Which Rooster to keep??

[Airean]

I am brand new to raising chickens.

I have a flock of 10 chickens that I raised from day 1. Out of 10 I ended up with 4 roosters. I need to make a decision on which one to keep and sooooon. They are about 4.5 months old. They are all rhode island reds except my blonde rooster (blue laced red wyandot)
If i had the means to do a bachelor pad I would love to see them mature and how their personalities develop.

Blonde:
Shows signs (not much) of aggression and has never attacked me. He is friendly with the hens. I think he might be the bottom of the pecking order.

Yellow:
Has attacked me once. He chooses violence every morning when I open the coop. He is the first one out and runs toward but never makes contact. I have learned to stand my ground with him. He also chases the hens that come out second. It's like he has all this pent up overnight and needs to get it out. During the day he is awesome when free ranging. When it's treat time he is the sweetest with the hens. He also seems like he the one with the best protective instincts.

Blue:
Friendliest toward me. Biggest hen out of them all. Middle ground with hen friendly.

Green:
Aloof. Always the last to do anything. Or is he being a good protector and making sure no one is left behind. Middle ground with hen friendly. Only one that has had a fight injury.

I know human aggression is not something I want and I know I can't have everything good in 1 rooster. I want to make a fair and informed decision on the lives of these animals. They are so young it's hard for me to justify a decision on them when they are not mature BUT has to be done.

Any guidance please.

 

[sourland]

I would get rid of Blond and Yellow and observe the remaining two for several weeks before making a final decision.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Any that attack you, or are thinking bad thoughts in that direction, are top of the cull list. Then any who have conformation faults, not necessarily 'show type' issues, but crooked structures or too small, cull list. then, any that you just don't think are attractive, because after all you are feeding them!
So, sounds like Yellow leaves first, for someone's dinner. Right now Green sounds good, but things change, so it's too soon to really know. Remove at least Yellow, maybe Blonde, and see how the other two behave. Each cockerel who leaves changes the other's behavior too.
Mary

 

[Shadrach]

I am brand new to raising chickens.

I have a flock of 10 chickens that I raised from day 1. Out of 10 I ended up with 4 roosters. I need to make a decision on which one to keep and sooooon. They are about 4.5 months old. They are all rhode island reds except my blonde rooster (blue laced red wyandot)
If i had the means to do a bachelor pad I would love to see them mature and how their personalities develop.

Blonde:
Shows signs (not much) of aggression and has never attacked me. He is friendly with the hens. I think he might be the bottom of the pecking order.

Yellow:
Has attacked me once. He chooses violence every morning when I open the coop. He is the first one out and runs toward but never makes contact. I have learned to stand my ground with him. He also chases the hens that come out second. It's like he has all this pent up overnight and needs to get it out. During the day he is awesome when free ranging. When it's treat time he is the sweetest with the hens. He also seems like he the one with the best protective instincts.

Blue:
Friendliest toward me. Biggest hen out of them all. Middle ground with hen friendly.

Green:
Aloof. Always the last to do anything. Or is he being a good protector and making sure no one is left behind. Middle ground with hen friendly. Only one that has had a fight injury.

I know human aggression is not something I want and I know I can't have everything good in 1 rooster. I want to make a fair and informed decision on the lives of these animals. They are so young it's hard for me to justify a decision on them when they are not mature BUT has to be done.

Any guidance please.

You don't mention the breed of the hens (?)
If you have single breed hens then keep the rooster of that breed. If there is more than one rooster the same breed as the hens pick the one the hens like best. It's the hens that have to live with him.
If you have mutiple breeds of hens then pick the rooster that is closest to their average size.

 

[Airean]

You don't mention the breed of the hens (?)
If you have single breed hens then keep the rooster of that breed. If there is more than one rooster the same breed as the hens pick the one the hens like best. It's the hens that have to live with him.
If you have mutiple breeds of hens then pick the rooster that is closest to their average size.

All the hens are RIR as well.

 

[Shadrach]

All the hens are RIR as well.

You really can't tell much worth knowing about how each cockerel will behave towards you until he is a lot older; over one year old ime.
The behaviour of each will change when they are the only cockerel in the group.

 

[NatJ]

All the hens are RIR as well.

Then I would probably keep a Rhode Island Red rooster, unless you specifically want mixed-breed chicks.

I agree with the other posters who have suggested culling the aggressive and sort-of aggressive ones, and watching the other two for a while before making a final decision between them.

 

[Airean]

Thank you for replies. I will be making my decision this weekend on 2 of them. Everyday my mind changes on which ones. Yellow has been on the chopping block a couple of times then he goes and does something I like. Dang him!

 

[3KillerBs]

I would get rid of Blond and Yellow and observe the remaining two for several weeks before making a final decision.

I agree with this.

Aggression is, for me, a hard NO.

This goes double if you have young children or if young children ever visit you and interact with your birds. Aggressive males jump up to attack, they go for the eyes on purpose, and young children can be blinded or permanently maimed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don't have four roosters, you have four immature cockerels. There is a big difference in behaviors between immature cockerels and mature roosters. The hormones of puberty can really affect their behaviors. Most (not all but most) cockerels mellow out when they actually mature but it can be a rough road through puberty.

Also, since you have multiple cockerels, one is dominant. The dominant one "can" suppress the actions of the less dominant. I say "can", and not always because different chickens can react differently. I've never seen it but some people on here say they have seen cockerels working together to gang rape a pullet. That's not suppressing, that's cooperating. You can never know for sure how any flock of chickens will act, but the dominant suppressing the others' behaviors is what I typically see. You can never tell how a cockerel will react if you take away the dominant one. A great one may become a monster. Or a rough one may straighten up if you remove his competition.

All this makes it really hard to choose at cockerel age. All you can do is the best you can.
Why do you want a rooster and what are your goals toward that rooster. The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, I have a few of those myself, but that is a choice instead of a reason. I generally suggest you keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed more problems with more boys but because the more boys you have the more likely you are to have problems. Sometimes that best number is zero.

Knowing your goals is important in making a decision. Your goals are what counts, not mine. If your goal is to hatch chicks, what traits do you want in those chicks? What do you want them to look like or what other traits. If hatching chicks is one of your goals try to choose a boy that is most like you want them to be. If you have other goals then try to base your goals on that. I personally like the look of a mixed breed flock, others prefer them to all look the same. Pure personal preference.

I agree that human aggression is a deciding factor. For me, Yellow would be gone. That's one of my preferences, I want to enjoy being around the chickens, not worrying about protecting my back. I can't make a decision on the others.