Rooster Chat

[JTPhillips]

Looks like you didn't get your question answered. From my limited experience and a lot of reading around this forum, I would suggest not to get rid of a decent older too for a young too who could grow up to be human aggressive or not so courtly with the ladies. You didn't say how old your younger boys are. And it sounds like you feel your silkie is too whimpy? You may want to wait until it's clear what kind of personalities the younger boys will have. many don't develop their good hand skills until about a year old. That was hen skills, the system wouldn't let me edit it. If need be you can keep the boys in a bachelor pad until you can know they have solid personalities and can choose.

 

[the poppster]

Hey everyone! Well getting close to having to make the sad decision of which rooster goes :-/ I have finally balanced my flock ratio to now having 7 hens and 1 adult rooster. Unfortunately I have two Americanas that have developed into roosters.. What's the best thing to do get rid of existing older rooster or get rid of young Roos :-/?

If the old rooster is a good boy....keep him! And get rid of one or both of the youngsters. That's what I would do...your hens will thank you...they don't have to put up with the over active, hormone driven, inexperienced, adolescent, cockrel pulling feathers out of their heads in his frantic attempts to mount as many hens as possible....before the other guy gets there! If you keep one, chances are that the old rooster will keep a lid on the youngster....and in a year, more or less, the youngster might challenge the older rooster....and win. But till then it will keep the flock more peaceful...any time I end up with to many young cockrels they stress out the flock....the sigh of relief is almost audible when they are "Removed"....it doesn't take days to notice the calm that washes over my hens and Roos....you can feel and see it instantly.

 

[JTPhillips]

...

If the old rooster is a good boy....keep him! And get rid of one or both of the youngsters. That's what I would do...your hens will thank you...


Thank you so much for the response as goes for the previous one as well ! This has certainly been a big help. My older rooster Is a good boy over all my only complaint is he likes to go after my dogs which is more of entertainment then anything no blood or injuries just a quick chase but dogs will remind him he's not the king of the yard lol. all else is good with kids and people.

 

[cabinchicky]

Hey everyone! Well getting close to having to make the sad decision of which rooster goes :-/ I have finally balanced my flock ratio to now having 7 hens and 1 adult rooster. Unfortunately I have two Americanas that have developed into roosters.. What's the best thing to do get rid of existing older rooster or get rid of young Roos :-/?

If the old rooster is a good boy....keep him! And get rid of one or both of the youngsters. That's what I would do...your hens will thank you...they don't have to put up with the over active, hormone driven, inexperienced, adolescent, cockrel pulling feathers out of their heads in his frantic attempts to mount as many hens as possible....before the other guy gets there! If you keep one, chances are that the old rooster will keep a lid on the youngster....and in a year, more or less, the youngster might challenge the older rooster....and win. But till then it will keep the flock more peaceful...any time I end up with to many young cockrels they stress out the flock....the sigh of relief is almost audible when they are "Removed"....it doesn't take days to notice the calm that washes over my hens and Roos....you can feel and see it instantly.

X2!

 

[ldawntaylor]

I'm afraid my bantam is giving one of the bigger cockerels fit, the one most fully pictured in the second picture.

It is quite a sight to see the bantam which is maybe half the size of the other chasing the larger bird all over their area. He has been trying to offer tidbits to the bantam pullets and such. But, evidently they aren't quite old enough to be interested in his amorous advances.

That Cherry Egger he keeps chasing is the only one of the my three I haven't heard crowing yet. In spite of not crowing I am pretty sure it is a cockerel. The feathers plus the fact that the wattles and comb started growing and changing color at about 3 weeks are what make me think that. It is hard to tell from this picture but the tail definitely has the longer tail feathers starting to come in.

The Marans in the back is also a cockerel - caught in the act of crowing several times now.

This is proving to be an interesting journey.

 

[microchick]

Aren't they cute?

No, seriously, love them or hate them, you have to admit that your roosters can make you laugh and swear faster than any animal you have ever encountered. I don't know when I came to that conclusion. You have a 50/50 chance of getting roosters if you hatch them yourselves under broody hens or in incubators. My first broody hatch produced 7 cockerels and 1 pullet. There may be a pullet hiding in with the cockerels so the final count may be 6/2. That proves that both God and Mother Nature really do have senses of humor. The second hatching from my broody so far is a 50/50 split. Better. But I have a total of 14 roosters and 17 pullets. Well, that's almost 50/50 especially if you count the two cockerels I rehomed last fall.

