Which roo should I keep?

[SuperMurshy]

Alright so I was given some chicks this spring and am having a hard time which cockerel to keep!! There are two I'm deciding between- a pure Crested Cream Legbar and then the second one is a Copper Maran crossed with Crested Cream Legbar. I enjoy having many different colours of eggs, I already have blue, green, pink, brown, but would love some different shades of olive and darker browns in my future hatches, therefore which roo would be more likely to produce more interesting egg colours?

 

[JedJackson]

The olive egger fits more with what you're looking for. You'll get both brown and green laying offspring from him. If you had Marans hens I would suggest the Legbar, because that cross would give olive eggs. Don't overlook the importance of personality, either. If either of them displays aggression toward humans, pick the other one.

 

[nuthatched]

Legbars have blue egg genes, the marans/legbar cross would be an olive egger, mix that with a blue layer and the resulting hen chicks will lay a mint green, mixe with a brown egger and the resulting henchicks would lay an olive tone.

 

[Theorrin]

Is it possible to keep both?

 

[FunClucks]

Is it possible to keep both?

Look up "bachelor pad" on this site.

Depends on how you plan to care for them (space, housing, # hens, etc.)

Sometimes it can work fine, other times it works until it doesn't.

When it does go wrong, birds can be seriously injured and die. They can also seriously injure people - roosters are not male hens, they are their own separate creatures, with different instincts and ways they see the world. Get very educated if you want to keep roosters safely.

However, many keepers keep multiple roosters for years with no issues - the key is how you care for them and the personalities of the individual roosters.

Look up "Rooster Keeping" or something similar on this site, the Articles section will have some good articles by folks who've done this successfully.

 

[SuperMurshy]

Is it possible to keep both?

It could be, I currently only have a silkie roo and around 20 hens. Right now there are zero issues with their personalities but are only 3 months old. I worry they'll gang up on my silkie roo together!!

 

[Theorrin]

Look up "bachelor pad" on this site.

Depends on how you plan to care for them (space, housing, # hens, etc.)

Sometimes it can work fine, other times it works until it doesn't.

When it does go wrong, birds can be seriously injured and die. They can also seriously injure people - roosters are not male hens, they are their own separate creatures, with different instincts and ways they see the world. Get very educated if you want to keep roosters safely.

However, many keepers keep multiple roosters for years with no issues - the key is how you care for them and the personalities of the individual roosters.

Look up "Rooster Keeping" or something similar on this site, the Articles section will have some good articles by folks who've done this successfully.

i know. i was asking OP if there was any reason they couldnt keep both of them

 

[SuperMurshy]

The olive egger fits more with what you're looking for. You'll get both brown and green laying offspring from him. If you had Marans hens I would suggest the Legbar, because that cross would give olive eggs. Don't overlook the importance of personality, either. If either of them displays aggression toward humans, pick the other one.

So far they both are very friendly which is making my decision harder, I was half hoping one would be a meanie hahaha but they are still quite young

 

[Theorrin]

It could be, I currently only have a silkie roo and around 20 hens. Right now there are zero issues with their personalities but are only 3 months old. I worry they'll gang up on my silkie roo together!!

not always will they have issues. ive had 4 roosters all get along out of different flocks. its may be worth a shot to try but keep an eye on them

 

[SuperMurshy]

Legbars have blue egg genes, the marans/legbar cross would be an olive egger, mix that with a blue layer and the resulting hen chicks will lay a mint green, mixe with a brown egger and the resulting henchicks would lay an olive tone.

My hens are americaunas, true whiting blue, olive eggers, silkies. In order to get blue, would the Legbar have to be crossed to the blue layers? Or does blue on blue create others?