Two roosters living with hens??

[fowlfriend98]

Well the eggs aren't the reason I would like another one. I have dozens of hawks that live/fly around my house, it's the beginning of the summer so it's not bad right now so the one is enough but soon there will be more hawks and other large birds that will pick up my hens so that's the main reason for wanting another.

 

[KittieChick]

Along this same vein, I'm deciding just what I want my flock to look like, and I've decided that I'd like to have dual purpose Heritage birds for eggs, meat and chicks. My thought is 5 hens/1 rooster of the same breed and then 5 more hens of a different breed for the eye-candy aspect. My sister, who has had chickens in the high desert for many years says only get a Bantam rooster, as a full size will make my chickens bald from over-breeding. My problem with that is 1) heritage breed is what I want, and 2) please, no hawk bait!!!!

I'm thinking her pen is not large enough to give everyone the space they need, and her chickens don't free range due to predators. My backyard is almost 1/4 acre, and my pen will occupy a significant area of dirt/grass that will be available to the birds if/when they can't just run around loose.

What says the community?

 

[Mrs. K]

KittieChick - to make it easier, pick two breeds of chickens with obvious egg color differences. Then you can just hatch the purebred eggs, the one where the chickens and rooster are the same breed. If you continue to like that combo, then in a year or so, dispatch the first rooster and go with a rooster of the other breed.

Or be like me and hatch whatever and see what you get! haha

However, barebacks really depend on your rooster's technique. Right now I have two older roos' and 7 girls, and really hardly a feather out of place. I have had a rooster that will 11 girls, eveyone was barebacked, but they adored him, and he and I got along. Roosters are a crap shoot. Cause I had a Austrolop that was just wicked, and I might never have that breed again!


Mrs K

 

[KittieChick]

KittieChick - to make it easier, pick two breeds of chickens with obvious egg color differences. Then you can just hatch the purebred eggs, the one where the chickens and rooster are the same breed. If you continue to like that combo, then in a year or so, dispatch the first rooster and go with a rooster of the other breed.

Or be like me and hatch whatever and see what you get! haha

However, barebacks really depend on your rooster's technique. Right now I have two older roos' and 7 girls, and really hardly a feather out of place. I have had a rooster that will 11 girls, eveyone was barebacked, but they adored him, and he and I got along. Roosters are a crap shoot. Cause I had a Austrolop that was just wicked, and I might never have that breed again!


Mrs K

Thank you, Mrs. K. Do you have any suggestions? I've been searching for info that will provide me with a good breed or breeds for a beginner. Chickens that are calm, not flighty, can brood and taste good with beauty, grace and poise. (I'm a painter) That's a long list, I'm not sure I have those qualities myself!

 

[donrae]

Thank you, Mrs. K. Do you have any suggestions? I've been searching for info that will provide me with a good breed or breeds for a beginner. Chickens that are calm, not flighty, can brood and taste good with beauty, grace and poise. (I'm a painter) That's a long list, I'm not sure I have those qualities myself!

With chickens there are three main qualities folks seem to look for....egg production, meat carcass, and broodiness. You can have two of the three, but you're not going to get all three in one breed. High production layers don't go broody. Birds that have bigger carcasses don't always lay well....you get the drift.

What some of us do is have our breed(s) of choice for egg production and meat, then add in another breed for brooding. I have bantam cochins for brooding, and am raising up silkies and Dark Cornish also for that purpose.

If you're new to chickens, I'd really advise you to start with a mixed flock. Pick one or two birds of a few different breeds and see who you really like in person. I've fallen totally in love with a breed or two on-line, but when I actually had them....meh. Not so much. If you have a mixed flock of dual purpose birds you'll have lots of eggs, and if you want to hatch chicks you'll have nice mixed breed birds that lay well and make nice carcasses. Select from Rocks, Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Reds, Sussex, Marans...breeds like that. That'd give you the eye candy appeal, and see which breed you want to invest in for the future.

 

[KittieChick]

With chickens there are three main qualities folks seem to look for....egg production, meat carcass, and broodiness. You can have two of the three, but you're not going to get all three in one breed. High production layers don't go broody. Birds that have bigger carcasses don't always lay well....you get the drift.

What some of us do is have our breed(s) of choice for egg production and meat, then add in another breed for brooding. I have bantam cochins for brooding, and am raising up silkies and Dark Cornish also for that purpose.

If you're new to chickens, I'd really advise you to start with a mixed flock. Pick one or two birds of a few different breeds and see who you really like in person. I've fallen totally in love with a breed or two on-line, but when I actually had them....meh. Not so much. If you have a mixed flock of dual purpose birds you'll have lots of eggs, and if you want to hatch chicks you'll have nice mixed breed birds that lay well and make nice carcasses. Select from Rocks, Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Reds, Sussex, Marans...breeds like that. That'd give you the eye candy appeal, and see which breed you want to invest in for the future

Thank you, Donrae. I've been thinking that I just need to bite the bullet and buy a couple at a time at a huge price compared to mail order 5 at a time... We have a local birdie dealer, I can get my babies from. I think I'll start with 6 hens and add a rooster later. Or breed with a Frizzle I know.

 

[Mrs. K]

I fully agree with Donrae, but I would like to suggest Dovers if you can get them, I really liked mine, they were good layers, and had a thick carcass. They were not pets, but not flighty.
Had a #@% predator get them.

Mrs K