Which Rooster should I ax?

[Petukh]

I have an established flock of chickens with 23 hens and 2 roosters (1 Ameraucana and 1 Spanish game?) and they are all about 1 year old now. They were all raised together except for Spanish rooster (not exactly sure on the breed but suspect it’s a game) was introduced later as we rehabilitated one of them from our neighbors as they’re ratio was too high. Ever since we introduced the second rooster we’ve been having problems, it’s been several months now and the roosters get along fine, the Spanish rooster is now the Alpha and the Ameraucana is the beta, but our hens have been suffering. And I’m at the point that I’m thinking I need to ax one of them, they both have good and bad qualities and not sure if those qualities will change if they become the lone rooster.

Ameraucana (beta);
Pros: he is large and beautiful and he is friendly with humans.
Cons: he relentlessly mates with all the hens, especially in the evening, and because of that my hens have bald spots.

Spanish something (alpha)
Pros: he looks after the hens and keeps my Ameraucana in check when he gets too aggressive with the hens.
Cons: he is very aggressive with humans and never backs down, even when we catch him and pin him down, he will attack again when we let him go. He’s also fairly small and mostly skin and bone.

So I was wondering if the Ameraucana regains his alpha status will he be friendlier with the hens (he was nice to them before), or will he abuse them even more with no other rooster to chase him away?

On the other hand the other rooster is an alpha for a reason and would do a better job of protecting my hens (I let them free range) and I can manage him, and when I catch him he calms down and can be handable, but he is a serious pain in the butt. Also if my suspicion is true and he is a game rooster, then I’m not sure if I want to pass on those wild genes to the next generation?

 

[Mrs. K]

Neither rooster is a good rooster. Cull both and try again. No one deserves to be attacked, people or hens. It causes tension in the flock, and it ruins your enjoyment of the birds - cull both of these.

If you want a rooster, go to the feed store, call the county extension agent, contact 4-h groups, a local poultry club. People always have too many roosters, and what you want is one that is so darn nice, he hasn't been asked to supper.

Culling the first rooster is always hard, but afterwards you will wonder why did you put up with that behavior as long as you did.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Human aggression is never a good thing, and he's likely to only get worse over time. He's a danger to any person who shows up, and can leap high enough to take out eyeballs. He should go into someone's crock pot, very soon.
Your other rooster might mellow out when the game cock is gone, and it's time to find out. He either will do well again, or it will be time to raise a few cockerels and try again.
Mary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

he relentlessly mates with all the hens, especially in the evening, and because of that my hens have bald spots.

Welcome to BYC!

Despite accepting the beta position this may still be competitive mating if it wasn't a problem before you added the second boy. I'd probably give him a chance first.

Human aggression is NEVER tolerated. The meaner the roo the sweeter the stew. He's GOT to GO!

Best wishes!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

I agree the human aggressive one needs to go now. To me, there is no question.

The Ameraucana may change when he is no longer in competition with the dominant. How he will change I have no idea, if he does. It could be for the better or for the worst. One of my common suggestions on this forum for a lot of things is to try it and see what happens. Base what you do on what you see, not what some stranger like me over the internet tells you that you will see. He may settle down or he may not. No one can say for sure. You may need to start over looking for a rooster.

In any case don't expect those feathers to grow back immediately. If the entire feather shaft is gone the feather should start growing back fairly soon. If just a trace of that shaft is left that feather will not grow back until the hen molts.

 

[Isadora]

No way no how should you keep the human aggressive boy. A pain to keep, sucks the joy from having chickens, and a potential liability and danger.
I would probably give the other rooster a chance to see how he behaves being the only boy. But if it's not working out, get rid of him and try another one. Lots of people try to rehome their friendly roosters all the time.

 

[3KillerBs]

No way no how should you keep the human aggressive boy. A pain to keep, sucks the joy from having chickens, and a potential liability and danger.
I would probably give the other rooster a chance to see how he behaves being the only boy. But if it's not working out, get rid of him and try another one. Lots of people try to rehome their friendly roosters all the time.

Yes, this.

I happen to have a too-nice-for-the-crockpot gentleman up for sale right now.

 

[Ebony Rose]

You spanish dude needs to find his way to freezer camp.
Your americauna dude ought to gentle with the girls once he no longer needs to fear being attacked by the spanish dude when he mates.

I agree with @Isadora too, If americauana dude doesn't gentle (give him a few weeks to realize he doesn't need to GRAB an opportunity to mate), but if he doesn't gentle or if he becomes human aggressive, you can send him to freezer camp and purchase a few straight-run day-old chicks to incorporate into your flock. You're sure to get at least 3 or 4 new cockerels for your hens to select from.

If you do end up going the day-old-chick route, pay close attention to how the hens behave around the sexually-maturing cockerels. The cockerels that your girls love, are likely the best choice to keep. The hens KNOW which cockerel will have THEIR best interest at heart, and they'll show their 'man' respect and affection.

 

[lomine]

Agree with the others, Alpha needs to go. I'd give Beta a chance after Alpha is gone to see how he is on his own.

If Beta doesn't work out, you can try another older rooster or start again with a chick. I find males raised among the flock to be a little better behaved if there are mature hens around to give them a good peck for misbehavior.

 

[Stellasmomma]

I have an established flock of chickens with 23 hens and 2 roosters (1 Ameraucana and 1 Spanish game?) and they are all about 1 year old now. They were all raised together except for Spanish rooster (not exactly sure on the breed but suspect it’s a game) was introduced later as we rehabilitated one of them from our neighbors as they’re ratio was too high. Ever since we introduced the second rooster we’ve been having problems, it’s been several months now and the roosters get along fine, the Spanish rooster is now the Alpha and the Ameraucana is the beta, but our hens have been suffering. And I’m at the point that I’m thinking I need to ax one of them, they both have good and bad qualities and not sure if those qualities will change if they become the lone rooster.

Ameraucana (beta);
Pros: he is large and beautiful and he is friendly with humans.
Cons: he relentlessly mates with all the hens, especially in the evening, and because of that my hens have bald spots.

Spanish something (alpha)
Pros: he looks after the hens and keeps my Ameraucana in check when he gets too aggressive with the hens.
Cons: he is very aggressive with humans and never backs down, even when we catch him and pin him down, he will attack again when we let him go. He’s also fairly small and mostly skin and bone.

So I was wondering if the Ameraucana regains his alpha status will he be friendlier with the hens (he was nice to them before), or will he abuse them even more with no other rooster to chase him away?

On the other hand the other rooster is an alpha for a reason and would do a better job of protecting my hens (I let them free range) and I can manage him, and when I catch him he calms down and can be handable, but he is a serious pain in the butt. Also if my suspicion is true and he is a game rooster, then I’m not sure if I want to pass on those wild genes to the next generation?

Glad I found this thread I have not kept Roosters before and in my last group of chicks ended up with 2 Jersey Giant Roo's One is defiantly the Alpha and so far they have both been nice and are right now rather afraid of the ladies if they let them know they don't like them. They are actually terrified of my little silkie hen but she started letting them know who was boss from the time they were small ( shes a couple years old) but its good to know if they start being troublesome that they need to go! So far they are good at protecting the girls so fingers crossed they stay nice!!