Roosters..to keep or not to keep

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mathischick3

mathischick3

In the Brooder
Apr 8, 2018
8
15
24
Denton, Texas
First time posting! My husband and I have 3 kids, and recently got back into the "chicken raising" business. We have 4 adult laying hens, and 4 weeks ago we bought 4 chicks from Tractor Supply. That makes them 5 weeks old. We have 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Jersey Giant, and 1 Buff Orpington. Of course we did not know the sex, and as they get older I am more curious as to what their sex is. (I plan on posting pics tomorrow of each one to have you help me identify). I am pretty sure though I have 1 possibly 2 roosters. All that to say this...should we keep them if they are in fact roosters? My biggest fear is aggression towards my kids. We raise chickens for fun and as a hobby. We love the chicks so much and the kids want to keep ALL of them so bad. Thank you
 
This is just my opinion but, I would not keep any roosters because they can be a danger to children especially, because they are closer to the ground.

Your Barred rocks and Buff orp may turn out to be females. The breeds are good setters, which means they will often decide to to sit on eggs and hatch. If you don't have a rooster, you can get fertile eggs of any breed and put them under broody hens.

You can post photos of your chicks at "what breed or gender is this," and the folks there will sort them out for you. 6-8 weeks of age, is a good time to do so.
 
drumstick diva said:
This is just my opinion but, I would not keep any roosters because they can be a danger to children especially, because they are closer to the ground.

Your Barred rocks and Buff orp may turn out to be females. The breeds are good setters, which means they will often decide to to sit on eggs and hatch. If you don't have a rooster, you can get fertile eggs of any breed and put them under broody hens.

You can post photos of your chicks at "what breed or gender is this," and the folks there will sort them out for you. 6-8 weeks of age, is a good time to do so.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Those are the 2 breeds I am most concerned with. Esepcially the BO. Its comb seems to be a little more pronounced and pink. I am learning there are so many things to look for, and I could be wrong. Thank you for your help.
 
mathischick3 said:
First time posting! My husband and I have 3 kids, and recently got back into the "chicken raising" business. We have 4 adult laying hens, and 4 weeks ago we bought 4 chicks from Tractor Supply. That makes them 5 weeks old. We have 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Jersey Giant, and 1 Buff Orpington. Of course we did not know the sex, and as they get older I am more curious as to what their sex is. (I plan on posting pics tomorrow of each one to have you help me identify). I am pretty sure though I have 1 possibly 2 roosters. All that to say this...should we keep them if they are in fact roosters? My biggest fear is aggression towards my kids. We raise chickens for fun and as a hobby. We love the chicks so much and the kids want to keep ALL of them so bad. Thank you
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I have two roosters (a rhode island red and a barred rock) and I plan on keeping them both or at least one. I might cull one for meat, but I'll probably hear about it from my wife if I do lol. Our Rhode Island Red Roo we named Kevin won't really let you hold him unlike our Barred Rock Roo I named Rod who is really chill and lets you pick him up and love on him. All our chicks are about as old as yours at 5 weeks almost all their down is gone. I won't know for sure if they are even roosters until they are a lot older but the way they act and look makes me believe they are. Regardless, it's all personal preference on if you keep a Roo or not. I have a newborn daughter so I know the concerns on aggression towards people and I have heard stories of them being really docile and some where you had to bring a stick to keep them away from you. I personally would cull any rooster that was aggressive towards us. Each rooster or hen each has it's own personality so I believe until it shows aggression or is known to be bad to have around I would keep them.
 
G'Day from down under mathischick3 :frowWelcome!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

Sorry, I have no experience with roosters but BYC has Topic of the Week discussions which I have found to be a great resource, informative and sometimes entertaining; so definitely worth checking out. These may be of particular interest:
Topic of the Week - Roosters, Yes or No?
Topic of the Week: Aggressive Roosters - What is the best way to handle them?

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out ;)

Including your general location on your profile will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

This is a link to the Breed or Gender Forum.
 
:frowHello and :welcome. There's plenty of helpful, knowledgable members here so I'm sure you'll find this site a useful resource. Great to have you in the flock!

I would add about the rooster, an aggressive one definitely has to go. But if they have never shown any aggression, you want fertile eggs and your kids are a bit older then maybe...
 

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