Roosters

[DaylightYt]

So I have a alot of roosters, and we don't have a separate pen for them. Yesterday we cooked too, but I want to be sure which roosyers to keep? Used to have 6 roosters but now we have 4, an American game fowl, a Rhode island red, and there's a small, white one, and another one bred from a black chicken and orange rooster. The white one is ... a normal rooster, the american game wants to fight with everyone, the rhode island red, pecks the chickens way too much, so does the black and orange one. So ... yea I need help choosing

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'd remove the worse offender in your eyes and work your way down.

 

[Ruthster55]

So I have a alot of roosters, and we don't have a separate pen for them. Yesterday we cooked too, but I want to be sure which roosyers to keep? Used to have 6 roosters but now we have 4, an American game fowl, a Rhode island red, and there's a small, white one, and another one bred from a black chicken and orange rooster. The white one is ... a normal rooster, the american game wants to fight with everyone, the rhode island red, pecks the chickens way too much, so does the black and orange one. So ... yea I need help choosing

That Game rooster has a strong territorial instinct and probably won’t tolerate any other roosters in the area. The Rhode Island Red is probably also like that, just to a lesser degree.

What are you looking for with a rooster and your hens? If it’s egg production, maybe keep the Rhode Island Red and cull all the others.

If you are looking for pretty mixes, maybe cull the others and select the black and orange.

If you’re looking for tame and nice birds and don’t care too much about egg production or breed, cull the others and pick the white rooster which I am guessing is a mix. Temperament is inherited, so it’s important to pick nice roosters.

Maybe the white rooster is a bantam.

Maybe just eat the Rhode Island Red plus separate the Game from the flock and see how things are going with the black-orange and the white roosters?

I guess I wouldn’t recommend the Game for anyone new to chickens. (Although he’s probably beautiful).

Games and their progeny require more carpentry (individual housing) than most can or want to provide for a backyard flock.

You could either eat it or put it on Craigslist fast. Put it in a dog carrier away from the flock if possible. You could say it’s a gallo or rooster on Craigslist with a picture. Someone might pay for it. If not, just eat it.

Are you looking for broody hens in the future? I’m not sure whether Game roosters pass down that gene, but Game hens are terrific chick raisers.

 

[Mrs. K]

That is a lot of roosters, and the thing is, roosters act differently once you start removing roosters. I like the idea above, pull one and see.

I do this:

1. anything I just don't like
2. divide into the maybes and pretty sure I will keep
3. reduce the maybes, two at a time
4. re-evaluate the pretty sure I will keep
5. pick the final rooster

 

[Mrs. K]

Another point or two:
Pick up each rooster and really feel their bodies - feathers can hide a lot of sins. Look carefully at their beak alignment, and at their feet, are they straight. Check some SOP for the breed closest to the rooster. Weigh them.

No use keeping flaws in the flock.

Mrs K

 

[Ruthster55]

To

That is a lot of roosters, and the thing is, roosters act differently once you start removing roosters. I like the idea above, pull one and see.

I do this:

1. anything I just don't like
2. divide into the maybes and pretty sure I will keep
3. reduce the maybes, two at a time
4. re-evaluate the pretty sure I will keep
5. pick the final rooster

Totally agree. Which roosters you remove first depends on their behaviors toward humans plus what you want for the future of the flock.

I would cull any human-aggresive rooster FIRST. I don’t see that problem here, but other posters have had this situation.

A lot of your choices among human-friendly but chicken-aggressive roosters depend on your goals with the chickens. No idea what your goals are....

 

[Ruthster55]

Another point or two:
Pick up each rooster and really feel their bodies - feathers can hide a lot of sins. Look carefully at their beak alignment, and at their feet, are they straight. Check some SOP for the breed closest to the rooster. Weigh them.

No use keeping flaws in the flock.

Mrs K

Indeed. If there are any scissor-beaked or crooked-toe guys, they need to go. Meat Bird section recently discussed crooked keels, too. It’s at the bottom of this page -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/heritage-meat-birds.1363241/page-3#post-22867598

 

[DaylightYt]

Indeed. If there are any scissor-beaked or crooked-toe guys, they need to go. Meat Bird section recently discussed crooked keels, too. It’s at the bottom of this page -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/heritage-meat-birds.1363241/page-3#post-22867598

Wow, thanks for all the advice, but I'm still not sure, so I will go more into detail.
The rhode island red sometumes dances around me, but he comes at my command and is the second weakest among the others, he is my favorite and I dont think I should eat him, but the others disagree

The white rooster doesn't seem to be a bantam, he has a short black tail, and his feathers are a bit yellow, but nothing too noticeable. He used to be the strongest of them all, but was beaten by the game.

The game is the strongest, he is quite annoying to the chickens, but everyone wants to keep him for breeding so im not sure

Black and orange is the weakest, he prefer two chockens over the rest, so he pecks them quite often. My family says he just needs time to nourish, but im unconvinced.
Thanks for your advice

 

[Ruthster55]

Wow, thanks for all the advice, but I'm still not sure, so I will go more into detail.
The rhode island red sometumes dances around me, but he comes at my command and is the second weakest among the others, he is my favorite and I dont think I should eat him, but the others disagree

The white rooster doesn't seem to be a bantam, he has a short black tail, and his feathers are a bit yellow, but nothing too noticeable. He used to be the strongest of them all, but was beaten by the game.

The game is the strongest, he is quite annoying to the chickens, but everyone wants to keep him for breeding so im not sure

Black and orange is the weakest, he prefer two chockens over the rest, so he pecks them quite often. My family says he just needs time to nourish, but im unconvinced.
Thanks for your advice

Can you put the Game in a dog crate away from the flock for a few days?

Give him feed and water but keep his cage or crate near your house and not in the chicken run.

What do the chickens and the other roosters do while the Game is in the dog crate (absent)?

Watch the remaining roosters and how they treat the hens. There will probably still be squabbles, because you have only removed one rooster (temporarily or permanently depending on your decision).

Among the remaining roosters, which is nice to you and also does not tear up the hens?

If all are respectful toward the hens, you can start selecting for colors or egg-laying or whatever.

If all the other roosters fail the class, try bringing the Game back as an only rooster.

 

[DaylightYt]

Can you put the Game in a dog crate away from the flock for a few days?

Give him feed and water but keep his cage or crate near your house and not in the chicken run.

What do the chickens and the other roosters do while the Game is in the dog crate (absent)?

Watch the remaining roosters and how they treat the hens. There will probably still be squabbles, because you have only removed one rooster (temporarily or permanently depending on your decision).

Among the remaining roosters, which is nice to you and also does not tear up the hens?

If all are respectful toward the hens, you can start selecting for colors or egg-laying or whatever.

If all the other roosters fail the class, try bringing the Game back as an only rooster.

They go about their normal activities, nothing unusual. Here are there pictures