What breed and when to add a Rooster to an expanding flock??

[Pazkez710]

Hi! I am Kat and my husband and i started our flock last spring. We started with 6 TSC Red Pullets and lost 2. Two weeks later, after a LOT of research, we got 2 Black Australorps,Morticia and Lily & a BO called Cinnamon. Two weeks later, with a new found Chicken addiction (which i am sure most of us have), we bought one Dominique, one Ameracauna and one Sicilian Buttercup (Domino, Robin and Simone) we had our first flock. Our neighbors White leghorn bantam adopted us after her sisters were attacked. So all my girls seemed to get along great. So this year we decided to add 5 or 6 chicks to the flock, but ended up with 12! We went with 3 Ameracaunas, 3 BO, 3 BR, 1 Isa Brown (what an Angel!) And 2 Columbian Wyandottes. We were thinking of adding some Roos but want to start with one. All of our Hens are pretty docile. I can hold them all and stroke their backs. They follow my husband everywhere. We have a nice size coop and our expanding it. It actually is attached and under our lean-to attached to the pole barn. Obviously the chicks are indoors for now. So we r hoping, with that little background info, if someone could reccomend a docile, friendly, but protective and productive with the Hens. I know "In a Perfect World", right? Lol. So far I have heard pros and cons about a lot of breeds, certainly i understand there are always exceptions, but it seemed the most positive feedback was in regards to Cochins, Bramhas, Welsummers, and Buff Orpingtons. Can anyone confirm this or offer any advice or suggestions? It would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome1 You have an interesting mix of breeds, so any rooster (s) will be there for eye candy and flock dynamics, right? I would add Salmon Favorelles to your list; very sweet roosters, although the hens may be too mellow to cope with some of yours. My Wyandotte and BC Marans roosters have been fine too. The Australorp cocks I have met were also very nice. Mary

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

yes, each boy is a little different and some are good and bad. I would say you've gotten pretty good advice on the breeds you listed.

The best roosters i've ever kept have been cochins-standard or bantam. They are truely the cutest, most fun and sweet roosters. If you've ever seen them, you know what balls of fluff they are. I have never had a mean one (i've owned 9 rooster cochins...most likely my favorite breed ever, but its hard to narrow down). 4 of them were also the quietest roosters i've ever met. Even on that came from a rescue situation and pretty much never had human interaction warmed up to me in a few weeks, and after a month let my 5 year old brother hold him whenever. Since you have a mostly standard flock, i would get a standard cochin...he will service the girls much better. Their downside is they are poor layers (if you are planning on breeding and hatching), and the boy won't be able to do much if an animal trys to eat the girls...he will fight, but they are not the best fighters. Most have been ladies men, and taken good care of the girls, but a few were just downright self centered, and only wanted my attention.

Brahmas are another rooster i highly recommend when people are looking for sweet roosters. I've kept 15 roosters of this breed, and they are great. only have two that were mean, and even then, it was nothing like a mean old Rhode Island red or barred rock...i've had some really nasty ones of those...and some really sweet ones. Anyways, they are friendly, very pretty, and good with the girls. They take a while to mature (the cochins do too) but once they do they are a good alarm for predators, and will happily die protecting the flock. They are big, but never quite get that in their heads and think they can still perch on my shoulder when they are really too big. Awesome birds. They lay a pretty good amount, and will lay through the wintert

I've never had any personal experience with welsummer roosters, only hens, but have heard positive things from others.

Buff orpingtons are great as well. I've had more mean birds than the other 2 breeds, but overall they are quite nice. I've kept about 7 of these. They are pretty good at protecting, and tend to last much longer than the cochins. They are beautiful, and theier babies are pretty god layers. they are usually ladies men, and i like to keep a nice number of girls with them...they can get a little rough. Oh, depending on if you want a bunch of fetile eggs or not, a cochin sometimes is too nice, and takes a long time getting her to "fall for him" before he mates...the others are bad boys lol. If i want fetile eggs from the cochins, then i put them in with a certain few girls and let them do their thing.

Well, sorry, that was really long...hope this helps!

 

[centrarchid]

With a single rooster and not intent for sustained breeding, then I suggest either an American Dominique or even an American Game. Both are generally easy on hens and latter will provide more interesting observations.