Australorp Cockerel, should he stay or should he go?

[KellyJ74]

Out of a batch of 17 chicks, 2 are cockerels. One is a speckled sussex and the other is an australorp. there's a 2 1/2 week age difference between them. The speckled sussex is an absolute A-hole. The Australorp is so gentle with me and the other pullets... for now. I've read that most austalorps are generally pretty laid back. What I find funny is the two other australorp pullets are skittish and one of them seems to be trying to take the skin of my hand when I've got treats with how aggressive she is with pecking the food. But the cockerel, will slowly walk to me, check out what I've got in my hand and gently place a foot on my hand and softly nibble. I've also seen him come to the rescue of a 3 1/2 week old buckeye with wry neck when she was getting chased by the speckled sussex cockerel. The sussex is going to another home, but I'm really torn on keeping the australorp. Right now, at 4 1/2 weeks, he's the perfect guy.... however, I'm fully aware that can completely change in the next year. Are there things I can do to keep him from turning into a class-A jerk? Can you get an idea of how they'll be as adults at such a young age or do hormones just ruin them? This was him a week and a half ago.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

@Mrs. K has a great deal of wisdom about roosters to share.

I have had great luck so far with my Australorp boys -- having raised almost a dozen Australorp and Australorp-cross boys well into the hormonal stage without one turning aggressive on me.

That said, I don't hand-feed or hand-tame my birds, especially males -- though Rameses, my avatar, did have to be moved from the nests to the roosts every night for quite a while because the flock doesn't think that the separate, juvenile roost is as good an idea as I did so he's more accustomed to handling at night than Ludwig, my former Black Langshan, was.

I also took the advice of several experienced members here and make a practice of walking through my birds, especially the males. I am not a flock member, not even top bird. I am The Giant Who Brings Food -- a force of nature that cannot be messed with.

I make a point of walking through the space where the males are standing and expecting them to get out of my way, just as if I were a horse or a cow sharing the same pasture.

I don't do this aggressively or in a challenging way. I just casually walk where I wish to walk -- carrying a feeder or a waterer, picking up a piece of coop or run furniture and moving it, or otherwise acting with some purpose of my own beyond the understanding of a mere chicken. (I actually have some spare buckets and random items in the coop and run specifically so I can pick them up and move them through the space a cockerel happened to be standing in).

I don't bother with the business of not letting a rooster mate in front of me. After all, why would a horse or a cow care? The only time I ever interrupted a mating was when Rameses, then only about 6 months old, happened to be breeding his chosen lady right in front of the door where I needed to carry a waterer to refill it. I told them "get a room" and casually pushed them both sideways far enough to walk by.

There are many reasons to have or not have a male in your flock. If you *want* one, for whatever reason, and, especially, if you're willing to cull should he turn aggressive, you might as well try it and see how this promising little guy turns out.

 

[KellyJ74]

Thank you so much! I will definitely check her out. I'm curious about the hand feeding, we do that with all the babies, is this bad? I thought it was to build trust? I love the idea of being in there with a purpose. Brilliant

 

[Folly's place]

Years ago we wanted to raise Speckled Sussex, because we love the hens, and they were a type we wanted. Of over a dozen cockerels, from two or three different sources (all hatcheries) half were nice, and the larger better looking cockerels were human aggressive. We will always have SS hens, but gave up on the cockerels.
I'd move that difficult SS male along, for dinner, or at least with full disclosure, and see how your Australorp cockerel does. He might be a keeper, or not, but worth trying.
I don't hand feed either, I call the birds and toss treats on the ground instead. And I expect everyone to respect my space!!!
Roosters have work to do, watching out for danger (not humans!), treating the ladies, and generally taking care of their flock.
Mary

 

[LizGio]

Stay.

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you so much! I will definitely check her out. I'm curious about the hand feeding, we do that with all the babies, is this bad? I thought it was to build trust? I love the idea of being in there with a purpose. Brilliant

I do just a little hand feeding with babies to teach them that I'm not dangerous, but I don't like getting my fingers nipped by excited birds so I stop once they're not tiny anymore.

The thing with the males is that you want them to respect your space. If they get too familiar with you and lose respect they will try to dominate you.