Silkie roosters

[Brenda Vause]

We are pretty new to the chicken world and have obtained 18 chicks of varying ages and breeds....all pullets with one we are unsure about. My daughter had just accepted 3 free silkie roosters (4 mo. old) from a friend who can't have roosters in city limits.
They are supposedly really nice birds but we have no silkies at all. One is black and two are buff. Supposedly they come from show stock. I do want to find young silkie pullets for them. I just dont know whether to keep one cockeral and give other two away or keep all three.. I would appreciate ideas as to what to do with them. Pics coming when they arrive, possibly tomorrow.

 

[wullus]

I'm no expert or anything, but I've heard to keep one rooster for every 10 hens to minimize fighting. We got 6 hens last year, and my mums friend gave us two extra chicks- both of which turned out to be roosters. One was extremely aggressive to the other one, fighting it and carrying on, and was also aggressive to the hens as well, so my dad went and knocked it on the head. The other one we have now is much more peaceful, but he is a bit of a wimp when it comes to danger. He sounds the alarm, but doesn't protect the hens, he just runs away.

I reckon you should give 1 of your roosters away, but it's up to you. Who knows, they might actually turn out alright and not squabble so much. See how you go... if they fight, take the most aggressive one out and give it away

That's my 2 cents good luck!

 

[toritori]

We have 5 Silkies, 2 roos and 3 hens. The 2 roos don't fight, they just jump on the girls all the time. My understanding is that you can have 2 roos if they were raised as brothers together (definitely have more hens than us though to keep them "occupied"). Truthfully, I think Harry & Loyd would be lost without each other.

 

[Brenda Vause]

I hate to keep all 3 but I am going to see how it goes. I will invest in some hens for them...actually I already have quite a few hens, just not silkies lol. I will keep the nicest one or 2...and try breeding for color. Im thinking of trying the black roo w/ a black hen and a white hen..maybe a blue if I can find one...and keeping a buff with a couple buff hens and see what happens with a white or a black hen...but that involves 3 pens! Or since they were raised together I just might keep two and have them both with about 6 hens if they don't fight. Thanks for the advice.