So what I came to decide is t hat I may as well embrace my roosters. Figuratively speaking of course, I'm not THAT insane. I built them a coop all their own and a big run. They get fed the same treats that the main coop gets and every now and then I switch out the roosters so everyone gets a chance to get it on with the hens. They are co-habitating well together after some initial flared hackles and half hearted fights and YES, the stress quotient is down considerably with the hens....and with me.

I'm done trying to break them of bad habits. They are roosters. That's the only kind of habits they have. Transgressions get dealt with swiftly and firmly. After awhile they learn that the giver of treats thinks nothing of dangling the bad boy by his ankles until he decides that his bad mood isn't worth the trouble or embarrassment. Usually he will be a reformed rooster until he decides that he just has to try to be one up on the giver of treats and tests the waters by attacking her ankles again. Most of all I've decided that most roosters are buttheads and if you are lucky you will have a few cross your path that are so sweet they make up for the general butthead rooster population.

I stressed for I don't know how long trying to decide what to do with all my roosters. Can't give them away around here and no, I don't eat my birds. I eat their eggs but not them.

Once I decided to stop stressing, come over to the dark side (where they have cookies!) and embrace my roosters, the happier everyone was. And yes, I learned that even my buttheads can make me laugh on occasion.....when I'm not busy dangling them by their ankles.

In conclusion, if you are in the position to have a bachelor pen for your extra boys, by all means do it. Save a life if you can and come over to the dark side where roosters rule.

They have very good cookies.

 

[ldawntaylor]

I do enjoy my roosters - they are still cockerels actually. At present I can't keep more than one or two. If I ever give up my goats I very likely will build a bachelor pad. For now though I simply don't have the space or supplies. There are a lot of things I would do differently if I get the chance.

There are some ways these birds remind me of my goats. With either one I had people try to say I really didn't want to have one around. But, so far, as long as I move quietly and steadily, I can handle them if I need to. I just have to remember they are chickens and goats with the normal behaviors of such creatures. And, I must always be aware of where they are in relation to me. The same holds true for my male dog. as well.

Yesterday the most dominant of the cockerels pecked my hand. I have not encouraged the birds to eat directly from my hand so he knows I don't want that behavior. I had noticed in the past that he doesn't mind if I pet his back lightly but he does not like being held or picked up. After a while of being held still he decided it was best to just pretend he didn't care what I was doing. I will have to keep an eye on him though.

It is interesting to me how a bird, goat, or dog just being curious has a different demeanor from one that is making a "dominant assessment".

For now it is time to make sure they all have enough water and shut them in their various enclosures.

 

[JTPhillips]

So would it be bad or "stressful" to keep one of the little Roos and just get more hens in the spring ? I have 7 hens with one adult rooster and 2 baby Roos. So I'll need to get another handful more in the spring (hens)?

 

[microchick]

So would it be bad or "stressful" to keep one of the little Roos and just get more hens in the spring ? I have 7 hens with one adult rooster and 2 baby Roos. So I'll need to get another handful more in the spring (hens)?

Yes, there will be some stress between the roosters and the hens. Your young cockerels are going to turn into walking hormones ready to love or fight at a moments notice. Then hens won't be happy with their demands and lack of finess and neither will your alpha rooster who will spend a lot of time defending his hens. There will be squabbles between them as they figure out their pecking order.

You have two alternatives. One, separate the young cockerels from the flock until they settle down then pick the gentlest one as the lieutenant for the alpha rooster.

Two. Get more pullets before winter and get rid of one cockerel.

Getting rid of the right cockerel will be a challenge. Their personalities change at about a year of age. I've noted even the gentlest of cockerels getting a bit uppity when their first birthday rolls around but then they settle back down. I've also seen gentle/respectful cockerels get down right mean and never turn back. In fact, I have two in the bachelor pen right now like that. So picking which cockerel to keep is going to be a bit of a crap shoot.

The more hens you have the better no matter which route you take.

I wish you good luck.

 

[JTPhillips]

Oh one more thing... I have a friend who raises horses with a big barn, would that be a bad idea for the cockerel to make a new home? There are no other chickens only horses... Can this make him happy?