Our current
rooster is the
best one we’ve ever had. He didn’t succumb to spring
hormones and start chasing
me, he doesn’t overmate
his hens, but
he does get the job done. I originally chose him on the
basis of intelligence — he was often the first to figure out the
pophole when moving to a new pasture — and he’s definitely lived
up to that potential for aiding in pasture rotation. Yet,
while I’d like to keep 2012/2013 Rooster forever, we’ll need a
virile young cock to ensure our eggs hatch next year, so one of
his sons is slated to become the flock’s patriarch this
fall. But who?
I suspect that most
people simply pick their prettiest rooster, but I’m well aware
that a rooster is going to provide 50% of the genetic material for
next year’s flock. Plus, his behavior will determine whether
predators eat our hens and whether I’m afraid to walk into the
pasture. So it seems worth thinking a bit harder about which
cockerel to keep.
Two of our young
cockerels are currently harassing our pullets to the point they’re
afraid to hang out with the flock — those guys are definitely
going in the pot. At the other extreme, the rooster pictured
above seems to play well with others, and his mother was clearly a
Rhode Island Red hen (a breed that produces the best layers in our
flock). I want to work harder to increase the laying
abilities of our chickens, so I suspect this speckled rooster
might be a good choice for our keeper.
Plus, he’s the
prettiest cockerel by far….
When we bought 9 chicks last year, one turned out to be a rooster. He was a fantastic protector of the flock, didn’t overmate but did have a few dismayed favorites, but whoa was he scary! He became particularly aggressive and had to go.
This year we hatched a dozen or so eggs in a friend’s incubator, and she offered a few eggs from her mixed flock too. We chose this year’s new roo with attention to avoiding possible issues with inbreeding (and aggression!) and the crossed-beak tendency of Easter eggers. So we chose a male from our friend’s eggs. How many years do you imagine one can inbreed a flock before the tight gene pool negative affects the flock? Do you know offhand what negative impacts one would see?
Jen — Your comment seemed to merit a longer answer, so I’m going to turn it into a full post. Stay tuned to our blog Monday for more details!
Thanks so very much Anna! I thought it worth mentioning, for clarity, that my flock was originally 8 hens and one rooster. After I dispatch the extraneous cockerels this next week, we will be at 20 hens and one rooster. Twelve of the hens and the rooster are definitely not related to each other at all. Of the rest, likely all are of the same rooster (the one I dispatched for aggression towards people).