Q's about "borrowing" a rooster

[joneus]

I caught a glimpse of my neighbors roo and he is gorgeous!!! He's an Ameraucana with white head & neck feathers, a black face, cream (almost light gold) body, red wings with black tips and a black & green iridescent tail & I am totally in love, LOL! The neighbor lets his chickens free range all over the neighborhood (another post in and of itself!), so I'm thinking about asking if I can borrow his roo for a month or so next summer (he's got at least 3 others that I've counted) to see if I can get some pretty babies out of him.

My current set up is this: I've got 5 hens, 3 of which are EE's, and 4 EE babies. I dont know how many of those chicks are female, but I'm sure I'll know by next spring. They will all be living in one big coop & run and will be free ranged whenever possible.

IF I borrow the neighbors rooster, I'll probably put him with 2 or 3 of my ladies I know I'll need to put them all in their own private breeding pen. Beyond that???

The breeding coop I have in mind is a 6'x4'x3' cold frame greenhouse that I can convert to a brooding house and add a small fenced in yard to. The flocks see each other every day, and even hang out together despite being separated by my fence, so I'm hoping that introducing him to the girls wont be a big deal. My biggest concern is when I give him back. Will I be able to reintroduce my girls back into the main flock once they're done brooding? What about the roo? As I said, my neighbor lets his chickens wander- how likely is it that Mr Studly Roo will decide that home is in my coop and just keep coming back?

Also- I dont know how many boys I have in my brooder right now, but if there's only 1 or 2, I'll probably keep them (until/unless they turn mean & aggressive). I'll obviously keep them separated from the neighbors roo while he's... er... "visiting", but what will this scenario do to the flock dynamics?

Will this crazy idea even work???

I know, it would be easier to just get eggs from my neighbor and hatch them. Given how he manages his flock, tho, I dont think he's going to have a clue which eggs were fertilized by which roo.

 

[poseygrace]

I think it's a great idea! Just watch him closely the first few days and make sure he is not going to be too aggressive or hurt your girls. You probably won't be able to stop him coming back over to "visit" your ladies, unless yours are enclosed and he can't get to them. But maybe you won't mind? Once your baby chicks grow up, though, if you have a roo that is very territorial his visits could be a problem. You'll just have to keep an eye on that. I love EEs though, so I am going to encourage you to GO FOR IT!

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Borrowing that rooster may be a good idea. Chances of there being a rooster among your chicks will be appearant by or before spring as you anticipate. You should know that the rooster influence from your own cockerals will remain active in your pullets for up to a month after the pullets are penned alone and away from them. Therefore, plan ahead and don`t borrow the neighbors rooster before the pullets are ready. You should determine how many eggs you will need before hand and once that number is reached, return the borrowed rooster. Bare in mind that the first 3 or so eggs the pullets lay after breeding will not be fertile.
Doesn`t matter if the rooster returns, if your girls are penned. The visiting rooster should not change flock dynamics. I think it is a good idea and very doable. However, you should be aware that the big boys coloring may not transfer to his offspring. Good luck. I hope it all works out as planned..........Pop

 

[Lothiriel]

I think it's a great idea as well. However, I would first ask to inspect his setup and some of his birds to check for lice/mites (if, of course, he says you may borrow). If you borrow his rooster for a month, and he has any creepy crawlies on him, some will get transferred to the girls you put him with, and then your flock might get infested when you put them back with the rest. I'd let that be the deciding factor. And the roo's temperament. That's inherited, so you want to be sure he has a good temperament so his offspring will as well.

 

[dandydoodle]

Does he lock his birds up at night. If he doesn't and your heart is set on breeding this boy with some of your girls I say the sooner the better. If he is locked up at night there is no telling when a predator will get em. Oh yea, I think the bringing him in and breeding him will go fine with your girls. I have unfortunately had to go through about 3 different roos in the last six months before I found a nice guy and my girls are doing fine. They just adjust each time they have a new guy and honestly usually quite well.

Good luck

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Quote:
Just so you know his Roo (from how you describe him) sounds like an Easter Egger not an Ameracuana. If he got him from a feed store or hatchery then he is an EE. They come in amazing colorations, and no two ever look exactly alike. We are growing out some EE Roos right now that I love the coloring on.

Deffinetly ask the neighbor if they mind, and be sure to inspect the bird before pairing up with any of your hens. What type of chicks are you hoping for? There might be sources here on BYC to get hatching eggs from for what you are hoping for.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I would be worried about him bringing some unwanted disease to my flock. Just because a chicken is healthy on the outside, doesn't mean they're not a carrier for something (mereks, respiratory issues, parasites). If his chickens have already shared close proximity with yours and everyone is still healthy, I say this could be a great idea. But if it were me, I'd have that horrible nagging feeling in the back of my head......good luck with whatever you decide to do

 

[donrae]

I'm not understanding why you'd only put the roo with 2-3 hens. Why not put him with all of them? He could cover all the hens pretty quickly and you could give him back and have 5+ hens laying fertile eggs for up to two weeks. I'm guessing you have an incubator to hatch those eggs out?

 

[joneus]

Quote:
I've considered that. I'm not horribly worried tho. Before I got my chickens, I regularly chased his out of my yard & if it werent for the fence I put up, I'd probably STILL be chasing them out. As it is, I now have to chase them out of my front yard (& away from my car) because they cant get to my back yard.

Anyway, the two flocks hang out in the same area, divided by a length of chicken wire, so I'm sure that if his chickens have anything, mine have already been exposed to it. If I get to borrow him, I'll definitely be sure to check him for creepy crawlies, but it seems unlikely that he'd have something mine dont (and they dont- my girls are healthy and clean!)

Quote:
Because I dont know how many boys I have in my brooder right now. By the time summer comes around, they'll be about 6mos old, and I dont want any fighting if I can avoid it. Also, I want to let my hens hatch & raise the chicks if they're so inclined. If thats the case, then I can keep 1 or 2 in the breeding pen while they do their thing and I wont have to worry about them being harassed by the rest of the flock. Of course, if I dont have any boys in my brooder (har-dee-har-har), or if I get rid of them by then, then it wont matter. He can cover 'em all & go home and whomever goes broody can get the penthouse suite behind the garage, and that will be the end of it. Sadly, my luck just doesnt work that way, LOL!

Just so you know his Roo (from how you describe him) sounds like an Easter Egger not an Ameracuana. If he got him from a feed store or hatchery then he is an EE. They come in amazing colorations, and no two ever look exactly alike. We are growing out some EE Roos right now that I love the coloring on.

Deffinetly ask the neighbor if they mind, and be sure to inspect the bird before pairing up with any of your hens. What type of chicks are you hoping for? There might be sources here on BYC to get hatching eggs from for what you are hoping for.

Yep, LOL! Thats what I meant! I love EE's with their variety of colors and their (generally) sweet temperament. While I know he may not pass on his exact coloring, I'm so hoping to at least get the black face with the light body. If not- well, it'll still be an interesting experience. Also, it may just call attention, in a friendly way, to the fact that my his chickens are taking over the neighborhood. Personally, I dont really mind. BUT- several neighbors have tried to give me a hard time about "my" chickens running loose in the neighborhood, not realizing that they're not mine.​