Picking a Cockerel to Keep

Hiya,

So we've got 12 chickens. We're in Portugal and very passionate about native breeds, so we've got one of the four very rare native breed chickens - the Pedrês Portuguesa (meaning Portuguese Stripy).

They're a barred or cuckoo chicken with yellow legs. They can be either fully feathered or naked necked - we have some of each. Being a heritage breed, the breed standard is pretty vague, but they are a dual purpose race with excellent rusticity, described as 'elegant, active and vigorous'. They make 90-150 eggs a year, are big enough to eat and are supposed to be quite tasty. They are top class foragers.

Anyway, of the 12, which I received as unsexed chicks, four have turned out to be cocks. This is a good number and I'm happy with this ratio, as you might imagine.

I'll be keeping a cockerel, as I feel it's always beneficial for the hens and we'll be hatching chicks under the hens each year. But I'm having trouble deciding who to keep. They started crowing a week or two ago and are about 3 months old now. I've never raised cocks from chicks, I've only got them as adults in the past, so I am not sure what to look for.

They are not yet mounting hens or exhibiting gentlemanly behaviour, so I can't pick based on who is the best provider. My chickens are not tame at all, so none is more friendly than the others...

Physically-speaking, I've got a feathery neck one with a massive, very masculine bright red comb - but he's also the smallest and was the slowest to feather out.
I've got a tall lanky naked neck one with the best barring and extremely long legs.
I've got a big chunky feather neck boy with a modest comb, but a big round chest.
The fourth one is also a naked neck and is just sort of well proportioned and average in every way.

I only have a picture of Lanky Boy right now, but I can try to get some of the others.

What physical qualities do you look for? This is a loose landrace-y type chicken that honestly comes in many shapes and sizes, so there is no point looking to the breed standard. What are good traits for a cock? I'd like him to be able to see off feral cats, ideally. Is comb size a good indication of virility? Would long legs make him better at defending himself if needed? Or should I go for the big chested one, as its progeny might yield the most meat?

I need to start eating them soon, so I don't have time to wait and see who has the nicest personality, sadly. But also, how long could I keep them all together with the hens before war breaks out? They already have some very minor skirmishes.

A few chicken pictures attached. Only the last two show one of the cocks in the foreground. I look forward to hearing your thoughts (and seeing pictures of your chosen cockbirds!)

Nice looking chickens! And it is interesting to learn about a lesser known heritage breed. Well done for helping to preserve them!

I've kept a few generations of roosters now and traded their sons with my friend, trading back and forth. I'm not going for any particular breed but rather a locally adapted mix. That's just to share the perspective my advice is given from: I'm not breeding to maintain a breed standard like you seem to be. And with that said I'll say that the look of the rooster is often not the most important thing to me.

At this age they should already be showing some protective behaviors and instincts - keeping watch or alerting the other birds. Not aggressive or overly nervous, but good at keeping an eye out when everyone else is busy foraging, first to notice if a hawk flies over and make that alarm cry. This is a trait I highly value, for me it is the main role of the rooster in the flock, especially if they will be free ranging. I'd look out for such behavior with an eye toward not keeping a "lazy" flock guardian, or overly high-strung one, even if otherwise he has good physical traits.

Beyond that I like to look for larger roosters with high heads and tails (but tails can take ages to grow in) and longer backs, because I find they'll usually grow into that.

Will you be keeping more than one? If you can keep the best two and they are not overly zealous with your hens or aggressive (sometimes I have good luck when they're raised together, sometimes not) you'd have more time to see how well they mature, more diversity of choices, and a backup if you lose one.

Howdy and Welcome!
Thank you for sharing pictures of your birds and for sharing your breed! I love to read up on other landrace breeds and look at the variations.

As far as choosing which cockerel is best for your flock - what are you looking for? Do you want a bird that's larger in size, with more meat and a presumably better ability to defend itself? Are you only looking at physical characteristics? Are you more interested in the naked neck variation and want to set that as the standard for your flock?
From the way I understand things, choose the birds for your breeding flock based on what you want your breeding flock to be like.

If you want only naked neck birds, discount all the feathered neck ones. The ones you don't want in your breeding flock can be used to lay eggs (if pullets/hens) or make a great chicken dinner.
If you want a large bird, ultimately, choose the larger birds for your breeders. If you want good egg layers, choose roosters from good laying hens.
When you decide on your ultimate goal, choose the birds that most fit that goal.

Because I'm trying to encourage my flock to be "typey", I select hens that are broody, look like feathered bricks, and have good physical attributes. I'm more concerned about their behaviors right now, so their physical characteristics are all over the place, but I'm getting more broodiness out of my pullets and younger hens.
I've had it explained that physical traits are easier to change than behavior. I do plan on selecting for physical characteristics once I get my lines properly behaving like they should, instead of the current trend toward egg laying meat birds for production in a "heirloom" package. It's not really a "breed" unless it has all the characteristics of that breed. A Dorking that isn't broody might look like a Dorking and have the traits, but doesn't follow the purpose of the breed.

An old hand at breed conservation once told me that he keeps maybe a pullet and cockerel from every clutch of 25 eggs he hatches because the rest aren't good enough to keep for breeding, in his opinion. He also breeds and sells chicks, so it's very important that he regularly and harshly prunes his lines to keep to the standard (such as it might be) for whatever breed. Generally, you'll have birds that are more or less what you want them to be, and birds that are more like what you want are better to keep, whether you select for behavior or physical traits.

It's important to keep certain things in mind. If you want a meat bird that's fast growing - select for that. The smaller birds won't be what you want, nor are the slow growers. Choose a characteristic you really want *first* and select for that, then work on the others over time. I was able to find a picture of Pedrês Portuguesa that were marked for a show. The male was a larger bird, beautifully barred and had a black tail and wing tips, large comb and wattles, and was fully feathered. Many of the pictures I found had naked necked birds, so ... personal preference?
Beautiful barred birds, with good size.

Really, In my opinion, the naked necked average cockerel, assuming personality and behaviors are all equal, would be my choice, unless I wanted a Tall Boy or the Meaty Boy.
As far as cockerels having troubles with each other? I've had as many as 13 cockerels together. Once they settled pecking order, it was smooth sailing aside from small scuffles that were mostly for show. That can be a trait you look for and I won't have a human aggressive bird in my flock. Your decisions are your priorities.