Friendly Rooster?

[Hawksmama09]

So I've tried Googling friendly roosters but can't come up with anything... We purchased 4 pullets (or so we thought) last spring. One of them actually turned out to be a cockerel. We got them when they were pretty young. Long story short... I hand fed them treats and always interacted with them when they were younger (still do). Any way, fast forward to now, our rooster is the friendliest! He has never tried to peck at us or attack us and let's us pick him up and pet him. He also falls asleep in my arms when I hold him. Has anyone else had this experience with a rooster and how do I keep up the momentum? Also, has anyone ever heard of eye pinning in birds?

 

[nuthatched]

What's eye pinning?
How old is he?
You might want to give home wide berth for spring hormones but hopefully he'll stay that way. You have about a 20% chance of him remaining to be friendly, especially with handraising.

 

[Sally PB]

If your boy is less than a year old, technically he is called a cockerel. He'll be a rooster when he's a year.

Here's hoping he stays friendly! Sometimes when their hormones hit (usually before now), they change, and it can happen overnight, and leave you wondering what the hell happened to your nice boy.

There are friendly roosters out there. There are a lot of roos who are not. I'm glad you got one of the nice ones, and I hope he stays that way.

 

[MyParadiseFalls]

I’ve heard buff Orpington hens and roosters are some of the friendliest you can get

 

[Hawksmama09]

What's eye pinning?
How old is he?
You might want to give home wide berth for spring hormones but hopefully he'll stay that way. You have about a 20% chance of him remaining to be friendly, especially with handraising.

So apparently eye pinning is a known thing with parrots and is just starting to be studied in chickens. It's a type of behavior that they exhibit when they're excited or possibly about to be aggressive.

I'm not 100% sure on his age as we got him fairly young from a nearby farm. I'm thinking he's roughly 11 months old.

And thanks for the heads up when it comes to springtime! We're fairly new to chickens so I'm still trying to learn. Like I said he was a surprise as we thought we got 4 pullets. We actually got 3 plus him.

 

[Hawksmama09]

If your boy is less than a year old, technically he is called a cockerel. He'll be a rooster when he's a year.

Here's hoping he stays friendly! Sometimes when their hormones hit (usually before now), they change, and it can happen overnight, and leave you wondering what the hell happened to your nice boy.

There are friendly roosters out there. There are a lot of roos who are not. I'm glad you got one of the nice ones, and I hope he stays that way.

Thanks for the info! He's a fairly "active" cockerel since this winter has been so mild in the Midwest. But he still lets me pick him up and doesn't bother me when I do the same with the hens. I guess I'll just keep doing whatever I'm doing and hope it stays that way! He doesn't bother my husband either who feeds them in the afternoon and is not an animal lover like I am. So fingers crossed we just got lucky!

 

[Hawksmama09]

I’ve heard buff Orpington hens and roosters are some of the friendliest you can get

Honestly, I'm not sure what he is... He's a gorgeous bird but just a barnyard mix. Any idea what he could be? He's definitely a big boy!

 

[Sally PB]

Very handsome!

 

[Sussex19]

Honestly, I'm not sure what he is... He's a gorgeous bird but just a barnyard mix. Any idea what he could be? He's definitely a big boy! View attachment 3415871

He looks a bit like a Blue Copper Marans?

 

[Hawksmama09]

He looks a bit like a Blue Copper Marans?

I can definitely see that! Although the way his hackles are outlined I'm curious to know what he's mixed with. Too bad they don't have genetics testing for chickens like they do with dogs! Lol.