What to do about my roosters?

[christa7032]

I bought 6 chicks that are about 2 1/2 months now and I think 2 of them are roos. 1 silver laced wyandotte and 1 cochin bantam. I am not interested in breeding but I think it might be nice to have a rooster around but I am not sure I want to deal with everything that comes with it. I have heard that the roos can do damage to the hens when breeding and I know some are mean and will attack you when you walk into the coop. I was thinking of keeping the cochin since he will be smaller and it doesn't seem like he can do as much damage to the girls or to me. Also, I am not interested in feeding a 9 lb roo without getting anything out of it. So my questions are, does my plan sound reasonable? and what do I do with the roo that I don't want? (I can't bring myself to cull him). Thanks.

 

[HEChicken]

I'm not sure I would use size as the indicator of which one to keep because it comes down to personality more than anything. Some roosters will always be nice, friendly and gentle, while others will try to dominate you - regardless of size. I live in the city so cannot keep roosters. That said, I ended up with four (straight run chicks) and just processed three of them last Saturday. The fourth picked up crowing now that he is the "head roo" but so far does it just a few times around 7am and I just wait until he's done to open the coop and let them out. I doubt if any of the neighbors are even aware of him, since we can't hear him from in our house a short distance away, unless we open the back door. I wish I could keep a rooster because a good rooster will help take care of the flock - give a warning when a hawk is spotted, try to defend against some other predators, find treats for the girls and so on. I agree with you that two roosters out of six is too many but I would wait to decide which one to keep, and see when they are old enough to start acting like roosters, which one is the better one to keep. For culling, you could just post an ad on Craigslist to try to rehome him, but be aware that more than likely the person who takes him off your hands will do what you don't want to - process and eat. Each person has to make this decision for themselves. For me it came down to: I know they led good lives (pampered really) and were happy - much more so than the chickens available for sale at the grocery store. We processed in a very humane way. The "investment" in their food over the last three months provided us with much appreciated food for our table.

Unfortunately, around 50% of the chicks hatched are roosters and 9/10 of them are not needed in this world, so difficult decisions need to be made. Keep in mind that if you do decide to breed, you will face this decision again in the future as half of the chicks you hatched will also be roosters. If this is something you don't really want to deal with, you might consider getting rid of both your boys and replace them in the spring with a couple more pullets.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

You can post him for rehoming and/or sell him.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Temeperment can vary from bird to bird even within the same breed. Some roosters are very fiesty, some are gentle lambs. Quite often the bantam breed roosters are the most fiesty. I keep many roosters, and have very few problems. I keep an adequate number of hens to roosters (3 to one minimum), and have found that usually roosters that are raised together can continue to live together in thier adulthood. Usually, a pecking order establishes that one rooster is dominate. I have noticed that my subordinate rosters tend to be less developed (roosterish). It has been over 20 years since I had a mean rooster that attacked me - but he was a gamebird mix of some sort. There are many benefits to keeping roosters. Hens tend to be happier with a rooster, there tends to be less squabbles around the henhouse, roosters keep an eye out for flying predators when the flock free ranges. My roosters run to the danger to help when a hen is under attack from a hawk. I suggest that you don't anticipate any rooster problems until you have rooster problems. You may have no problems at all. My approach in poultry keeping is to try to let the birds work out thier social order for themselves. I only intervene if someone is being seriously injured or prevented from eating and foraging naturally. Hope this helps.