Hi everyone!
I have a rooster question, but of a different variety from most that you usually see. I have had chickens for over 6 years now and during that time have always had roosters. I have gone through a number of them, and already understand the basic ins and outs of raising my flock with roosters. With that being said, here is the background of my current dilemma:
Let me start by saying that I keep a rooster simply for the pleasure of the rooster dynamic in my flock. I do plan on doing some very small scale hatching within my flock, but I am by no means breeding to any standards or anything like that. My flock is a mixed flock of about 18 hens. This spring my cochin rooster died suddenly one night. He was a good boy, as you can expect out of Cochins, and it was a bummer. Within the next couple of weeks a local lady posted that she had a rooster she was looking to re-home, and I took her up on it.
This new rooster is a lavender Orpington. He is a lovely chicken, and from what she told me he is a relatively rare chicken and was pretty expensive. He's about 2 years old. He has a couple of downsides: first off, he is slightly aggressive. I've had some terrible roosters, and this guy is not my worst by any stretch of the imagination. However, you do have to keep an eye on him. He will charge you when your back is turned and occasionally will jump up and flog at about knee level. I am not afraid of him and do not have children visiting my yard, so this isn't as big of a deal as it sounds, but it is not the greatest trait. On top of this he has been crowing more and more. He has been crowing starting at about 5am for 45 minutes straight. He is still in the coop during this time, and I am afraid it's going to start bugging the neighbors (this is an urban coop). Furthermore, when I go out in the yard he will crow nonstop while I am out there, and I find this very annoying.
The next part of the story is that this spring I got 26 straight run Americaunas, and they are now old enough that I am culling them. I have a couple of Americauna cockerels that seem to have potential to be good roosters, and here is my dilemma. Do I cull my Orpington in the hopes that one of the Americaunas growns up to be a good rooster? These Americaunas are from a local farm that is breeding them specifically, and they are beautiful chickens. I would also have the potential for their offspring to be olive-eggers. I have researched Americauna roosters and it sounds like they can be friendly or terrible, as with many breeds it varies by the individual chicken. I also fully understand that at this young age it is very tough to know if my cockerels will still be friendly once those hormones kick in.
So finally, the crux of this long-winded post: do I keep my beautiful, feisty, slightly mean lavender Orpington or do I take the risk of keeping a nice little Americauna cockerel in the hopes that he will grow up to be a little bit quieter and nicer than my current rooster? I do have a good grasp of the pros and cons, but was mainly just wanting to get some opinions to help me make my choice. Thanks for reading and offering any opinions!
I have a rooster question, but of a different variety from most that you usually see. I have had chickens for over 6 years now and during that time have always had roosters. I have gone through a number of them, and already understand the basic ins and outs of raising my flock with roosters. With that being said, here is the background of my current dilemma:
Let me start by saying that I keep a rooster simply for the pleasure of the rooster dynamic in my flock. I do plan on doing some very small scale hatching within my flock, but I am by no means breeding to any standards or anything like that. My flock is a mixed flock of about 18 hens. This spring my cochin rooster died suddenly one night. He was a good boy, as you can expect out of Cochins, and it was a bummer. Within the next couple of weeks a local lady posted that she had a rooster she was looking to re-home, and I took her up on it.
This new rooster is a lavender Orpington. He is a lovely chicken, and from what she told me he is a relatively rare chicken and was pretty expensive. He's about 2 years old. He has a couple of downsides: first off, he is slightly aggressive. I've had some terrible roosters, and this guy is not my worst by any stretch of the imagination. However, you do have to keep an eye on him. He will charge you when your back is turned and occasionally will jump up and flog at about knee level. I am not afraid of him and do not have children visiting my yard, so this isn't as big of a deal as it sounds, but it is not the greatest trait. On top of this he has been crowing more and more. He has been crowing starting at about 5am for 45 minutes straight. He is still in the coop during this time, and I am afraid it's going to start bugging the neighbors (this is an urban coop). Furthermore, when I go out in the yard he will crow nonstop while I am out there, and I find this very annoying.
The next part of the story is that this spring I got 26 straight run Americaunas, and they are now old enough that I am culling them. I have a couple of Americauna cockerels that seem to have potential to be good roosters, and here is my dilemma. Do I cull my Orpington in the hopes that one of the Americaunas growns up to be a good rooster? These Americaunas are from a local farm that is breeding them specifically, and they are beautiful chickens. I would also have the potential for their offspring to be olive-eggers. I have researched Americauna roosters and it sounds like they can be friendly or terrible, as with many breeds it varies by the individual chicken. I also fully understand that at this young age it is very tough to know if my cockerels will still be friendly once those hormones kick in.
So finally, the crux of this long-winded post: do I keep my beautiful, feisty, slightly mean lavender Orpington or do I take the risk of keeping a nice little Americauna cockerel in the hopes that he will grow up to be a little bit quieter and nicer than my current rooster? I do have a good grasp of the pros and cons, but was mainly just wanting to get some opinions to help me make my choice. Thanks for reading and offering any opinions!
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