New Chickity Chicken Mama from MD!

Hello everyone! I am a new backyard chicken owner - I have 1 roo, 3 hens, 4 silkies, and 2 peking ducks that we bought as babies in March. They are all grown up now and quite fun! We started with 3 roos, as we didn't know the sexes at chickdom, and we've narrowed down to the one. He is quite aggressive, as are some of the hens...so we may have some chicken stew here shortly. I hate to do it, but we have small children and the chickens scare them. To be honest, when two of them charge me from across the yard, they scare me too! Naughty chickens.

Anyway, nice to be here and read up on all the chicken literature! Despite the aggression, we are really enjoying being chicken owners. Attaching a pic of our coop and run. All home-built by my husband!

<3 Lianne

Hi and a warm welcome to BYC from Kenya! Your set up looks great - well done hubby!

I think you are wise in your decision to consider the crockpot for the rooster. If you do not wish to breed, they can be more hassle than they are worth and aggressive roos should never be tolerated - especially when children are around.

If my hens ever peck me (not aggressively of course) i simply point at them, tell them no, or gently tap their beak - they soon get the idea.

Good luck and welcome once again!
CT

Thank you kindly for the warm welcome! I was reading another thread about aggressive chickens, and I have to agree with you - they need to go. While I think it would be fun to have some chicks, it may not be worth the hassle. I don't know where you all find nice roos! We had 3 and they were all aggressive. Seems like their inherent nature.

Some friends of ours who own a farm and have been raising chickens for a while suggested to us that we "discipline" the chickens if they charge or spur, and now reading here that it only makes them MORE aggressive is not so good. Oops.

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You have a beautiful coop. Thanks for posting the pic. ) X2 on the aggressive rooster. There is no good reason to keep an aggressive rooster. Not only do you not want to risk injury to one of the children, but you don't want to breed that kind of aggression into your flock. If you need a rooster for fertilizing eggs, there are loads of unwanted roosters available and you can always find a good one. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

I agree with the other greeters, no need to keep an aggressive rooster. In fact, you don't need one at all for the 3 hens you have to be happy, healthy productive egg layers. If you do want a roo (a nice one!), you should get more chickens. The recommended ratio is 10 hens to 1 rooster to avoid over-breeding and stressing out the hens.

I wish you lots of luck with your new flock. I hope things settle down so the kids can learn that raising chickens is fun and not scary.

Thank you so much for the welcome and good advice! I didn't know that about the 10:1 ratio, that's good to know. We mainly meant to keep the roo for flock protection, but I think they may be all right on their own. I let them out sometimes when the weather is nice to free range, and we've actually lost one silkie and a mallard when they were out. We never found them, just up and disappeared. Do you think the roo would be good to keep for protection?

Great point about the kids - hopefully we can undo the damage that's already been done. My 4 year old was attacked by one of the roos early on and it really scared her, understandably.

From my own experience a roo does not necessarily equate to protection (other members have better experiences, i know). If you ever wish to breed, i personally would opt for buying fertilised eggs when one of your girls go broody. Its great fun to watch a mum and her chicks and a lot less hassle than incubating eggs for sure!

CT

LianndraPuffins said:

Thank you so much for the welcome and good advice! I didn't know that about the 10:1 ratio, that's good to know. We mainly meant to keep the roo for flock protection, but I think they may be all right on their own. I let them out sometimes when the weather is nice to free range, and we've actually lost one silkie and a mallard when they were out. We never found them, just up and disappeared. Do you think the roo would be good to keep for protection?

Great point about the kids - hopefully we can undo the damage that's already been done. My 4 year old was attacked by one of the roos early on and it really scared her, understandably.

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A nice rooster will act as an early warning system for the hens and try to defend them but yours doesn't sound so nice, so no, I don't think you should keep him for protection. It sounds more like you'll be having to protect the kids from the rooster and that's not necessary. To best protect your hens, make their coop and run as strong and predator proof as possible...don't depend on a rooster. Also, any time free ranging is involved there is a risk of loss whether you have a rooster or not.

I guess I am one of the lucky roo owners....My roo has shown some aggressiveness but only when he is upset if one of his girls is fussing or frightened (for example, when I was carrying a cardboard box to the garbage can and lifted it over the coop so I could get by....it scared the girls and Bach had a moment). He comes when I call him, will happily accept treats from my hand, and does a good job taking care of his ladies. I am new to chickens and did not intend to get a rooster....and when he started crowing I figured it out . He is HUGE and if he was aggressive as some of you say yours are, I would be pretty frightened and I am sure he could do some damage. He is fully mature and I just hope he stays calm and sweet but I am prepared to take steps should his personality change. I am no expert, but I think part of it is testosterone and male natural protectiveness, and part of it is how you raise/treat them. Bach (and the rest of them) were handled, talked to, and fed from my hand as chicks so they are quite tame and calm around my husband and me. I think it also helps that we try to move slowly and quietly around the coop and chicken yard and talk to them softly. We don't have small kids running around and being kids, so they are not used to loud noise or sudden movements. Everything generally is always calm.