Which roo characteristics are better?

[lknipfer]

I have two FBCM roos that are 22 weeks old. I am only going to keep one. I will get pix posted tomorrow if necessary as they are all roosting right now for the night. The first one is big, lots of color, in my face whenever I go out there, but hasn't been directly aggressive yet and NO feathers down his legs. I don't see him interacting good or bad with the hens yet. He's not overly mean to the other 12 roos either. He crows ALL day. The second one is quite a bit smaller, feathers down the legs, is more shy and doesn't approach me, spends more time with the hens. I saw one hen picking food off his face last night. He is darker with less color. Have seen him crow a few times, but not every time I go in the pen like the other one. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[lknipfer]

PS. I have three FBCM hens and four buff Orps that I am mostly using for eggs. IF I hatch any eggs out, it will be for meat or replacement hens. I will be also keeping one huge, but so far mellow, Orp roo. Please help me decide on the better maran roo.

 

[ramirezframing]

Pictures would help, but do your bcm hens have feathered shanks? That can play a part in your choice, If you can try to take each rooster with a few hens and place that group in a pen for a few weeks to see how the rooster acts with the hens and you. I say this because I have had roosters turn mean once they were the only rooster in the pen with the hens. And what you say of the bigger rooster, sounds like he might do this.

 

[lknipfer]

Yes, my girls have the feathers and I'll get pix of each as soon as they are up and around. Thanks.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that there's no place for a human- aggressive rooster; that trumps all other considerations. You might keep them a bit longer to see how things go , but in my experience the boys that get that bold look at me early on, usually are attacking me in another month or two, and only get worse. I have had really bad actors who went for me at 8 to 12 weeks of age also. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry about the rant, just too many bad rooster experiences. I do think that bigger is better, as long as he's not massively oversized for his breed. It's been hard for me to find birds that are within breed standard at all; mostly they are too small. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry about the rant, just too many bad rooster experiences. I do think that bigger is better, as long as he's not massively oversized for his breed. It's been hard for me to find birds that are within breed standard at all; mostly they are too small. Mary

 

[Demosthine]

I have two FBCM roos that are 22 weeks old. I am only going to keep one. I will get pix posted tomorrow if necessary as they are all roosting right now for the night. The first one is big, lots of color, in my face whenever I go out there, but hasn't been directly aggressive yet and NO feathers down his legs. I don't see him interacting good or bad with the hens yet. He's not overly mean to the other 12 roos either. He crows ALL day. The second one is quite a bit smaller, feathers down the legs, is more shy and doesn't approach me, spends more time with the hens. I saw one hen picking food off his face last night. He is darker with less color. Have seen him crow a few times, but not every time I go in the pen like the other one. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

I have a very large Black Copper Marans cockerel is 22-weeks and he is completely docile, but protective if he needs to be. I agree with Folly's Place, though. If he is already that aggressive, it will only get worse as time goes by. I would definitely send him to Camp Freezer, and the sooner the better. An aggressive rooster can have negative impacts on the flock and cause other aggressive roosters, too. He should definitely be interacting with the hens at this point, too. I have 3 hens, 9 pullets, and 3 cockerels. My Marans is by far the best and the older pullets and hens will settle down near both him and my New Hampshire cockerel. My Silkie roo is just useless. If he wasn't my wife's pet, he would have been shipped off already. Unless you are showing, I wouldn't care either way about the feathers down the legs, either.

​

Ninja, Black Copper Marans
Hatched 02/01/2013 by DesertMarcy​

You'll also want to watch for their mating behaviors. The aggressive one will probably be rougher and more damaging to the hens. You still want the rooster to be mating with the hens, though, so if your other rooster is not mating, he won't have quite the same bond or protective instincts about his flock. There's a fine line you have to choose, but if I had to choose between your two, I would take the second one. Although smaller, his other traits seem to be significantly better. However, I personally would look for one that is a bit more interactive with you, but has a larger size to him.

 

[lknipfer]

Here's pix of the roos...Thanks for the advice, Demosthine! Any different now that you guys see the pix?

 

[lknipfer]