My rooster is watching me....

[cafrhe]

I acquired a (probably) pure bred barred rock rooster maybe 2 months ago. He is 5ish months old and just starting to dance around the girls and attempt mounting. He has been polite, non aggressive, but beginning to act like a roo. He is concerned about the girls--gets a bit agitated when we interact with them. They like us and squat for us--not so much for him lol.

I have found that when I am outside, I often look around and there he is....He is almost always where I am (if I work in one place for a while). He is generally just hanging around and watching. I am not sure if he thinks he is hanging with an equal or studying me for a weakness.....We are on the lookout for aggressive behavior as he matures--it wont be tolerated, towards us or the girls. He seems very nice and I am hoping that he stays that way. Not sure if at 5-6 months, he has his behaviors and personality set yet.

He also insists, many times when I am inside, in setting up camp (with the 2 immature pullets he was quarantined with) on my front porch. He is sitting out there now crowing.....It is not a big porch and it is not raining...on either side are nice gardens where my hens generally spend the day scratching and dust-bathing.

Any ideas on what he is thinking?? I always think about this stuff lol. I have trained horses and dogs and now am interpreting chicken behavior! We got him from a friend who ended up with 2 roos. The roo they kept ended up a constant crower, very hard on the girls (they had 6-8 hens in a med sized run) and he began attacking people. Same age as our guy, Our chickens are pastured/free ranged.

 

[Folly's place]

I'd also be a bit concerned. Make sure he moves away from you as you walk towards him. Don't chase, just make a point of heading through his location frequently. Don't let him mount the hens in your vicinity. There's a chance that he'll be fine, but I'd be watching carefully, and not have children out there alone! Mary

 

[cafarmgirl]

At 5 to 6 months old he is just entering the raging-teenage-hormone, green-eyed-monster stage of rooster development lol. He's watching you and sizing you up, he'll probably have a go at you at some point, I'd be surprised if he didn't. It's a good idea to do some training with him now. As Folly's place said, always make him move out of your space, never walk around him. If he's up in your business or even standing there staring at you, just move him away. It should all be done quietly and firmly, no ruckus or aggressvie behavior. I use my foot or a barn rake to push roosters away and get them moving the direction I want. Hopefully he'll turn out to be a good boy, or at least be respectful of you and your space. That's about all I expect from my roosters along with being good to the hens of course.

He's a pretty bird by the way, I really love BR's.

 

[cafrhe]

Thanks for the replies. I do feel like he is sizing me up lol. I have worked with animals much larger than him, I am not concerned, lol. If he has a go at me, he will be rebuffed.

The family has been told to do exactly as you guys recommended. Never let him think we are backing off of him and make sure to move him away when he is near us. He has danced next to the girls with us around but hasnt tried to mount then in front of us yet. He is being very polite so far--my girls are older than him and hadnt seen a rooster until now. They are not worried about him, but not succumbing to his advances either.

Thanks for the compliment--I think he is quite handsome too! He was free and from a neighbor. I think his genes will compliment our egg layer breeds if we decide to hatch our own eggs. Granted I have 1 broody hen on bought eggs now and just got yelled at by a rir when I went to get eggs....so I am thinking our chances of hatching our own chicks is getting higher by the day!

 

[azygous]

It's his job to keep an eye on you, and besides, roosters find human activity engrossing for some reason.

He's a handsome boy, all right! But five months is just barely getting into his hormones. Between now and age one year, he could be a hand full. Just be wary, careful, slow, deliberate and keep reaffirming who's boss.

 

[krista74]

If it's any consolation at all, my BO cockerel, who is 11 months old now has always followed me around like a puppy, has never shown any sign of aggression. Sometimes when I look out my glass doors he is just sitting there, quietly looking in at me watching tv. (That's not creepy at all, is it!?)

It might be that he truly is just curious. They are that way by nature. But as the other posters have suggested, keep a close eye on him. At 5 months old the hormones will be starting to flow, and I would think the next few months will be crucial in forming his behaviour.

The suggestions given above are great - don't let him dance for you, don't let him mate in front of you, and always walk through him, rather than around him. I would also add to that (from a safety perspective) you should never lower yourself in front of him physically - so don't kneel or squat down if he is around.

Good luck! Hopefully he will be fine.

- Krista

 

[TheBeardie]

It is creepy how he stocks you. In his mind you might be something that might take his hens away from him he's keeping. A eye on you. mY Dominique rooster doesn't like me very much, his hens like me more than him, the two hens will even squat for me but everything he does freaks them out a bit. But they like me

 

[cafrhe]

Silly beastie had a go at me today. I had squatted down to put some food in an outside feeder when I felt fairly light thump on my hip....knew it had to be him. I moved him off quickly and walked after him for a while.

I have to say, so far I like him. He seems to have 'protected' the girls 2x now from hawks. He at least made enough noise to alert me, the girls and I guess let the hawk know he was there. The last time was a few days ago, I heard him and ran around the front where the chickens were. He had all the girls, except 1, gathered around him up in some brush. I saw the hawk fly past.

I think we have agitated him the last few days. 3 of the redstar hens have bumblefoot and we have had to keep catching them and also checked everyone else's feet. I did make the mistake of getting a hen off the ramp when I first let them out. Roo was 2nd out and pecked my arm, cause I didnt get hen's wings and she flapped. He is not a fan of us catching his girls.

 

[Folly's place]

I think he's escalating his behavior in a bad way; he's six months old, and may get more aggressive. Be careful out there! Mary

 

[cafrhe]

I will...I am now on notice lol. I will continue to hope that we can draw a mutually agreeable line in the sand.