Greetings from France

[Shene12]

Hello everyone.

My name is Stéphan and I live in Aveyron, a beautiful, rural and remoted area in the South-West of France.

In 15 days' time, we're getting ready to welcome our first fowls. They'll be living "the life of Riley" in the grounds of a 15th-century manor.

To start with, we've chosen :
- 1 golden laced Orpington
- 1 silver laced Orpington
- 1 Marans
- 1 Blue Laced Gold Wyandotte

But I'm not sure about the rooster.

Knowing that I won't be doing any shows or competitions, that I'm okay with cross-breeding and that I'm looking above all to have beautiful, good laying hens, what breed of rooster and what color do you recommend?

Many thanks in advance for your answers and help.

Have a nice day,

S

 

[BantyChooks]

Welcome to BYC! Best of luck with your upcoming flock. Any dual-purpose LF rooster should fit very well with the overall size and character of your hens, such as Plymouth rocks, or speckled Sussex for some beautiful plumage. Alternatively, you could get a breed known for egg production, such as a leghorn, so that any chicks produced would have both the sturdier build of their mothers and potentially plumage traits along with slightly better egg production.

 

[Loving my girls]

Bonjour Stéphan, Bienvenue!
I live in sw France too. But on the other side of Agen to you. About two hours from Bordeaux.
We have been having some pretty freaky weather, how are you managing to keep your hens cool in these crazy temperatures?
Hugz

 

[ksbkeys]

Hello everyone.

My name is Stéphan and I live in Aveyron, a beautiful, rural and remoted area in the South-West of France.

In 15 days' time, we're getting ready to welcome our first fowls. They'll be living "the life of Riley" in the grounds of a 15th-century manor.

To start with, we've chosen :
- 1 golden laced Orpington
- 1 silver laced Orpington
- 1 Marans
- 1 Blue Laced Gold Wyandotte

But I'm not sure about the rooster.

Knowing that I won't be doing any shows or competitions, that I'm okay with cross-breeding and that I'm looking above all to have beautiful, good laying hens, what breed of rooster and what color do you recommend?

Many thanks in advance for your answers and help.

Have a nice day,

S

Welcome to BYC! I'm not sure of the best type of rooster. I only know raising them from chicks and handling them a lot as they grow helps with any aggression they might develop later...though not a guarantee! Ideas anyone?

 

[DobieLover]

Hello Stéphan, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

 

[Evadig]

Salve (Latin for hello) and! It is nice to meet someone from France. Congratulations on your upcoming new flock!

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC, Stephan!
If you can find a crested cream legbar, you can add the blue egg gene and get some olive egger chicks from the mating. I love the crested cream legbar hens. They are probably the friendliest of the standard breeds that I've kept.

 

[triciayoung]

Hello everyone.

My name is Stéphan and I live in Aveyron, a beautiful, rural and remoted area in the South-West of France.

In 15 days' time, we're getting ready to welcome our first fowls. They'll be living "the life of Riley" in the grounds of a 15th-century manor.

To start with, we've chosen :
- 1 golden laced Orpington
- 1 silver laced Orpington
- 1 Marans
- 1 Blue Laced Gold Wyandotte

But I'm not sure about the rooster.

Knowing that I won't be doing any shows or competitions, that I'm okay with cross-breeding and that I'm looking above all to have beautiful, good laying hens, what breed of rooster and what color do you recommend?

Many thanks in advance for your answers and help.

Have a nice day,

S

Welcome. A black australorp rooster. For temperament, and size and color for predators. I have 2-speckled sussex roosters. They are great roosters but not as consistent with temperament as the australorps. I attached a picture of Milo.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

So glad you decided to join us. Beautiful breeds you keep, we love photos! ❤

Make yourself at home here!

 

[Shene12]

Many thanks for your warm welcome and your answers.

I have noted the breeds of rooster you recommend.

That would be really great, if you guys would be so kind as to post photos of your crosses : Orpington x ?, Wyandotte x ? and Marans x ?

Btw I like heavy and very colorful hens and I would be disappointed to cross with a breed that would give me monochrome hens.

Loving my Girls : the manor and the gardens are south-facing. But at the back, in a ruined outbuilding, I have a large, shadier, cooler area lots of grass. That's where I'm going to put the chickens. And then at night, we have the fresh, invigorating air of the Massif Central blowing down into Aveyron.

TwoCrows: I promise, I'll post photos as soon as the little family arrive.