Which roo to keep? (with pics and descriptions)

[Riparian]

I need help choosing which of my three roosters to keep for my flock of 13 hens. Im not sure what characteristics are best. All three roos are quite different.

My flock free ranges all day, no fences or barriers of any kind.

All of my birds except for a few hens are 14 weeks old.

So, I'll post a picture of each roo with a short description. If you could reply and let me know what roo you would choose in my situation, that would be great.


Roo #1

Smallest of the three roos.
All white on his back.
Biggest comb and neck thingy.
first roo to crow.
most agressive roo. shows alot of agression towards me and my girlfriend. This has stopped somewhat since I have been picking him up by his legs.
Agressive with other hens. Ive seen him pull feathers out of my red shavers. gets into fights with the other roo.

Roo #2

Largest of the three roos.
White back, three random red feathers on his breast.
Really small comb compared to the other two.
Second roo to start crowing.
Not agressive towards us, but he dosent show any fear either. Ive never been bitten by this roo.
This is the roo that fights with roo #1.
I havent seen him harassing any hens.

Roo #3

This is the roo im thinking of keeping. hes not as small as roo #1, but not as fat as roo #2. Kinda lanky.
He has alot of coloring on his back.
Ive never heard him crow. He sleeps by himself at night whereas the other two sleep with the same hens every night.
Not aggressive at all. Cant hardly get near him. he runs away whenever you get close.
Havent seen him fight with the other two or bother any hens.

So there you have it. Thanks for looking.

 

[akcskye]

Here's the thing.

I would definitely not keep the aggressive one, but the milder one may become aggressive once the other ones are gone and he is then "top roo".

I also had 3 roos...2 got into a HUGE fight to the death, so we immediately seperated them and sent them to the feed store to rehome, and kept Andy, who seemed to have stayed out of the scuffle, except when the 2 fighting roos got into the shed while we were trying to seperate them, he decided he wanted to join the party.

2 weeks later, he was just dead in the run...so we don't know if he had internal damage from the fight we never saw...or what.

Long story short, whichever one you DO keep may turn on you...so I would probably choose the one most harmless to the ladies and hope he doesn't turn on you, if that makes any sense.

 

[Redfeathers]

I would never keep an agressive rooster. I had one and it was the pits. We sold him at auction and life was so much better for us and our girls. I would keep the nicest one. All three of them are nice looking boys so you can't go wrong. Good luck.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Quote:
I would have to agree. The first may be pulling out feathers because he is attempting to mate and they are not real good at it in the beginning. He may also be the most agrresive because he is the top roo.

I had a Buff Orpington Rooster along with a Black Sex Link Rooster. The Black Sex Link Roo was mean, really really mean and eventually he had to go. Once he was out of the coop, the Buff Orpington Rooster become just as mean. I was really suprised because Buff Orpingtons are usually the calmer more docile breed. Ultimately, he had to go also, because he was BIG and would fly right at my children's faces.

I recently had a Silkie Roo that was very aggresive. My Silkie ladies love attention and hand feed treats, but this Silkie Roo would not allow it. I removed him from the flock also.

So in the end, you have to go with your gut and pick one, but it too may become agressive. Keep handling them and hope for the best.

 

[pips&peeps]

I would get rid of the aggressive one and keep the other two if you can. Since I do breed I always have a backup.

If you keep them together and do not seperate them, they should establish a pecking order between them and will not fight. If you seperate them, then you will have problems.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

You did not say what you were planning on with your birds. Just to get eggs or to raise a few for meat or just raise some chicks for more pullets to help with egg laying later on.
At any rate, I would go with roo #2. However, he may change once roo #1 is gone or not. Roo #3 is not one I would want to keep since he is too shy of you.

I have approximately 12 roos right now and only about 60 hens. Somebodies is going in the freezer this fall. I have 4 grown roos that get along quite well in the coop with 2 other 8 week old roos and I have about 6 roos in the other coop with lots of pullets, everyone 8 weeks old there. I can already tell who is staying and who isn't.
Some things I refuse to breed on so they wind up in the freezer.

 

[wegotchickens]

I would pick roo #2.
#1 sounds too mean.
#3 sounds too skittish.

 

[Beanbag]

I would pick Roo #2, if it were me I would want a Roo that Is friendly towards us and shows no fear of us, I am not keen to having animals that run from me in case something ever happened to them and I needed to get my hands on them. Secondly, I like how Roo #2 lays with a group of hens, this shows to me that he is willing to protect his hens and thats what you want to see. Roosters are designed to protect their harem and you want to make sure that you have a Roo that at least shows that potential.

 

[seriousbill]

Roo #2. He has the best body size (his comb will grow), and it sounds like the best temperament as well. I wouldn't keep a skittish roo any more than I'd keep a mean one. Sounds like the best guy all around, and with only 13 hens, you don't seem to have enough to keep more than one roo right now. Remember that if you raise chicks, a lot of them will have their father's characteristics. If you want big, healthy, calm chicks, then that's the roo you keep.

 

[SproutGirl]

We recently had the same situation, and we went with the quietest, least aggressive rooster. He never crowed, and he ran away all the time. We haven't regretted our decision. Mochi started to crow a few days after the top roosters moved away, but he is still much quieter than his brothers are. He is still very un-aggressive, but he has come out of his shell much more and we have seen his personality develop. Good luck with your decision.