Rooster Wear as a Culling Criteria?

[3KillerBs]

As noted in my other thread, I'll be culling over the next few weeks and have come up with what I *hope* is a reasonable set of criteria.

I don't know how much weight -- if any at all -- to put on the hens being barebacked. (I know it bothers people more than it bothers the birds).

Some of the girls are showing a great deal of wear, especially the Langshan and the Lavender Orpington x SLWs. Just a few of the Blue Australorps are heavily worn and I *have* sold my very large Black Langshan rooster, leaving only the Blue Australorp in my avatar covering 19 layers at the moment.

Neither Rameses spurs nor his toenails are long enough to be a problem and he doesn't seem to be troubled by bad technique now that he's 11 months.

Any thoughts on whether to put any weight on this factor when making my choices?

 

[Matejka]

Could be old "wear" from the other rooster and the feathers haven't grown back. I'd take a wait and see attitude, I'm famous for this.

 

[LaFleche]

Any thoughts on whether to put any weight on this factor when making my choices?

Yes, but in the opposite way, as from my experience, roosters love the more prolific hens = best layers and will leave them look quite ruffled.
If you just go by the look of their feathers and cull them, you will keep the less productive ones.

 

[nuthatched]

Hmmm, personally I'm not sure I'd consider it a criteria for culling. My brahma roo just *loved* my wyandottes and australorps, only 6 chickens but ignored the other 6 hens. Those hens got really rubbed out by him but as long as there was no wounds, I considered them fine. He was a great rooster in every other sense.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes, but in the opposite way, as from my experience, rooster love the more prolific hens = best layers and will leaven look quite ruffled.
If you just go by the look of their feathers and cull them, you will keep the less productive ones.

Thank you for that voice of experience.

I was thinking only in terms of feather quality and being subject to breakage. Maybe I ought to push that out a year or two.

Those hens got really rubbed out by him but as long as there was no wounds, I considered them fine. He was a great rooster in every other sense.

The big guy, Ludwig, certainly did have his favorites. When I sold him I sent some of those favorite girls with him.

 

[RiverOtter]

Roosters have their favorites, and often it's for a reason. I figure they're a better judge of chickens than I am. So, the blunt answer is absolutely none, or possibly prefer them (and give them a rest from him)

Regarding feather quality, so long as she molts fully and quickly, I don't really look at feather quality of hens, because light, diet and how much they lay have SUCH a strong effect on them, much more so than on roosters. So to me, feather quality is the rooster's job. This is one of the things he brings to the table.

 

[Mrs. K]

This time of year, feathers are old and ready to go, so I think there is more of a tendency to bare backs.

However, I always kind of figured it was quite a bit of the hens feather fault... but two summers ago, I bought 4 hens. One had been the roosters favorite, and was majorly barebacked. She came to me with no rooster, molted and then feathered in very nicely.

Then came Bye, (you know the perfect rooster) so far, I do not have a feather out of place on any of the birds he covers... so it might be more of the roosters fault than I thought.

Mrs K

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I personally think roosters dont have a favorite hen they mate the most submissive one multiple times leaving them bare backed. I had a rooster get so bad he tore both her sides causing infection as it went all the way down her leg so now i will take a hen to a rooster but will not have rooster in with my hens anymore

 

[LaFleche]

Regular rooster pedicure can help to prevent feather loss and injuries.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any thoughts on whether to put any weight on this factor when making my choices?

You know my answer will always be "it depends".

I'm not going to argue with anyone else, I think they have made some good points. You can always have feather loss, during mating and other ways. There are different degrees of bare backed or feather loss, some more serious than others. Immature pullets and cockerels may be more subject to this than older birds due to enthusiasm (his) or lack of enthusiasm (hers). This might go under technique, his and hers. Condition of the feathers might play a part, I am convinced that brittle feathers is a real thing in some chickens and that can be hereditary. I don't doubt there can be some that appear to be favorites, whether they really are or they just hang out with him so they are more available. Maybe he is rougher with some than others for dominance reasons? I don't always (or maybe usually) know why there are differences but there are.

I have used feather loss as a criteria in choosing which girls. The feather loss was pretty complete where his feet stand so there was some risk in the girls getting cut. I'm pretty sure it was due to brittle feathers but maybe not. It was dramatic compared to the other girls. I considered that a flock safety risk. It was not the sole reason I chose those two but it was part of the criteria, maybe consider it a tie-breaker. The rest were not anywhere close to bare backed but some showed minor feather loss.