What roosters should I keep?

[donrae]

That's what I figure. Any time you hatch, you need to have a plan for dealing with the cockerels you hatch out. Dinner is the plan around here!

 

[chooks4life]

I figured you knew and it was just a brain hiccup. The bearded gene IS associated with small wattles though. Gotta love those fluffy faces.

Those are some good beards, lol! I've read some conflicting info about beards vs wattles, it's apparently quite variable... Could dig up a link if anyone's interested.

One of my hens was crossed with a bearded rooster while under agistment, she actually looks very much like the hen you've pictured, but with a big black beard combined with big red wattles and comb. I'm thinking of calling her Blackbeard. Original, I know.

Thanks for the input donrae! I have a feeling that is most likely what I will end up doing and probably keep the dorking as well because he is such sweetheart and a very lax bird. The only thing I am concerned about is the roos being so much larger than my hens (mostly my barred rock because she is tiny compared to the rest so far). Is it okay for the roos to be 3 or 4 lbs heavier than the hens when full grown?

Generally speaking, gender size difference is not a problem. He can be more than triple her weight and it won't be a problem as long as he's a kind-natured roo. If he's nasty, he could be the tiniest roo in the world and he'd still do damage. At one point I had a mongrel rooster of almost two feet tall whose thighs would have weighed about the same as some of my hens, and he was never, ever trouble with them despite the size/weight difference, whereas I removed far tinier roos for being harmful.

It's alright, it's a kind of lovable country, lol. But right now it's in a fair bit of drought, which does wear away at you even when you live in greener areas that never dry up. Looking forward to monsoon season, hopefully, except for the part where everything goes under and you're stranded, lol!

I have some pictures! (It is so difficult to take quality pictures of chickens who don't want to sit still. I apologize if some are not that great)

Here are the younger roos (6 weeks)

This is my VERY solid, very sweet dorking. He refused to leave my arm for the pic

He fluffed up for the pic.

Is it just me or does this one also have unusually thick and short legs?

He's got a fair bit of white coming through at the back of the head and near the ears, probably means he'll have full pale or white hackling on the neck and likely pale shoulder and rump feathers too. If so, he's either a terrible excuse for a B.A.Orp, or a crossbreed. Which might make him a good one for pretty offspring, but there's the issue of black often being so dominant to consider.

As for the rest of them, I guess they're a good enough start for practicing with!

Best wishes.

 

[kuhnse51]

Quote: This is very good to hear, glad I don't have to worry about that!

Quote: Wow, that's crazy! Not that I mind snakes, really, but I'm sure the chickens do lol

Quote: Yeah, I'm not sure what that's about. The chicks do seem to have somewhat short legs. I think the angle of the picture adds to them looking stubby, too. The Welsummer shouldn't be mixed with anything, but then again it does come from a hatchery so I'm not exactly sure how they do the breeding there.

Quote: Yes! Something has always been very strange about his feathering and he's always been considerably bigger/heavier than the other ones (I don't know if that's just because of his breed or not). I have some pics of him when he first started growing in his feathers and they look very odd! Hopefully this doesn't turn into show that he has some major health problem as he gets older I am starting to see why they say hatchery birds are of very low quality already.





Quote: I don't believe he does, although, I've never watched for it. I think it may have just been the moment that I snapped the pic after he fluffed his feathers. I will keep an eye on it now. Does that mean something specific?

Quote:

He's got a fair bit of white coming through at the back of the head and near the ears, probably means he'll have full pale or white hackling on the neck and likely pale shoulder and rump feathers too. If so, he's either a terrible excuse for a B.A.Orp, or a crossbreed. Which might make him a good one for pretty offspring, but there's the issue of black often being so dominant to consider.

No, their eyes are always wide open. I think it just happened to be him moving his head as the picture was taken or something. I've always wondered why he had the white on his head because my other one doesn't have that. As a chick he had a very white face with black spots. His face coloring was why he received his name, Freckles.

I think I'm going to try and find a source around me to get more quality chickens if I end up purchasing more. Especially if I really start getting into this breeding thing. I'll wait and see what kind of chicks come out from the stock I have now first.

 

[kuhnse51]

On a side note; I just discovered the Brabanter breed and I think it's adorable! Maybe I can make something similar with my hamburg hens and a mixture of the others ;P except none of my chickens are crested

 

[chooks4life]

On a side note; I just discovered the Brabanter breed and I think it's adorable! Maybe I can make something similar with my hamburg hens and a mixture of the others ;P except none of my chickens are crested

Best wishes.