Your roos – good or bad? *Updated Chart on Page 15*

[wordgirl]

WOWEE!

I didn't think I'd get THAT many replies so fast! I think to actually make this more fair I need to rename this thread.

I'm really glad to hear all the happy stories about people's roos, though.

Gorgeous roos, everyone! I should put a pic of Mr. I on here, but he might be embarrassed because he only has one tail feather at the moment. (We think he ran into a coyote earlier this week – brave boy.)

Let me see if I can chart all this....

 

[Airehead012]

Name: Rico
Breed: BC Marans

Rico was a beautiful roo, but he was nasty! He weighed about 5 pounds (hefty boy!), and his comb was at least 2 inches high, but he was not kind to his girls. He tried to breed with our Americauna (even though she wasn't even full grown!), but was very rough about it! He wouldn't let me get near him (he didn't peck, he latched on an held on!) or his girls. I loved him, but I didn't really like him (if that makes any sense). I don't think handling has anything to do with the attitude either, because he was a mean one ever since he was 5 days old! Now he's on a farm with other hens to breed with since he was such a beautiful specimen.

My white Americauna roo; Victor, however, was a different matter. He was a sweet bird, and the dominant one too, but one of my many dogs caught him (well, he stuck out like a sore thumb), and badly injured him (we're not sure how he survived!). He's on a farm run by an 80 year old couple who likes nursing farm animals back to health, and doing fine now. They're going to keep him, as we've acquired 2 other hens in his and Rico's place. One is very sweet, and I would trade for Rico any day, but the other is a complete schitzofrenic!

It's hilarious to watch her when I'm trying to catch her!

 

[wordgirl]

Ameraucana/EE
Good 8 Okay 1 Bad 2
Ancona
Good 2 Okay Bad
Araucana
Good 1 Okay Bad
Aseel
Good 1 Okay Bad
Australorp
Good 5 Okay Bad
Brahma
Good 2 Okay Bad
Buckeye
Good 4 Okay Bad 3
Cochin
Good 9 Okay Bad 1
Delaware
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad 2
Dutch
Good 1 Okay Bad
Faverolle
Good 3 Okay Bad
Games
Good 100+ Okay 1 Bad 2
Javas
Good Okay Bad 9
Jersey Giants
Good 4 Okay Bad 1
Leghorn
Good 4 Okay Bad
Marans
Good Okay Bad 1
Mille Fleur d'Uccle
Good 2 Okay Bad
Mixes
Good 6 Okay Bad
New Hampshire Red
Good 1 Okay Bad
Orpingtons
Good 7 Okay 2 Bad
Phoenix
Good 1 Okay Bad
Plymouth Rocks
Good 7 Okay 1 Bad 3
Polish
Good 9 Okay Bad
Red Jungle Fowl
Good 1 Okay Bad
Rhode Island Red
Good 6 Okay 1 Bad 1
Sebright
Good 1 Okay Bad
Serama
Good 4 Okay 1 Bad 1
Sexlinks
Good 1 Okay Bad
Silkie
Good 6 Okay 1 Bad 1
Sussex
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad
Wyandottes
Good 4 Okay Bad 4
Unknown
Good 3 Okay Bad

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

I like my boys! I have (all 23 weeks):
Name: Mac (looks like he is wearing makeup and I love MAC makeup)
Breed: Lavender Ameraucana
He's my breeding stock! He's really docile and takes care of his flock watching for any sign of danger.

Name: Appetizer
Breed: Mutt Bantam
He's actually a good guy but I don't need another roo, tried to give him away, and he's looking tasty...

Name: Lunch
Breed: Lavender Ameraucana
Same as above

Name: Dinner
Breed: Lavender Ameraucana
Same as above

Name: James Dean
Breed: Bantam Mutt
He's very pretty and gets all the ladies! He kinda shares the Alpha roo position with Mac but Mac protects and JD loves on them.

I love all my boys!

 

[BarkerChickens]

We ordered a straight run last spring, so that we could pick out the nice roos to keep and eat the mean roos. We ended up with more nice ones than expected and decided on 4. Of those 4, we now have 2. Rotis, a Delaware roo, was a great roo when it came to protecting the flock, but he liked the girls a little too much. By 6 mos old, he ripped two hens open and didn't even have spurs yet, so we figured he wasn't worth keeping. Rusty, a Buckeye roo, was sweet, but a completely useless roo. He was not the least bit aggressive and would hide before protecting the hens, so got rid of him since he defeats the purpose of keeping a roo. I wouldn't say either were bad. Actually, they were both good in their own ways. I just don't want to feed a useless roo or play vet more often than I have to just because a roo is little too "one track minded".

