Roosters to hens ratio

[Trevorusn]

Definitely not anything like that. Two of them are Cream Legbar-Black Copper Marans crosses and the other is a Barred Rock. I figured they'd just use any cockerel/rooster, especially if they have shown aggression. Thank you for the clarification as I really had no idea. I always fear the worst

No worries. Showing aggression is one thing, being bred to fight is altogether different.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

No worries. Showing aggression is one thing, being bred to fight is altogether different.

So they don't even use breeds that weren't bred for fighting purposes, for training them or anything? That definitely makes me feel so much better. That's been weighing heavily on my mind. So glad to hear that my worries are unfounded.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

No worries. Showing aggression is one thing, being bred to fight is altogether different.

Hate to say it, but I have read that cockfighters will take cocks of pretty much any breed and use them to train their fighters. Basically as living punching bags. I don’t know if that’s true, having no real experience with such things, but my first dog came from a similar situation (we think, could never prove it).

 

[Trevorusn]

Hate to say it, but I have read that cockfighters will take cocks of pretty much any breed and use them to train their fighters. Basically as living punching bags. I don’t know if that’s true, having no real experience with such things, but my first dog came from a similar situation (we think, could never prove it).

Where did you read that?? Overseas that may be true where cockfighting is legal, stateside not so sure on the validity of that.

 

[aart]

Cream Legbar-Black Copper Marans crosses

I've found with the 3 batches of my BCM x CCL crosses the cockerels are pretty precocious, trying to mate and spar earlier than other cockerels I've hatched.
Had one in the last batch that crowed at 1-2 weeks old... yes, weeks!

 

[aart]

but I have read that cockfighters will take cocks of pretty much any breed and use them to train their fighters.

I have read just the opposite...breeders of fighters don't risk their birds with mutts collected from just anywhere. @roosterhavoc knows about this.

 

[Manhen]

Where did you read that?? Overseas that may be true where cockfighting is legal, stateside not so sure on the validity of that.

Upstate new York 3 years ago or so they arrested 42 Hispanic men in our neighbor's (2 farms up the road) barn for cockfighting and gambling. The poor amish man who needed to finish paying for his new barn sent his daughter to the neighbor's to call the cops when he found out what they were using the barn for after renting it. All 42 mug shots were in the paper along with a big ol' write-up. Enanias was in trouble with the elders I bet, for letting outsiders in.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I've found with the 3 batches of my BCM x CCL crosses the cockerels are pretty precocious, trying to mate and spar earlier than other cockerels I've hatched.
Had one in the last batch that crowed at 1-2 weeks old... yes, weeks!

This isn't the first time I've heard this. One of the Marans crosses seems to be great so far, but he is extremely flighty and only comes near me if I've called him over to me for scrambled eggs or raisins. He comes hesitantly and the smallest thing will send him racing off. The other one and the BR are the complete opposite and they're the reason I have to carry a pool noodle around and walk backwards. The BR was handled a lot as a chick and the marans crosses were handled often equally between the two. I'm sure this created some of their hostility.
That's an early crower! Wow! I can only imagine how many smiles and chuckles that brought, as they're adorably awkward in the beginning.

 

[cmom]

I haven't read the original study.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-drop-in-temperature-can-change-the-sex-of-chickens-1238516.html
Speak to some of the chicken keepers were I live and you may get told that hens have the ability to determine the sexes of the chicks they hatch. I read a long time ago a study that suggested there may be some truth in this, but didn't understand how such a mechanism could work.
With the study mentioned above and now the research being undertaken by the egg and hatchery industry, plus the offshoot studies from this paper,
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1516-635X2016000600001&script=sci_arttext
it seems possible that a hen could influence the sexes of the hatch given she can control the temperature.
Now all we need to know is if the hen can and does alter egg temperatures with intent.
If she can then you need to have a word with your hen or adjust your incubator temps accordingly.

I have heard this in the past and did some research and experimented. If it were true I should have gotten all males or all females which did not happen. I have had hatches where I got more females than males and other hatches where I got more males than females. With humans the male determines the sex of the baby not temperature. In chickens it's the female that determines the sex of the chicks not the temperature. The temperature determining the sex of the offspring only applies to reptiles. There are many studies to support this.

 

[Shadrach]

I have heard this in the past and did some research and experimented. If it were true I should have gotten all males or all females which did not happen. I have had hatches where I got more females than males and other hatches where I got more males than females. With humans the male determines the sex of the baby not temperature. In chickens it's the female that determines the sex of the chicks not the temperature. The temperature determining the sex of the offspring only applies to reptiles. There are many studies to support this.

I don't think you've read, or maybe not understood the article, or the recent research.
In short, it's suggested that plus or minus 3 degrees centigrade can effect the probability of males or females.
The research and article doesn't say if you drop the temperature to the lower limit you'll get all males or all females at the higher limit.
Despite what you may believe it seems that the egg industry and the hatcheries are interested in further research.