Rooster Breed Decision

[enggass]

Hey all,
This Spring I will be hatching 4 breeds, and plan on keeping one rooster. I never planned on having any roosters(neighbors), but I really want one just for their beauty and for fertile eggs going forward.
The breeds I will be hatching are:
BCM
BLRW
BW Ameraucanas
Barnevelder

My goal is to have one rooster then two pullets of each(hatch allowing) for a total of nine form the hatch in all.
They will be integrated with my current 3RIRs and 2BRs making the grand total flock of 14.

For those of you with more experience with any of these breeds, can you shed some light on the pluses/minuses of roosters from any of those breeds?
I am leaning towards BCM or Barnevelder because that would allow me to create some Olive Eggers going forward with my Ameraucana(I know the BCM would be best for this)
Also, if you could share some pix, that'd be great.
Thanks,

 

[Illia]

Blue Wheaten Ameraucana

With BCM's, improving the Olive Egger is about all you can do if you don't have other BCM's around. Otherwise, they're not as showy or quite as friendly, IMO.

BLRW and Barnevelders won't do much good other than making mutts that lay brown or possibly green eggs if you have EE's or Ameraucasnas around.


Ameraucanas, like Blue Wheatens, are very personable, friendly, good with other chickens (female and male) very flashy, and they also will provide Easter Eggers that lay green eggs from your other brown egg laying breeds and Olive Eggers from any dark layers you may have as well as more blue-green layers from other EE's, Ameraucanas, or Olive Eggers.

 

[enggass]

Thanks. I assume in-breeding, for lack of a better term, is common practice?
ie: I hatch out some BWAm eggs and get Roos and Hens it is then OK to use this Roo to fertilize a sister hen?(assuming the eggs came from the same hen-which they may or may not have)
Sorry for the ignorance, just want to do things right!

 

[Illia]

It is commonly done, yes, just make sure if you're doing it you do not breed birds with bad traits.

What I always like doing though is getting a cockerel from someone else, and keeping the pullets of mine. Cockerels are much easier and cheaper to find for sale, plus you only need to replace the one. That way there's no worry of "inbreeding."

 

[enggass]

Is it difficult integrating a 1 cockerel into a flock of hens? or easier than new hens to hens?

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I've found it much easier to put a new cockerel in. They might fuss a bit but they usually settle down pretty fast. I think they rather like having a new boy around.

 

[Illia]

It shouldn't be too hard, just remember to quarantine beforehand. I've integrated a young cockerel to a large flock of pullets and 2 year old hens - The only problems were if the cockerel tries to mate with them, they'll fight back. Sometimes this doesn't happen though. It all depends on the cockerel in my opinion. Some of them are pretty submissive, some are rather passive, and others dominant.

 

[enggass]

Do I really need to quarantine if it is one of the cockerels i've hatched and raised?
What I have now is 3RIRs and 2BRs that are 8 months old. I will be hatching out new chicks in March. It is one of these cockerels that I would be keeping and introducing, along with the other new pullets, to my current birds at around 5 months of age or so. I plan on doing it slowly and letting them all free range together to get used to each other. I will also be building another coop for the newcomers, but there will be a common run...