Best rooster for a mixed flock?

[Mrs. K]

You really don't want a breed of rooster, what you want is a good rooster, preferably a rooster raised up in similar situation and predators as you.

What would work best is a year old rooster that is raised in a multi-generational flock, by an owner that would have culled him if he wasn't so nice.

Ask at the feed store, ask at 4-H groups or local poultry clubs. What you want is a flock master type rooster, and that is not based on a breed, just on the disposition of the bird.

As for chicks - there is a lot of confusion about that for people new to the hobby. Fertilized eggs are a possibility, no more. They are inert and do not develop until warmed up and kept the temperature of 100 degrees. THEN in 24 hours, the egg will begin to develop. So if you collect eggs regularly and refrigerate there will be no chicks.

However, if you would be blessed with a broody hen, NOTHING is more fun than a broody hen and chicks, just saying.

Mrs K

 

[BDutch]

We haven’t lost any hens yet, but with the amount of predatory birds flying over our yard every day it feels inevitable. There’s one hawk that’s been sitting on our fence and watching them for a while now.

How do you keep them?. Free range from sunrise till sunset? Or specific times? Cooped up in the morning? How much space?
How is the garden? Or do you keep them in a large open run?
Can you share some photos?

. the other two are an australorp and olive egger, and they both just started laying for the first time since we got them(a few months ago).

Congrats!

The rest of our girls we’ve had for 2 years and none of them lay, ever. ….. We’ve tried changing their diet a few times and nothing has changed so we thought the next step could be getting a rooster, although we’ve never had one before.

One hen out of 8 not laying happens sometimes . But more is probably bc of some kind of problem.

It might be stress and not the food. Or a disease/parasites that has impact on their health.
Or is it possible you bought very old hens instead of pullets. ?

 

[NagemTX]

You really don't want a breed of rooster, what you want is a good rooster, preferably a rooster raised up in similar situation and predators as you.

What would work best is a year old rooster that is raised in a multi-generational flock, by an owner that would have culled him if he wasn't so nice.

Ask at the feed store, ask at 4-H groups or local poultry clubs. What you want is a flock master type rooster, and that is not based on a breed, just on the disposition of the bird.

As for chicks - there is a lot of confusion about that for people new to the hobby. Fertilized eggs are a possibility, no more. They are inert and do not develop until warmed up and kept the temperature of 100 degrees. THEN in 24 hours, the egg will begin to develop. So if you collect eggs regularly and refrigerate there will be no chicks.

However, if you would be blessed with a broody hen, NOTHING is more fun than a broody hen and chicks, just saying.

Mrs K

This really!

 

[BDutch]

A large coop in combination with a large net covered run can help them to relax.
You dont have to stop free ranging them. Best keep the chickens closed in part of the day. The netting should be strong for birds of pray or cat-netting. This is how I keep my flock too.

If you have neighbours close by , I would ask them before getting a rooster. I have a few neighbours who love/ don’t mind the sounds of a rooster , and 2 who hates it when he starts to crow at dawn way before their own alarm is set.

I would prefer a rooster thats a little bigger than your smallest hens. Ask about his behaviour and cowing times before you take him home (and quarantine). All roosters crow, but some individuals are not as annoying as others.

Guineafowl is great for predator alarm too.

 

[KyCoop]

The image of your rooster screaming like a little girl while the tiniest hen deals with the threat is hilarious. That little hen is small but mighty

She had accidentally been locked out of the run one night and had a tangle with a racoon and survived with minor injuries. A small dog in broad daylight was too easy for her after that.
She had to protect her boyfriend.

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

How do you keep them?. Free range from sunrise till sunset? Or specific times? Cooped up in the morning? How much space?
How is the garden? Or do you keep them in a large open run?
Can you share some photos?

Congrats!

One hen out of 8 not laying happens sometimes . But more is probably bc of some kind of problem.

It might be stress and not the food. Or a disease/parasites that has impact on their health.
Or is it possible you bought very old hens instead of pullets. ?

They are free range in our 1/4 acre backyard from sunrise to sunset. 9 chickens total. They have access to the majority of the yard, but we have the pool and the back porch fenced off so they won’t poop all over the deck.
They automatically get let out of the coop at 6:30 am, and I go out to check on them around 8 or 9 am. They put themselves to bed between 6-7 pm, and I go out to make sure they’re all inside and safe, and I take that time to get a good look at them and check for any injuries or sickness, since some of them won’t let me get near them during the day. The coop is very small and is a converted kids playplace. I don’t like it but it works well and it’s temporary. We also have a massive coop that could fit around 40-50 chickens, but the “roof” is just a bunch of leafy bamboo stalks and they only ever go in there to forage and lay eggs. As of yesterday, at least 6 or 7 of our 9 girls are laying regularly which is great.
I think we have decided against getting a rooster due to the size of our flock and living in a neighborhood with a ton of neighbors. Also, our “matriarch” hen (speckled sussex) probably wouldn’t take very kindly to a new boss in the flock. She’s basically a rooster as she is. Instead, we have befriended the black birds and crows. They do an amazing job of chasing away hawks and eat right alongside the rest of our girls. There are thousands of them that nest in nearby trees and they never bother is. It’s a little extra money to buy the extra scratch/birdfeed but definitely worth it.
Ever since we started feeding them, we’ve noticed that every time a hawk flies by, a bunch of them chase it off as far as they can, presumably so it will stay away from their nests. But since they hang out in our backyard all day, they also chase hawks away from our chickens, so win-win situation really.

 

[Klutch]

Fyi,
With all the those wild birds around, you seem to have no worries of Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

Fyi,
With all the those wild birds around, you seem to have no worries of Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)

There’s nothing we can really do about it. They’ve always lived here and there are quite literally thousands of them that nest in nearby tree’s. They used to attack us whenever I would go into our big coop since they have a nest in the bamboo, quite literally dive bombing me anytime I got anywhere near there. Once we started feeding them they stopped attacking us and our dog. I’d rather risk the potential of bird flu than get attacked relentlessly every time I step outside.

 

[Klutch]

It seems your birds might have develop some resistance to the HPAI, that is awesome. If you are getting less eggs, do you think maybe the girls are suffering from HPAI?? You might want to pay attention to their laid an egg cackle and you could go out and investigate where and whom it's coming from.

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

It seems your birds might have develop some resistance to the HPAI, that is awesome. If you are getting less eggs, do you think maybe the girls are suffering from HPAI?? You might want to pay attention to their laid an egg cackle and you could go out and investigate where and whom it's coming from.

I know who lays what egg because they’re all different breeds with wildly different looking eggs. The only two who aren’t laying are 4 and 5 years old, so they’re probably done laying due to their age. They all look very healthy and happy as far as I can tell, and it’s rare that any of them are sick or hurt.
Come to think of it, a few months ago we had a brand new chicken die from a mystery sickness. We had rescued her and 4 other hens from a not so great situation, and within 2 weeks of being here one of the cochins didn’t go into the coop, was extremely light(maybe 2 pounds), lethargic, and weak. For reference, the other cochin that we got at the same time and is the same age weighs about 6 pounds. The moment I noticed something was wrong I brought her inside and kept her in a dog cage in my bedroom. I made a whole thread about her if you want to check it out. In the end, she passed in her sleep in the middle of the night, and I still have no clue what it was. I just assumed she had picked up some sort of virus at her old home and it took a little while to manifest. Could that have been avian influenza? If so I’m glad I separated her when I did. I had her inside within 24 hours of her showing symptoms, and all the other hens were healthy(in terms of immediate health. two of the other girls have different permanent issues. I’ve made threads about both of them as well.)