rookie chicken person

[lolotsung]

Both the roosters have nice temperaments but does nice mean "nice looking" as in closer to the orpington breed standard? The Chief Rooster (on a table) doesn't let the 2nd in command (on the ground) near his ladies. I'm not sure how to decide which rooster is nicer? Thank-you for your help!

[Killerbunny]

If you don't plan on showing I would pick the bird that is nicer to the kids or that they prefer. You don't want them put off chickens. Otherwise pick the one closer to the breed standard. Maybe one of them has both things going for him!

[lolotsung]

Thanks @Killerbunny that would be the Rooster-in-Charge "Squeak" (he used to squeak whenever you picked him up as a chick). He had a fight with a raccoon and it ripped half his tail off and a bunch of feathers on his side so he is a LEGEND for surviving that. My daughter noticed the noise and ran outside. We saw feathers everywhere and Squeak lying on his side. Our family dog was always a rescue dog and 1 year we decided to get a Lab. Well I have been in love with Labs ever since. Someone told me not to let a Lab near chickens because they will eat them. I have not had this problem, but they are always so hungry so I would not be surprised if a Lab ate a chicken.

[WLLady]

Sorry, i'm a little late to the topic! I totally agree on downsizing roosters-for only a few hens you really only need 1, and with that, the one that doesn't attack, bite, kick, hurt you or the kids or the hens is the way to go! And a protector vs predators is even better lol. Sounds like that decision (both of them actually) were already made.
I hope you managed to find places for your other roosters.

I've had labs around chickens for many many years. never lost a chicken to a lab (but we train hard in the first 3 years the the chickens are NOT to be touched). my one lab (the black one in my photo that we lost a couple of years ago now) would bring me chicks....sopping wet....hold them in his mouth and give them to me one by one if the hen had left them alone. he wouldn't hurt a fly....all my labs would likely let a thief in and then help them get the stereo/tv whatever LOL. I had way worse luck with pointers. Our one pointer took out 5 chickens before i even knew he was out the door one day. sigh. it really depends on the dog. but our labs have been wonderful. usually much more interested in the eggs (and they absolutely ARE garbage cans for eggs!) LOL

As for diversity, with a set up with a rooster and a few hens you can do this a couple of ways....you can replace the rooster every couple/three years (they will start shooting blanks after a while-most of mine are pretty infertile by 4 years old) or you can bring some new hens into the mix every year. You can set up a modified "spiral" breeding with 2 breeding groups too-if you end up with 2 groups of hens and roosters....then the boys hatched from group 1 are used over the girls of group 2 and the boys hatched in group 2 are used over hens of group 1. We usually do this with 3 groups and switch up the breedings every 1-2 years to keep the genetic diversity across the 3 groups. but for a small group like yours a 2 group system or even just introducing new blood every 2 years should be enough. I'm assuming you won't be hatching lots of babies....if you do plan on selling chicks you'll want to ensure you aren't getting crossed beaks or curled toes (both a symptom of inbreeding). If you just want a mixed flock and aren't showing pure lines etc, just introduce a few new hens every so often and then another rooster once yours starts being infertile. it will be enough to keep you going at hobby level and won't be super stressful for you or the birds.

[lolotsung]

Thank-you @WLLady yes we intend to stay hobby level. That was kind of what I was thinking in my head.

[Killerbunny]

The main thing is you and the kids must enjoy it!

[WLLady]

it must not become work!!!! Lol

[kenya]

Yes Don't get too many or it becomes work and no one then enjoys them.

[kenya]

Update on Rehoming 4? Roosters project...No replies on Rehoming Rooster, 4 replies on kijiji, 1 reply on Ontario Poultry Facebook. I did not write anything on Ontario Poultry and Waterfowl because they looked quite strict about $, sale, etc. Someone will be dropping buy to pick up MAYBE 4 roosters tomorrow. So my questions is: We just put 8 lavender orpington eggs into the incubator and will most likely have 3 or 4 more roosters so should I give ALL the roosters to the person dropping by tomorrow? Thank you for your help.

No Keep your nicest rooster, roosters are sometimes hard to find in a particular breed and colour. Eggs in the incubator do not mean chicks, things happen, hydro goes out etc. I remember one time my cats knocked the incubator over and I lost everything. No idea how they did it.

[WLLady]

all the strange things in the world happen as soon as that incubator is turned on. freak thunderstorms that take out the power. water leaks so your well runs dry. cats. oh the cats.....sigh. wind blows down the hydropoles and the power goes out. heck, we had a tornado with the incubator going one year (last year). So. Kenya is right-don't count those chickens before they hatch! and chances are when you really actually WANT a rooster, you end up with all girls, when normally we want a lot of girls and end up with all roosters.....lol I've had a cat knock over my incubator too. I've had a cat sleep on top of it and cause it to overheat and cook all the eggs too. i've had power outages. i've had power spikes that fried electronics. i've had my automatic water feeder clog with scale (even though i descale it every week when running the incubator) and cause a loss due to too low humidity. i've had wet weather drown whole batches because the ambient humidity is too high. you name it, it happens as soon as that incubator gets turned on LOL.
keep your nicest rooster. if you want fertilized eggs don't give them all away, and if you free range you will definitely reach a point where your rooster saves the day (and the hens).