Rooster size and dominance with crowing

[alpacasandchicks78]

Our of my hatch in September we had two barred rock and brahma crosses and an EE/slw cross.

The EE and one of the barred rock crosses are roosters. The EE has been crowing for a few weeks, and nothing from the barred rock/brahma mix. He's significantly bigger and I thought that meant more dominant but.... not a peep or a fight. We need to separate them soon so the hen doesn't get terrorized and we're trying to figure out who goes where. Any thoughts??

 

[3KillerBs]

Our of my hatch in September we had two barred rock and brahma crosses and an EE/slw cross.

The EE and one of the barred rock crosses are roosters. The EE has been crowing for a few weeks, and nothing from the barred rock/brahma mix. He's significantly bigger and I thought that meant more dominant but.... not a peep or a fight. We need to separate them soon so the hen doesn't get terrorized and we're trying to figure out who goes where. Any thoughts??

A bird with Brahma blood is likely to have inherited the slower-growth. late-maturity trait of that breed.

Dominance is not always based on size. Personality matters too.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Yeah the slower to grow will be slower to mature so slower to become annoying teen

 

[alpacasandchicks78]

A bird with Brahma blood is likely to have inherited the slower-growth. late-maturity trait of that breed.

Dominance is not always based on size. Personality matters too.

That does make sense, the brahma roo we had to rehome was the last of all the roosters to crow. I thought with the barred rock he'd be on time. His dad crowed on time if there ever is such a thing so that bc didn't be occur to me.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Just depends the Egyptian Fayoumi cockerel I had (before the darn raccoon killed all my young Egyptian Fayoumi) and he was trying to crow way early… so every breed and mix is so different. Some breeds even have unique crows.

 

[alpacasandchicks78]

Just depends the Egyptian Fayoumi cockerel I had (before the darn raccoon killed all my young Egyptian Fayoumi) and he was trying to crow way early… so every breed and mix is so different. Some breeds even have unique crows.

Perhaps individual roosters too?? We're having to rehome more when it's not below zero wind chill, two have the same pitch but different crows than their dad, one has a baritone crow that's identical to their father, then the one who hasn't crowed yet. The barred rock and brahma pullet has yet to lay at 20 weeks but it's been cold and right now none of our hens is laying daily. I wish I could find the thread where someone asked what happens when you cross the brahma and barred rocks, it was 2 years old I think and the answer is black and gray barring with same pattern on leg feathers, a darker version of a barred rock essentially. The pullet grumbles and sounds just like her mother. You made a really interesting point, I'm sorry the reply is so long but it peeked my curiosity. The hen from our 6/2021 brood that was a complete surprise is just like her mother in personality. (That brood was 4 roosters 1 hen.)

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Yes they are all different, even behaviors can be inherited too. Chickens are a hoot

 

[Ridgerunner]

He's significantly bigger and I thought that meant more dominant but.... not a peep or a fight.

At the end of the day size doesn't mean much. It's not unusual for bantams to dominate full sized fowl. It's the size of the fight in the chicken, not the size of the chicken in the fight.

You don't have roosters, you have cockerels going through puberty. The more mature will outrank the less mature. This can change as they continue to mature but it also may not.

Perhaps individual roosters too??

Absolutely. While breeds can have certain tendencies a lot of the tendencies of a specific flock depends on what traits the person selecting which chickens get to breed selects for. Whatever the breed, some breeders may select more for meat, others for eggs. A good breeder can make a flock more or less likely to go broody or even earlier of later maturing. So you can wind up with different individuals in a breed having very different traits.

I've noticed that different individuals of the same breed coming from the same flock can have very different growth and maturity traits. Even with the same parents. To me, the differences in the individuals is more varied than breed traits.

I wish I could find the thread where someone asked what happens when you cross the brahma and barred rocks, it was 2 years old I think and the answer is black and gray barring with same pattern on leg feathers, a darker version of a barred rock essentially.

Not exactly sure what you are looking for. Brahmas can come in different colors so what you get with that cross may vary with what color your Brahma is. It also matters which is the mother and which is the father. If the barred rock is the mother you could get black sex link chickens. If the barred is the father you won't.

we're trying to figure out who goes where. Any thoughts??

Why do you want a rooster? What are your goals with having one? It sounds like you are going to hatch chicks, so which boy do you want those chicks to be like? I have my goals but those are mine, not yours. Your goals are what counts.