which roo do I keep?

[littlestars17]

I have two very sweet little roos
Roo1-Rocky, is an amberlink,He is almost 12 weeks old and "flocks" with a set of 5 girls,golden comets and fbcm's,he lets my son carry him around,he is semi timid for a roo but might be he hasnt come into his hormones
Roo2-Roaderrunner aka Roadie is a RIR, He was a brat in the brooder but is a sweetie now that they are in the coop-He has 2 litle EE pullets he brooded with and they follow him everywhere, He stears clear of the older flock, they are all in the same coop and do pretty well,roadie is sometimes chased my the top pullets of the olde3r flock too

Last night Rocky had Roadie by the feathers of his back and was chasing him around, Roadie wasnt provocing him..not sure why it happened...
Both are good birds so I dont know which I should keep??

Rocky is my only amberlink, he is gorgeous...Roadie also lets my little one carry him around..and he is such a sweetie-Im attached to both

Im worried if I keep Rocky and get rid of Roadie the 2 little EE'ers will be all alone...I love them dearly and dont want them to be exhiled...and if I get rid of Rocky,will the older girls eventually accept Roadie?? Any advice appreciated,PLEASE!!!

 

[chicmom]

I do have friends with multiple roosters, and things work out ok. Since your roos are young, as their hormones kick in, they may do some fighting in order to establish the "pecking order" or to show who is the Boss Man.

I have several ages of chickens, and like yours, they tend to hang out with their little hatch mates.....the ones they grew up with. When they free range around the yard, they are in these little groups. So that's pretty normal.

One thing you can do, is kind of put up a fence to divide the coop a bit so that they can all see eachother, but not hurt eachother when they're locked up for the night and in the morning.......

Another thing is you can just let them hash it out.....that's normal behavior for roosters and hens, unfortunately.

You can take the more agressive rooster and lock him up in a cage, separated by the group for a week, and then when he re-introduces back into the flock, he won't be so high on the totem pole anymore......

Roosters can find a way to get along.....it takes time and it is hard to watch sometimes when they get agressive towards eachother.

Good luck to you!
Sharon

 

[littlestars17]

Thanks Sharon : ) I think I will try to wait so long as no one is getting hurt..I just felt awful watching him go after him and scolded his butt right away,I wanted to make sure they both knew they need to behave in my presence especially : )

 

[PhilErvin]

The way they are friendly toward YOU now is NO indication of how friendly they will act toward you when they mature. My arecauna roo was carried around and was a sweet young bird but once he matured he was NOT afraid of me and saw me as a threat to his dominance and started attacking me. I undersatand his nature and just continue to avoid him and fend him off. My 16 year old son has convinced the roo thet he (my son) is the dominate of them and does not attack him. I guess I just need to be more assertive and go after him in order to break him.
So back to your original question. I would totally disregard their sweet nature and choose to keep whichever based on their other favorable traits. Eventually the older ones will accept the younger ones as they all come of age.
Good Luck

 

[chicmom]

Well, you are quite welcome. You still might have to get rid of one if they can't get along, but at least there are a few ideas for you.....sometimes, as roosters mature, they end up not treating their hens very well. (Ripping the feathers off the hens backs while mating--things like that.....) So if you can, wait until you see how the roosters great your girls before deciding. They also change their mannerisms too once they get that testosterone going, and sometimes they become really mean towards people as well, so that's another factor to wait and see......

They can be very dangerous to little children. But it's also good to have a roo because they do protect the flock.

I hope you have good luck and you can keep both!

 

[littlestars17]

thanks lol,initially I wanted no roosters..so if it ends up one or both have to go its ok, the kids come first-they are just so sweet right now lol

 

[Mrs. K]

I would be very carefull with your 3 year old son. Rooster will get braver and more aggressive first with smaller people. At that point, you 9being much bigger) may not even sense that they are getting more aggressive, until they attack your little boy, cause they will still be submissive to you. Then work their way up. I think if I had young children around, I would get rid of both roosters. Mrs.k

 

[littlestars17]

Thanks Mrs. k, that is my only fear-right now both are very submissive to him(maybe because he follows them around and sometimes carries them?) but I wouold be very sad if one of them hurt him,I have a 5 month old future chicken herder as well. Will have to decide what Im doing soon,Is there no such thing as an easy rooster lol

 

[Mrs. K]

Years ago, my little girls ran everyday with the chickens. And I had not noticed anything, being rather new to chickens. I had a visiting neighbor man, point out that he thought the rooster was starting to get a bit brave with my 3 year old. We had chicken for supper, cause that man was willing to do the deed.

 

[clothdiaperingmom]

Yep, my unassertive RIR boy has recently hit puberty. He is now getting attitude and I first noticed it with my 9 yr old daughter.
I watch him very carefully because hes walking the line right now.
The australorp roo that has grown up with him I guess is submissive. He does nothing ever.