Which rooster breed?

[Retired Tom]

We live in rural MO wooded area (LOTS of wildlife) and grandaughter (10) who spends weekends with us wanted chickens. She chose 1- Silver Laced Wyandotte / 2-Black Sex Linked / 2- Production Red / 2- Barred Plymouth Rock pullet chicks. We're upgrading the old chicken house and building a secure run, but hope to be able to allow them to free range some days. Chicks are 2 weeks old. I want to get a rooster chick to join them. I also intend to add a couple gineaus to the flock. What rooster breed would be best to assist in protecting the hens and still be safe with children?

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Brahma, RIR, I'd say bantam as bantams are good protectors, but he may not be able to breed your hens. Good luck! Predators are sneaky here in MO so be on your look out. I've lost quite a few of my girls and some boys to the sneaky varmints. Raccoons, possums, skunks, and owls. Sometimes Bald Eagles and hawks. Good Luck!

 

[neo71665]

I favor rhode island reds myself. I tend to like full sized birds and think a full sized roo will be better at protection.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I would wait until this group is like 10 weeks old, then clean out the brooder and get 3-4 more chicks, including your rooster. Brooder-raised boys without older chickens to teach them manners have a higher chance of being aggressive, which can be totally devastating to the peace and health of your flock.

I'd also go with a smaller breed to reduce incidence of injury. I adore Brahmas (and roosters, for that matter), but our Brahma rooster nearly killed a couple of hens just with his weight. Everyone says the hens can handle it, but that wasn't the case with us.

That's just my 2¢. Not sure if that advice works for you, but I really, really wish I'd heard it before setting up our first flock, so figured I'd at least float it your way. Have so much fun with your chicks. It sounds like a pretty flock!

 

[Retired Tom]

Brahma, RIR, I'd say bantam as bantams are good protectors, but he may not be able to breed your hens. Good luck! Predators are sneaky here in MO so be on your look out. I've lost quite a few of my girls and some boys to the sneaky varmints. Raccoons, possums, skunks, and owls. Sometimes Bald Eagles and hawks. Good Luck!

 

[Retired Tom]

I would wait until this group is like 10 weeks old, then clean out the brooder and get 3-4 more chicks, including your rooster. Brooder-raised boys without older chickens to teach them manners have a higher chance of being aggressive, which can be totally devastating to the peace and health of your flock.

I'd also go with a smaller breed to reduce incidence of injury. I adore Brahmas (and roosters, for that matter), but our Brahma rooster nearly killed a couple of hens just with his weight. Everyone says the hens can handle it, but that wasn't the case with us.

That's just my 2¢. Not sure if that advice works for you, but I really, really wish I'd heard it before setting up our first flock, so figured I'd at least float it your way. Have so much fun with your chicks. It sounds like a pretty flock!

That makes sense. We can wait. The coop is like Fort Knox, so night protection will be assured, but we have resident coons, ferel cats, possums, hawks, and a decade ago saw a bobcat in our yard...in daytime! Free ranging may not work. We'll move slowly....

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Wait until they are older then pick up a known well behaved cock from craigslist for free. There is no shortage of free cock birds, find one that is well behaved. Most birds are from hatchery so it's a gamble how they behave when older. Get a good one, breed doesn't really matter, that's already grown when your pullets are nearing point of lay.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Wait until they are older then pick up a known well behaved cock from craigslist for free. There is no shortage of free cock birds, find one that is well behaved. Most birds are from hatchery so it's a gamble how they behave when older. Get a good one, breed doesn't really matter, that's already grown when your pullets are nearing point of lay.

x2 that breed often won't dictate personality, especially with all the hatchery strains out there. If you do give a potentially doomed Craigslist rooster a good home, which is a nice way to go, be sure to quarantine for 2-4 weeks to try to avoid introducing any diseases to the flock. There are probably many good posts on BYC about the best ways to do that.

I love love love roosters. They're beautiful, quirky, and can help deter some predator situations, but here in the woods of rural TN, we don't free-range for the same reasons @Retired Tom mentions: too many predators. A rooster can only do so much. We built out a big chicken yard surrounded by 6' welded wire and electric instead.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We live in rural MO wooded area (LOTS of wildlife) and grandaughter (10) who spends weekends with us wanted chickens. She chose 1- Silver Laced Wyandotte / 2-Black Sex Linked / 2- Production Red / 2- Barred Plymouth Rock pullet chicks. We're upgrading the old chicken house and building a secure run, but hope to be able to allow them to free range some days. Chicks are 2 weeks old. I want to get a rooster chick to join them. I also intend to add a couple gineaus to the flock. What rooster breed would be best to assist in protecting the hens and still be safe with children?

Malays are good flock Protectors, & are like puppies to their owners. Very people friendly.

 

[VeryHappyHens]

Brahma, RIR, I'd say bantam as bantams are good protectors, but he may not be able to breed your hens. Good luck! Predators are sneaky here in MO so be on your look out. I've lost quite a few of my girls and some boys to the sneaky varmints. Raccoons, possums, skunks, and owls. Sometimes Bald Eagles and hawks. Good Luck!

I would not recommend RIR specifically because you have kids in my experience is that they attack and are so mean. I even bought the show type expensive pure breed RIR and they are also mean get a salmon faveroll rooster and 2 salmon faveroll hens or a brahama rooster.