to just hang around causing problems. We'd much rather get some good meals out of them and have a peaceful flock.

If you do decide to keep them, read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/rooster-flocks.72998/

 

[junebuggena]

We hatched 20 chicks this spring, pretty much a mix of different barnyard hybrids, in a 4-H classroom chick project. We've culled 3 out of the 10 roosters and it's time to get serious about the rest of them. We have small children, so won't keep any rooster that gets an attitude, but wouldn't mind keeping one if we have a nice one.

There's one rooster in particular that I'm interested in keeping if he's nice, so let's start with him. He's our largest rooster in addition to being the showiest, so not sure if that might work in our favor for a nice temperament. Unfortunately, he's been molting tail feathers recently! I think he's at the top of the pecking order, too, for what that's worth.

Thank you for your input!View attachment 1144446 View attachment 1144445 View attachment 1144444

The first pic is actually a pullet, not a cockerel.

 

[junebuggena]

This one started out as the prettiest little brown chick. The only brown chick we had
View attachment 1144470 View attachment 1144471

This one would be my pic, solely for the variety of possibilities that could be produced. He's got a silver gene and a red/gold gene, he's Blue and even has Mahogany.

 

[speckledhen]

If your Easter Egger is nice-tempered (the former brown chick), he will be less wear and tear on the hens, generally, being of a leaner body type. I love Brahma temperament, but most of my guy's six girls have to wear saddles because of the wear and tear on their feathers, him grabbing to hold on and mate. He really needs twice as many as he has.


All that being said, I used to have a bantam Cochin hen running with a large fowl Barred Rock rooster. He did not try to breed her at all, but my Delaware rooster, being a complete gigolo, would breed anything. At one time, he kept 25 hens all fertile at the same time.

You want a rooster who defers to you, bringer of food, which means he has some intelligence. You want him to be a gentleman with the hens, not a crazy insane breeder, who repeatedly breeds the hens and makes some cower in fear (abnormal avoidance, I mean). Above that, if you like his looks, it's a bonus.

 

[Kelly&Co]

The first pic is actually a pullet, not a cockerel.

He's very much a cockerel, he's just molted all his tail feathers recently. The first three pictures are all the same bird. The very first picture is at a strange angle. But he's been crowing and trying to breed the pullets this evening so I'm sure he's a HE!

 

[bobbi-j]

Yeah, well we don't want to spend the money to feed them to just hang around causing problems. We'd much rather get some good meals out of them and have a peaceful flock.

Good chicken management! Chicken math needs to include subtraction sometimes.

 

[Kelly&Co]

@junebuggena and @speckledhen
Thank you! I think the brown one is fairly low on the pecking order,. Not sure if that changes anything. Maybe we'll go ahead and start removing roosters down to the brown one and the Brahma and then observe for a while and see which is a better fit with the hens. Right now none of the hens seem to be particularly receptive to the roosters, but that should change soon!

 

[junebuggena]

He's very much a cockerel, he's just molted all his tail feathers recently. The first three pictures are all the same bird. The very first picture is at a strange angle. But he's been crowing and trying to breed the pullets this evening so I'm sure he's a HE!

Must have accidentally posted the wrong photo then, because the first picture is most definitely not the same bird as shown in the next two pics.

 

[Kelly&Co]

Must have accidentally posted the wrong photo then, because the first picture is most definitely not the same bird as shown in the next two pics.

No, it's the same bird, the first picture is just from July. He's the only one with those fancy foot feathers, so no mistaking him with another bird. His looks have changed a lot the last few months as he's molted.