(especially when we had other good roos already). (The other roos that we no longer have: 9 mottled Javas (EVIL!!), 7 Buckeyes (3 mean, 4 were good (incl. Rusty)), 4 Delaware (2 EVIL, 2 good (incl. Rotis) and 1 salmon Faverolle (sweetheart, but had crooked beak).

The two we kept:

Name: Andre the Broken Toe
Breed: Jersey Giant
Age: 7 months old
He is a great roo! He's a great protector and has NEVER been aggressive. He isn't cuddly at all and give me a dirty look if I pet him. Of 8 JG chicks, he was the only roo! He likes to call the girls over to show them where the bugs are.

Name: Jimi Hendrix (aka Fish-Head)
Breed: salmon Faverolle
Age: 7 months old
He smelled like he stuck his head in a fish as a chick, hence the name. He is a good roo. He's lower on the totem pole, but he tries to be a good protector (the hens are just bad listeners

). He is always calling the girls to him to feed them. It is really cute. He's also LOVES the JG hens, even though he is smaller than them (an they don't give him the time of day

).

 

[Danigirl3]

I have had three:

Rudy~ He was a little bantie. He was like a dog. He use to follow me all around the yard and use to like to come in the house if the door was open. My neighbors dog got him.

Dexter~ I'm not sure what breed he was. He had feathered feet. I got him from a friend. She had another rooster and hens that were beating him up. His poor little eyes were swollen shut when we got him. He was a good boy.

Foghorn~ He's the rooster I have now. He is a 5.5 month old leghorn. So far I really like him. So I hope he stays a good boy. He seems to like his job and so far does it well. I'm not sure what the hens feel about him. He is after them nonstop the poor girls.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

I am smitten with my silver phoenix roo

But, he is only 15 weeks old so we shall see. I just rehomed an EE roo of the same age. He needed to go live with a bigger roo to teach him a thing or two about being nice to the ladies. The roo is nothing like that one was.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Ohhh thank you so much! He's the bestest. I lucked out and found a breeder about 1 1/2 hrs from me. She breeds bantams and she had Frizzled cochins.

Quote:
Oh my goodness that is the coolest roo ever! I haven't a clue where to buy 'different' breeds around here...thus, my roos are all leghorns. Don't get me wrong, I love my leghorns but I am jealous of all of your different and crazy looking birdas!

 

[snowydiamonds]

LOVE Roo's!

banty roo named Cockadoodle lets chicks take naps beneath him, how sweet is that?

Here's Cockadoodle's son that looks like him but has a rosecomb (he's not half the roo his daddy is...yet!):

Another of Cockadoodle's son's, out of a banty BO hen:
[IMG]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6333_dsci0231.jpg
Brewster BO is a great guy all around, he just hasn't allowed chicks to nap beneath him yet, only right next to him. He was a teenager when he decided last year to wake up, run outside to the fence and study all day, what Cockadoodle does, Brewster did this three days straight and then he did what he learned! How smart is that?

Brewster's son who is half BO and half RIR out of Peppermint Patty, he's gorgous and I am hoping as smart as his daddy:

Biker Boy is awesome, just a tiny guy, ornamental but his small ladies do provide an egg a day, reliably and he's always had a high opinion of his capabilities since he was three days old.
My EE roo, he froze his toes and foot last Spring in our last ground storm but he's such an exceptional guy I didn't put him down and won't as he has adjusted but he'll be kept in my warmest coop from now on:

I have others, I always have too many roos to house for winter, fall in love with them...I'm a sucker for a roo

 

[mrbstephens]

Name: Pauly
Breed: partridge rock
Age:24 weeks

My family and I just love Pauly, but we're also a little nervous around him. He's very good with his 5 hens. He finds them food, protects them from predators, and will sometimes snuggle up with them while sun or dust bathing. Twice he chased my son because he felt he was a threat to his ladies. I carried him around two days in a row after that and let the kids wrap their arms around him, pet him and touch his comb while I held him tight. I also make sure the kids aren't outside if the chickens are free ranging just in case. Since then I get nervous around him and carry a broom. He always has this look on his face like he's mad or could charge at any moment, but has never attempted to do so with me. Who knows what he's really thinking.........it's possible he's thinking the same about me!

Anyway, we love to watch him, admire his beauty and to hear his crows.

Just look at that face........."Ay, you lookin' at me?" That's why we named him Pauly. He's the Italian mob rooster.