Which Rooster Should I Keep?

[TheMic434]

I want to add a rooster to my flock so I can hatch my own eggs. I want healthy chickens that lay a lot of eggs and I like having a variety of colored eggs. We live in Virginia, so the winters are not too bad and the summers can get hot but my coop is in a shady area, so that isn’t too bad either.

In my flock I currently have:
3 Barred Rocks (2 years old)
3 Azurs (2 years old)
2 Silver Laced Wyandots (2 years old)
2 mixes from Polish hens and the dads were half Dorking and half Cochin (4 months old)
1 Welsummer (5 months old)

The roosters I have are from the April and May hatch:
1 Welsummer (5 months old) or
3 Polish, Silver Dorking, Cochin mixes (4 months old) I would only keep one
1 Easter Egger (5 months old)
1 Silver Cooper Maran (5 months old)

I have 3 Cream Legbars and 5 black Cooper Marans expecting to hatch this Sunday (8/26).

I want to get rid of the roosters soon, I have someone who eats them and I am going to try eating some too. I would make them into stew. I am thinking about keeping the Welsummer or the Polish mix because I don’t know how the Cream Legbars will turn out. Here is my thinking:

The Welsummer has a cute little tropical bird sounding crow and I could breed it with the Welummer hen and have pure breeds that might be easier to get rid of the roosters. But, with the addition of the Marans, I’ll have a lot of dark brown laying hens.

The Polish mix I like the best is beautiful—green-black tail with golden saddle feathers and a cute little crown of feathers on top. If I mix him with the Azurs I will have pure blue eggs instead of the Blue with a heavy bloom from the Welsummer. But green eggs could be cool, if they are not grey. I don’t know how many more white laying chickens I’ll be getting.

The Easter Egger’s siblings’ toes curled to the side and some of the combs had a hole in the back? I think they have bad genes. I bought the eggs as pure Ameracunas from Craigslist before I knew what I was doing. The EE is ugly, maybe it will look better as it matures? It was born all black, then looked like it was going to get white and now has the ugly brown wings with some gold saddle feathers and grey tail.

The Maran is small, had difficulty hatching and I don’t think it has good genes, it also crows funny, not in a good way. I’m not really interested in keeping him.

I will still work towards getting a good blue egg rooster, I just want someone to fertilize eggs this spring until I can find a blue egg rooster.

Which rooster should I keep? After writing this, I’m leaning towards the Welsummer.
I'll attach pictures in a few hours.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If you aren't trying to breed for anything specific I would be narrowing it down by the following criteria in order.

#1. Healthy with no genetic issues? If yes go to criteria #2. If no then it's out of the running.

#2. Treats the hens and humans with respect?
If yes go to criteria #3 if no then out of the running.

#3. Pick whichever is the prettiest for you to look at.

 

[5 Points Wingfeather]

If you aren't trying to breed for anything specific I would be narrowing it down by the following criteria in order.

#1. Healthy with no genetic issues? If yes go to criteria #2. If no then it's out of the running.

#2. Treats the hens and humans with respect?
If yes go to criteria #3 if no then out of the running.

#3. Pick whichever is the prettiest for you to look at.

This is the answer. Start with one and two and if they don’t fully pass those cull them. Then you just have to decide which one you like to look at and which one you want fathering your chicks

 

[3KillerBs]

I want healthy chickens that lay a lot of eggs and I like having a variety of colored eggs.

The rooster is half the flock going forward.

So first look at health and vigor.

Then look at aggression and get rid of any jerks.

Then, since lots of eggs matter to you eliminate any from breeds that are not known to lay well.

Then pick the prettiest one or the personality you like best or let your hens decide which one they like best.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I want to add a rooster to my flock so I can hatch my own eggs. I want healthy chickens that lay a lot of eggs and I like having a variety of colored eggs. We live in Virginia, so the winters are not too bad and the summers can get hot but my coop is in a shady area, so that isn’t too bad either.

In my flock I currently have:
3 Barred Rocks (2 years old)
3 Azurs (2 years old)
2 Silver Laced Wyandots (2 years old)
2 mixes from Polish hens and the dads were half Dorking and half Cochin (4 months old)
1 Welsummer (5 months old)

The roosters I have are from the April and May hatch:
1 Welsummer (5 months old) or
3 Polish, Silver Dorking, Cochin mixes (4 months old) I would only keep one
1 Easter Egger (5 months old)
1 Silver Cooper Maran (5 months old)

I have 3 Cream Legbars and 5 black Cooper Marans expecting to hatch this Sunday (8/26).

