Possible Roosters, Pros and Cons of These Breeds?

[JadeFarms]

Easter Eggers: Variety of feather colors, can lay pink, brown, blue, or green eggs, they are very pretty with their muffs and are okay for meat. Also the chicks sell fast.

Deleware: Brown eggs, they fit your color preference, good meat birds.

I haven’t seen anybody mention this, but lavender Orpingtons are good because they are large, the offspring of mixed LOs have black leakage. They lay brown eggs and are great for meat production.

Marans: Great chickens with dark eggs and there are many different colors.

Olive Eggers: Lay a very pretty colored egg and come in different colors. Sweet chickens and sometimes have feathered legs depending on the mix.

 

[Ajd1126]

I’ve not much experience, but right now, I have 3 Orpington roos, 2 chocolate, 1 lavender. They’re 24 weeks old and get along very well with each other and with my flock of 12 hens. They’re friendly enough I can pick them up with no trouble. They are free ranged, but do spend about half their day in the coop and run while I’m not home, I have had zero issues with them trying to fly.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Easter Eggers: Variety of feather colors, can lay pink, brown, blue, or green eggs, they are very pretty with their muffs and are okay for meat. Also the chicks sell fast.

Deleware: Brown eggs, they fit your color preference, good meat birds.

I haven’t seen anybody mention this, but lavender Orpingtons are good because they are large, the offspring of mixed LOs have black leakage. They lay brown eggs and are great for meat production.

Marans: Great chickens with dark eggs and there are many different colors.

Olive Eggers: Lay a very pretty colored egg and come in different colors. Sweet chickens and sometimes have feathered legs depending on the mix.

I have three Black: Lavender Orpingtons that are a split cross and they have a beautiful green sheen. When they were younger they had a lavender patch on their chest and under their vent and tail feathers. Now they are solid black and gorgeous in my book. Large birds and getting larger. They are 17 weeks old. They have done really well in the heat too. They have taken awhile to learn their beak strength but now they are getting it. They are greedy eaters at the feed troughs to be sure. Other breeds might be intimidated by them but my Swedish Flower hens rule the roost in my flock of nine over the Orpingtons and Legbars.

 

[JadeFarms]

I have three Black: Lavender Orpingtons that are a split cross and they have a beautiful green sheen. When they were younger they had a lavender patch on their chest and under their vent and tail feathers. Now they are solid black and gorgeous in my book. Large birds and getting larger. They are 17 weeks old. They have done really well in the heat too. They have taken awhile to learn their beak strength but now they are getting it. They are greedy eaters at the feed troughs to be sure. Other breeds might be intimidated by them but my Swedish Flower hens rule the roost in my flock of nine over the Orpingtons and Legbars.

My Orpingtons are at the bottom of the pecking order, the rooster is okay. I prefer a roo that is not afraid to come up to me though. He is skittish but would never hurt anybody.

 

[Ruthster55]

How about a few Anconas to run with some light Brahmas for feather feet and maybe some Marans (for pretty eggs) ?

Unfortunately, I don’t know of black, white, or gray Easter Eggers. Most Easter Eggers are kinda tan in color. Lovely eggs, though.

I have a barred (b/w) Game mix hen that lays a beautiful blue egg, though. Docile, not flighty. Don’t know if anything like that would be near you - also Games in general don’t lay that many eggs and they love to go broody and raise chicks.

With Anconas, you would get white eggs, high production, b/w birds, and heat-tolerance.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Anc...j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Might I advise against leghorn cockerels. They are very mean.

My light Brahma cockerel is very sweet. What about a Cochin?

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't know much about Anconas, but as I said earlier I'd be concerned about the white egg genetics diluting the egg color too much for the intended egg sales business. Darker browns sell better than pale tans and creams.

 

[3KillerBs]

Might I advise against leghorn cockerels. They are very mean.

My light Brahma cockerel is very sweet. What about a Cochin?

I wouldn't want a Cochin rooster for the same reason I won't keep my light Brahma, Omelet, if she turns out to be a boy -- slow growth and lower level of egg laying.

If beauty were my only consideration my flock would be nothing but Light and Dark Brahmas.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

I wouldn't want a Cochin rooster for the same reason I won't keep my light Brahma, Omelet, if she turns out to be a boy -- slow growth and lower level of egg laying.

If beauty were my only consideration my flock would be nothing but Light and Dark Brahmas.

That makes sense. I'd say Delaware or GJ then. My GJ cockerel was nasty, even worse than the leghorn. But they are typically docile.

 

[Ruthster55]

I don't know much about Anconas, but as I said earlier I'd be concerned about the white egg genetics diluting the egg color too much for the intended egg sales business. Darker browns sell better than pale tans and creams.

For egg sales, I would keep the following hens:

- Black Copper Marans - dark brown eggs
- Anconas or another Mediterranean breed - white eggs for contrast
- Easter Eggers - blue and green eggs
- Maybe a Sapphire Gem or an Olive Egger

It could be an all black-and-white flock except that the Easter Eggers bring some really needed variety to the eggs.

A rooster is not needed unless you want to sell fertile or hatching eggs or have a predator problem. If the focus is egg sales, do you need a rooster?

Or, is the focus a self-sufficient flock that can reproduce, with cockerels going for meat?

Purely for egg production, I wouldn’t keep Brahmas, Cochins, or even Plymouth Rocks or Wyandottes. They don’t lay quite enough and are more dual-purpose birds.

Wouldn’t keep Games or Australorps or Orpingtons for egg production either. Too broody. The broodiness is VERY entertaining and baby chicks are soooo cute, but that really cuts the number of eggs.

Breed selection and having rooster(s) or not are choices that are more easily made if you have clear goals for your flock.