We’ve been really lucky. We’ve had 30+ chickens now over the years and it appears that we finally have gotten our very first rooster. Considering that sexing chicks is only about 90% accurate, that’s pretty good to go that long without having one.
To be honest, we’ve known about him being a rooster since about 6 weeks of age. He’s just developing much quicker than all of our other chicks. Now he’s 10 weeks old and it’s becoming much more obvious. Especially when compared to one of our other chicks that’s the same age and breed. Besides the much more pronounced comb and wattle he’s beginning to get spurs. He’s also much larger – taller and longer – and he’s now developing pin feathers. Ever since he was about 4 weeks old and we started letting him interact with the older hens, he’s been struttin’ his stuff and bossing them around. Yes, a 4 week old chick was bossing around our hens.
So here he is running alongside our other chick that is the same age and breed.
So what to do with a roo? Well, it depends. He’s a Black Australorp. They’re supposed to be quieter birds, but he’s a roo after all even though we haven’t heard so much as a peep out of him yet. Technically we can have a rooster here, but they do fall under the noise ordinance. If he starts crowing we’ll have to get rid of him. I don’t want to. Not because I’m attached to him or anything. I want to keep him so we don’t have to buy chicks anymore. But chances are that he’s eventually going to have to go. If he survives I think we should name him George.
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George is a good solid name.
You have been lucky. Our Partridge Plymouth Rock roo is getting dangerously close to soup. As much as I want to keep a closed system and produce our own chicks, he's now taken to attacking me when I open the coop door in the morning, and I have the bruises to show for it. I'm not losing an eye for a rooster, so if we can't convince him to quiet down, he'll be keeping company with some dumplings. I hope George has a nicer disposition than our Siegfried.
Clare, does that mean Frodo may have some of his own ladies then? BTW, how is Frodo doing?
My sister had a cockeral for about 5 years with no problems then all of a sudden he became extremely vicious – attacking people. Soup time. I had a group of cockerals all in together and they were happy, generally peiceful things. If there were signs of violence the perpetrator would be removed from the group…
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What age was “George” when that picture was taken? I have one Black Australorp- so no one to compare him/her to!
He was 10 weeks old.