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Geira

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Hi there to all, I am a new member in the Blue Ridge of Virginia with a small backyard flock of only six chickens. I am new to chicken keeping but have managed to successfully raise all six to 16 weeks now. They are a lot of fun. I do have a bit of an issue as the hatchery I got some of my chickens from improperly sexed them. I ordered black Australorps. The hatchery sent seven. Five were DOA and the remaining two have turned out to be roosters. I have four golden laced Wyandottes that I got to fill my flock out when I received the DOA chicks because two do not make a flock. I have to re-home the roos because that is two too many roosters for only four hens. As I understand it, I should have at least 8-10 hens to one rooster to prevent stress and over mating, not that I am interested in mating anyway. Any advice, or if you are in Rockbridge County and are interested in having one of them, I would love to hear any thoughts
 

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Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

You could keep a single cockerel with that number of pullets. Breeding is done in pairs and trios. It really comes down to the personality of the cockerel in question.
 
Hi, and welcome to BYC! :frow

I agree with @DobieLover as here, we have breeding pens, and it does come down to the personality of the rooster. In one pen, I can put two roosters and one hen, and in another, one rooster and five hens, and so on. In the yard, there are about 8 roosters to around 20 hens, and they usually team up into groups. If one's out of line, they get put in detention or out of their misery, depending on age and how bad they are. They get a lot of second chances if they're under a year old.

If you need to rehome them, you could try our Buy/Sell/Trade forum. I personally have the best luck in my local/state poultry groups on Facebook.

We're glad you're here!
 
Debbie292d said:
Hi, and welcome to BYC! :frow

I agree with @DobieLover as here, we have breeding pens, and it does come down to the personality of the rooster. In one pen, I can put two roosters and one hen, and in another, one rooster and five hens, and so on. In the yard, there are about 8 roosters to around 20 hens, and they usually team up into groups. If one's out of line, they get put in detention or out of their misery, depending on age and how bad they are. They get a lot of second chances if they're under a year old.

If you need to rehome them, you could try our Buy/Sell/Trade forum. I personally have the best luck in my local/state poultry groups on Facebook.

We're glad you're here!
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The one that looks more like a rooster is actually pretty friendly. I can handle both, but one is definitely nicer than the other. I definitely need to rehome at least one of them. Thanks for the reply.
 
Geira said:
The one that looks more like a rooster is actually pretty friendly. I can handle both, but one is definitely nicer than the other. I definitely need to rehome at least one of them. Thanks for the reply.
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Are you sure both are roosters? I'm a horrible judge for other breeds as I only raise/breed silkies here, but that one on the left is questionable to me. The one on the right has visible hackles so definitely a cockerel. They actually look almost identical otherwise, comparing tails, combs, and wattles, so I have to assume you're right.
 

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