What cockerel should I choose?!

[mrsdee]

So I ended up with a pretty good hatch at the beginning of Jan. But unfortunately I ended up with plenty of cockerels. I currently have 9 cockerels and 9 pullets; I've already culled one of my cockerels due to extremely agressive behavior. So now I am down to choosing a couple to keep around. I will probably only keep one, but want to have an extra just to be safe. So my questions is, how do I choose?

I've got 3 Sapphires, 2 CCL x BO crosses, 2 CCL x BR crosses, 1 CCL x SF cross, and 1 EE cross. So pretty much all Easter Eggers except for the Sapphires (I'm committed to keeping one of these, just which one).

What do you take into consideration when choosing young cockerels? One of my sapphires is already trying to crow (at only 6 weeks!) and has a more developed comb and wattles. Is he a good candidate?

 

[SimplyLivinthatFarmLife]

I would love to hear the advice of others and I'm planning to incubate eggs in the near future.

 

[Folly's place]

Time, it takes time! You've already made a wise decision about one of them, and as they are growing, continue to mark any that show any human aggressive tendencies. It's much better to avoid those issues than trying to fix them!
I don't try to make pets of the cockerels at all; no hand feeding or tolerating 'cute' interactions. They need to move out of my way at all times.
Any with physical faults, or too small, get marked.
Will you be breeding them? Is keeping a crossbred male worth it?
It may be difficult to keep all these boys with the pullets as they are maturing, so having a separate pen for them would be nice. There's going to be a lot of drama as sexual maturity arrives!
Some choices will become obvious by three or four months of age, and that's also when they will be good butchering age. Some will take longer, and sometimes it's hard to make decisions, so delay happens.
In 2017 I had five Chantecler cockerels, and chose the largest to keep as a possible replacement. He was never human aggressive, but landed in my freezer because of his obnoxious behavior towards the pullets and even hens in my flock. Bad choice on my part! His daddy is still here, so better luck this year.
Best wishes!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I also had an adorable bantam boy, a bantam EE/ Belgian d'Uccle mix, who moved to a friend's flock because he had no future as a breeder here.
Mary

 

[aart]

I've got 3 Sapphires, 2 CCL x BO crosses, 2 CCL x BR crosses, 1 CCL x SF cross, and 1 EE cross. So pretty much all Easter Eggers except for the Sapphires (I'm committed to keeping one of these, just which one).

That should take it down to 3 right off the bat.
Put the others on the freezer list, then assess the others near 16 weeks.
May depend on your 'breeding' plans.
It can be a tough call.
I had to do this last spring, had 4 to choose from,
ended up keeping the one I first rejected at about 8-10wks.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

So I ended up with a pretty good hatch at the beginning of Jan. But unfortunately I ended up with plenty of cockerels. I currently have 9 cockerels and 9 pullets; I've already culled one of my cockerels due to extremely agressive behavior. So now I am down to choosing a couple to keep around. I will probably only keep one, but want to have an extra just to be safe. So my questions is, how do I choose?

I've got 3 Sapphires, 2 CCL x BO crosses, 2 CCL x BR crosses, 1 CCL x SF cross, and 1 EE cross. So pretty much all Easter Eggers except for the Sapphires (I'm committed to keeping one of these, just which one).

What do you take into consideration when choosing young cockerels? One of my sapphires is already trying to crow (at only 6 weeks!) and has a more developed comb and wattles. Is he a good candidate?

I have had only wonderful experience with my BO rooster.. so I would say the BO cross. My BO is a purebred, but is very sweet with the hens. Never aggressive with them, me or kids.
I also agree with having an extra rooster! I always have 2, but my birds all free range 100% no doors are closed so they need the protection.
I edit to add that I have never had an EE hen or rooster so I'm not familiar with the tempermant or breed personality. I plan on buying EE chicks in a week so I'm nervous for the first time cause they are much harder to sex.. and you find out much later then other breeds I'm used to...

 

[ImNotYogi]

I havent had a lot of experience with choosing cockerals. Last year a hen hatched out a few and the only survivor is a male. So now I have two in separate pens and waiting for pullets for JR.

I decided to keep him because I saw he was good with the hens, not people aggressive, and I had the room for him and more hens. Hes an EE × Cream Legbar. Dad is the EE and hes been awesome since the start.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I have had only wonderful experience with my BO rooster.. so I would say the BO cross. My BO is a purebred, but is very sweet with the hens. Never aggressive with them, me or kids.
I also agree with having an extra rooster! I always have 2, but my birds all free range 100% no doors are closed so they need the protection.
I edit to add that I have never had an EE hen or rooster so I'm not familiar with the tempermant or breed personality. I plan on buying EE chicks in a week so I'm nervous for the first time cause they are much harder to sex.. and you find out much later then other breeds I'm used to...

When I first ordered chickens I made sure to get EEs. One turned out to be a rooster (the white one in my DP). I still have him and I think hes been great. Ive told people with more chicken keeping experience about him and they seem to agree. He does the normal stuff like calling hens for treats. When they first started laying and doing that squawking thing, hed make them a nest. Of course he keeps an eye for predators too. Once a neighbors dog got loose. I was outside to make sure nothing happened and he spotted her before I did. Sounded the alarm and the hens ran in one direction and he ran towards the dog.
The hens were very pretty and inquisitive too. One used to fly onto my arm but she has passed away. The other two were taken by predators. They used to chase the cat.

I havent had a bad experience with EEs at all.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

When I first ordered chickens I made sure to get EEs. One turned out to be a rooster (the white one in my DP). I still have him and I think hes been great. Ive told people with more chicken keeping experience about him and they seem to agree. He does the normal stuff like calling hens for treats. When they first started laying and doing that squawking thing, hed make them a nest. Of course he keeps an eye for predators too. Once a neighbors dog got loose. I was outside to make sure nothing happened and he spotted her before I did. Sounded the alarm and the hens ran in one direction and he ran towards the dog.
The hens were very pretty and inquisitive too. One used to fly onto my arm but she has passed away. The other two were taken by predators. They used to chase the cat.

I havent had a bad experience with EEs at all.

Awesome to know! I'm so excited, but nervous I'll end up with 6 roos lol. I already have 2 roos and 9 hens right now so I want more hens so the roosters stay peaceful. They are 9 months and 7 months. My BO is only 9 months and he takes the girls out to range, finds food, and defends them from the younger much more hormonal rooster. No fights yet..he runs up to him and the young roo runs away lol.
Oh he also 'warns' the dogs when they are hyper by the hens.. the dogs know better so I do not feel bad haha.

 

[TattooedChicks]

Sounds like the game I had to play last year with all the cockerels I got. In a box of 20 assorted bantams I ended up with 17 boys and started my rehoming process at about 8 weeks old.

I began with the ones that simply didn’t look good enough to me, then by breeds I wasn’t as interested in, then the ones whose personalities I liked the least, then deciding on the nicest ones to my girls. The final cock was rehomed because I didn’t like his crowing habits and thought his brother had the prettier face.

I had to buy more chicks to make up for the terrible numbers and got a stunning boy in that group of 12, so by 5-6 months old I’d whittled it down to 2 males out of 21. Several months later, my favorite chick from the get go is still my favorite rooster, and my beta roo has his good qualities but may be a tad rough on a few of the pullets. I may reevaluate keeping him as my first batch of home hatched chicks mature.


My top contender, beautiful and ultra friendly, Haku

And second in command, gorgeous but people shy, Nova