I want to get rid of the roosters soon, I have someone who eats them and I am going to try eating some too. I would make them into stew. I am thinking about keeping the Welsummer or the Polish mix because I don’t know how the Cream Legbars will turn out. Here is my thinking:

The Welsummer has a cute little tropical bird sounding crow and I could breed it with the Welummer hen and have pure breeds that might be easier to get rid of the roosters. But, with the addition of the Marans, I’ll have a lot of dark brown laying hens.

The Polish mix I like the best is beautiful—green-black tail with golden saddle feathers and a cute little crown of feathers on top. If I mix him with the Azurs I will have pure blue eggs instead of the Blue with a heavy bloom from the Welsummer. But green eggs could be cool, if they are not grey. I don’t know how many more white laying chickens I’ll be getting.

The Easter Egger’s siblings’ toes curled to the side and some of the combs had a hole in the back? I think they have bad genes. I bought the eggs as pure Ameracunas from Craigslist before I knew what I was doing. The EE is ugly, maybe it will look better as it matures? It was born all black, then looked like it was going to get white and now has the ugly brown wings with some gold saddle feathers and grey tail.

The Maran is small, had difficulty hatching and I don’t think it has good genes, it also crows funny, not in a good way. I’m not really interested in keeping him.

I will still work towards getting a good blue egg rooster, I just want someone to fertilize eggs this spring until I can find a blue egg rooster.

Which rooster should I keep? After writing this, I’m leaning towards the Welsummer.
I'll attach pictures in a few hours.

I want to add a rooster to my flock so I can hatch my own eggs. I want healthy chickens that lay a lot of eggs and I like having a variety of colored eggs. We live in Virginia, so the winters are not too bad and the summers can get hot but my coop is in a shady area, so that isn’t too bad either.

In my flock I currently have:
3 Barred Rocks (2 years old)
3 Azurs (2 years old)
2 Silver Laced Wyandots (2 years old)
2 mixes from Polish hens and the dads were half Dorking and half Cochin (4 months old)
1 Welsummer (5 months old)

The roosters I have are from the April and May hatch:
1 Welsummer (5 months old) or
3 Polish, Silver Dorking, Cochin mixes (4 months old) I would only keep one
1 Easter Egger (5 months old)
1 Silver Cooper Maran (5 months old)

I have 3 Cream Legbars and 5 black Cooper Marans expecting to hatch this Sunday (8/26).

I want to get rid of the roosters soon, I have someone who eats them and I am going to try eating some too. I would make them into stew. I am thinking about keeping the Welsummer or the Polish mix because I don’t know how the Cream Legbars will turn out. Here is my thinking:

The Welsummer has a cute little tropical bird sounding crow and I could breed it with the Welummer hen and have pure breeds that might be easier to get rid of the roosters. But, with the addition of the Marans, I’ll have a lot of dark brown laying hens.

The Polish mix I like the best is beautiful—green-black tail with golden saddle feathers and a cute little crown of feathers on top. If I mix him with the Azurs I will have pure blue eggs instead of the Blue with a heavy bloom from the Welsummer. But green eggs could be cool, if they are not grey. I don’t know how many more white laying chickens I’ll be getting.

The Easter Egger’s siblings’ toes curled to the side and some of the combs had a hole in the back? I think they have bad genes. I bought the eggs as pure Ameracunas from Craigslist before I knew what I was doing. The EE is ugly, maybe it will look better as it matures? It was born all black, then looked like it was going to get white and now has the ugly brown wings with some gold saddle feathers and grey tail.

The Maran is small, had difficulty hatching and I don’t think it has good genes, it also crows funny, not in a good way. I’m not really interested in keeping him.

I will still work towards getting a good blue egg rooster, I just want someone to fertilize eggs this spring until I can find a blue egg rooster.

Which rooster should I keep? After writing this, I’m leaning towards the Welsummer.
I'll attach pictures in a few hours.

What DID you decide?

 

[TheMic434]

What DID you decide?

I'm keeping two at the moment. One of the ones I was looking at, the Wellsummer because I have another Wellsummer and I like the genes. But we also have this little Copper Maran that has a great personality. He struts around and protects the hens and gives them food and dances for them. So, we are keeping both at the moment. I don't know if the Wellsummer would step up if he was the only rooster. The little Maran keeps him in his place.