I have a flock of six 16-week-old Easter Eggers. Four (2 cockerels, 2 pullets) were hatched at the same time (incubator) and brooded together. The other two pullets came into the flock from a relative because they were being bullied incessantly there. They get along fine for the most part.
Cockerel A is what I'd call a nice bird. He runs over to me when I approach, "talks" to me, clucks when he finds food, all that. I've never seen him take any interest in breeding any of the pullets, and from what I gather, it's early for that at his age anyway. His comb is a dark pinkish color. He is always the last one into the coop at night and the first one out in the morning. I can approach him in the run (actually, he follows me) and can touch him and most likely pick him up. He got locked out of the coop last night because of a "threat" just outside the run and ended up roosting on the top of the coop, and he easily let me pick him up and put him back into the coop, but he was half-asleep of course.
Cockerel B always seemed like a bit of an a$$, even when he was only 6 or 7 weeks old. Whenever there was a pecking incident, Cockerel B was the cause of it early on. He has never been aggressive toward me when I enter the (electric fenced) run, though. He isn't willing to be picked up and I can't get too close to him. He has a very dark red comb now and tries to mount the pullets every morning and evening if he can. However he and Cockerel A seem to be pals - they don't fight and often enough they lay down on the grass next to each other for a rest. He sometimes stays inside the coop much of the day, though he always comes out if there's "something going on" outside. The two "adopted" pullets and one of the ones from the same clutch rarely emerge from the coop during the day, though they do come out to eat and drink and are able to do that without being driven off. Cockerel B will chase the pullets right back into the coop if he's feeling amorous, and he spends quite a lot of time in there.
My intention is to have fertile eggs, so I do want to keep a roo. Would it likely be best to opt for Cockerel A, with a good disposition (and very handsome) but not (yet) so masculine, or Cockerel B who is a bit of an a$$ but obviously is going to be roostering right along? And in the meantime, which one is Cockerel Number One in the flock? Would culling Cockerel B make a better quality of life for everyone else?
Cockerel A is what I'd call a nice bird. He runs over to me when I approach, "talks" to me, clucks when he finds food, all that. I've never seen him take any interest in breeding any of the pullets, and from what I gather, it's early for that at his age anyway. His comb is a dark pinkish color. He is always the last one into the coop at night and the first one out in the morning. I can approach him in the run (actually, he follows me) and can touch him and most likely pick him up. He got locked out of the coop last night because of a "threat" just outside the run and ended up roosting on the top of the coop, and he easily let me pick him up and put him back into the coop, but he was half-asleep of course.
Cockerel B always seemed like a bit of an a$$, even when he was only 6 or 7 weeks old. Whenever there was a pecking incident, Cockerel B was the cause of it early on. He has never been aggressive toward me when I enter the (electric fenced) run, though. He isn't willing to be picked up and I can't get too close to him. He has a very dark red comb now and tries to mount the pullets every morning and evening if he can. However he and Cockerel A seem to be pals - they don't fight and often enough they lay down on the grass next to each other for a rest. He sometimes stays inside the coop much of the day, though he always comes out if there's "something going on" outside. The two "adopted" pullets and one of the ones from the same clutch rarely emerge from the coop during the day, though they do come out to eat and drink and are able to do that without being driven off. Cockerel B will chase the pullets right back into the coop if he's feeling amorous, and he spends quite a lot of time in there.
My intention is to have fertile eggs, so I do want to keep a roo. Would it likely be best to opt for Cockerel A, with a good disposition (and very handsome) but not (yet) so masculine, or Cockerel B who is a bit of an a$$ but obviously is going to be roostering right along? And in the meantime, which one is Cockerel Number One in the flock? Would culling Cockerel B make a better quality of life for everyone else?
