Which cockerel should I keep?

[Altairsky]

I think you have a worse chance of a good one if he is raised with just flock mates, he just outgrows the pullets, never meets anything bigger than him, and they often become a bully.

I have adult hens that already beat up all of them so they definitely learned a few lessons.
I can either cull or rehome instantly (I already have someone who takes excess birds if they're valuable breeds) so it's not a problem. No kids either.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, then, just play it by ear. I would wait, until, there is one I didn't like. Do have a fishnet, and a dog crate, so that you could separate fighting roosters if needed. A plan B ready to go.

But they will change a lot in the next few months. You might get one good one, or you might not.

If neither works out - well keep an eye out at the feed store, or contact 4-H clubs, check out poultry clubs...rooster can often be gotten for free or cheap.

Mrs K

 

[Altairsky]

Yeah there are a lot of roosters looking for homes, but I prefer to not get adult birds at the moment because I don't have an adequate space for a quarantine so I prefer to hatch my own flock.

 

[FrostRanger]

I agree with waiting. There's no telling if either will work out and you won't know their true temperment until they're at least a year old. Just set reasonable boundaries and watch and wait

 

[Altairsky]

An update.
Both cockerels are well behaved.
Dominance switch back and forth between one and the other, they mostly act as BFF, though they both crow together and I think it's time to reduce the noisiness by 50%

Cockerel 1
He's shy. He's still heavier than his brother, he also act as more mature. I've seen him tidbit for the girls (though he tidbit over green leaves and the girls are really ignoring him, poor boy). This morning I've seen him try to dance in an extremely goofy way and then he bit the pullet on the neck, but then he really didn't know what else he was supposed to do. The pullet screamed a bit out of annoyance but she didn't care much about what happened, not even moving from where she was.
I also heard him do the warning call. He was the first to call for danger, immediately followed by cockerel 2 who repeated the call.
He also has the best colors according to the breed standard, though it's not really important because I just need him to make my own easter eggers.

Cockerel 2
He's the bold one. He has a bent comb which I really don't like, but he has some stunning iridescent feathers on his tail that I'm in love with.
He's always together with the pullets, and all he thinks about is food. He crows a freaking lot atm.

BE AWARE...they can go from darling to a nightmare in what seems like a moment. But often times new people are just not aware of the signals or make excuses for them.

• Jumping up on you (none)
• jumping up on things to be taller than you (none)
• sneaking behind you (sometimes, the whole flock. Which makes me think about some sort of jurassic park nightmare)
• flapping his wings at you (none, not in a challenging way)
• stink eye (none)
• excessive crowing when you come around the coop (not more than usual in particular)
• and attacking you for any reason (none)

What I want in a good rooster:

• He should be the first to see me when I approach (atm this is more of the dominant hen's job)
• When outside the coop/run, he should have his head up, being very aware of his surroundings (cockerel #1)
• He should tidbit (this should come on with age) (cockerel #1)
• His hens should adore him (they honestly prefer cockerel #2, but maybe it' because he's a pig and where there's him, there's food - he never tidbit though)
• He breaks up fights within his flocks (cockerel #2 - I once caught his brother and he tried to break what he thought was a fight between me and him. He was very gentle though, and didn't show the same type of aggression I see from broody hens when I try to catch a chick)
• He is good with people, especially children. just casually moving away, usually between his hens and the child, but space of 5-6 feet. (When strangers are around, they prefer to hide - tested with a 2 years old)

Both cockerels respects me a lot. None of them jump or fly at me (and I trained the pullets to fly at me, just the pullets, the cockerels know their place and they never dared to even try to fly at me after the first week out of the brooder).

So far, cockerel #1 has the highest score. Maybe #2 will mature later and will be a great rooster, but I need to chose one by the end of this week.

 

[LaFleche]

Well, by your description of today's situation it seems pretty clear to me that #2 will be the one to rehome.

• He does not tidbit
• Is only interested in food
• Crows a lot
• Is bold
• Has a bent comb you don't like
• The only positives are his iridescent tail feathers

 

[Karoo permaculture]

Keep nr1, just like with people, the shy boys are the keepers...

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Cockerel #1 is better by far. He has a lot of good qualities and traits that you like.

 

[Altairsky]

Sad update, hormones finally hit.
I've been trying to rehome #2 for a whole month now without success so I'm sadly gonna be culling him as soon as he has a decent weight.
Cockerel #1 still has a lot of good qualities:
- he dances for his pullets
- he tidbits a lot (I barely see him eating)
- he never harass the immature pullets. The pullets love him.
- he always warn the flock when he sees a potential predator.
- I've seen him run back to the coop when a laying hen do the egg song and escort the hen back to the rest of the flock.

However this morning my elderly dominant hen lost to him for the first time (she always beat his butt so far), she squatted, but he only pecked at her comb until he drew blood.
He has absolutely no idea how to mate.
So both cockerels are now in chicken jail, and they will stay there for one whole month - by that time #2 will be ready to be culled and #1 hopefully will have matured a little more. The pullets will also hopefully be laying so he will have more hens to mate with.

And before someone tell me to not keep cockerels, I need fertile eggs.
1- I don't have a quarantine coop so I can't buy adult roos or adult chickens.
2- Fertile eggs from good breeders are incredibly expensive (4 euros each egg, minimum)
3- I want to raise my own easter eggers. There are no easter eggers for sale in my country, every breeder breeds pure breeds, and you can only find olive eggers araucana X marans (which are considered almost a breed themselves, therefore they're all F2 which means there is no guarantee of actual olive eggs). I also dislike rumpless birds in general and I want to build a line of easter eggers with a tail and single comb.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Sad update, hormones finally hit.
I've been trying to rehome #2 for a whole month now without success so I'm sadly gonna be culling him as soon as he has a decent weight.
Cockerel #1 still has a lot of good qualities:
- he dances for his pullets
- he tidbits a lot (I barely see him eating)
- he never harass the immature pullets. The pullets love him.
- he always warn the flock when he sees a potential predator.
- I've seen him run back to the coop when a laying hen do the egg song and escort the hen back to the rest of the flock.

However this morning my elderly dominant hen lost to him for the first time (she always beat his butt so far), she squatted, but he only pecked at her comb until he drew blood.
He has absolutely no idea how to mate.
So both cockerels are now in chicken jail, and they will stay there for one whole month - by that time #2 will be ready to be culled and #1 hopefully will have matured a little more. The pullets will also hopefully be laying so he will have more hens to mate with.

And before someone tell me to not keep cockerels, I need fertile eggs.
1- I don't have a quarantine coop so I can't buy adult roos or adult chickens.
2- Fertile eggs from good breeders are incredibly expensive (4 euros each egg, minimum)
3- I want to raise my own easter eggers. There are no easter eggers for sale in my country, every breeder breeds pure breeds, and you can only find olive eggers araucana X marans (which are considered almost a breed themselves, therefore they're all F2 which means there is no guarantee of actual olive eggs). I also dislike rumpless birds in general and I want to build a line of easter eggers with a tail and single comb.

That is unfortunate! All cockerels go through a stage where they have no idea how to mate, they simply have to go through a process of learning how to mount and hold the female down correctly. I would let out cockerel one when the hen's comb heals appropriately, because he is not going to learn how to mate until he actually gets chances to.