16 week old cockerel turning into a good rooster??

[ChickyWhicky]

Thank you. My kids and I handled him daily until he was about 12 weeks old. Still hoping for a positive outcome…

All roos are different. There is not one mold they all fit in & not one method that works for all of them. Wishing you luck!!

 

[Mrs. K]

How old is the child? Because if he is under 6 years of age, they can take the attack in the face. Rotten roosters are opportunists, and tend to attack children first, women second and men last.

I seldom disagree with AArt - but I do on this. I think that there might be some influence of people on roosters, but most of it is them and their hormones. If you get a great rooster, it is a pleasure and a joy to watch him in the flock with his girls. If you get a rotten rooster, they are just ugly to deal with.

Sounds like he is off to a good start, but do know the darling can become the nightmare. For inexperienced people this can seem to come out of no where. Here are some things that are signaling aggression.

• excessive crowing when you enter the set up
• jumping up on something to make himself taller than you
• moving to get behind you, often times they will sneak up on you
• the stink eye
• coming towards you - this appears to be so friendly - but it is a sign of no respect
• flapping his wings at you and puffing up his neck feathers

Good signs:

• Move casually away from you, keeping about 4-6 space, this should not be frantic or scared, just a space around you
• Calling the hens over for feed
• Keeping your hens together
• He should be the first one to see you, head up and watching while the hens eat
• He should be good to the hens
• The flock should feel calm and comfortable

It is way too early to say which way he is going. While I think that a cockerel raised with flock mates has a slightly more tendency to be rotten, and a cockerel raised up with a broody hen, in an multi-generational flock has a slightly better tendency to be good. The size of your flock, coop/run can also have a small influence, but the truth of the matter is that they are a crap shoot, some turn out, and some do not.

Always have a plan B, set up and ready to go. A fishnet with a 5 foot handle, can catch one. A dog crate to lock him up until dispatch. And a way to cull him if need be.

Mrs K