How To Raise A Rooster

[Gossie]

Our rooster had to be isolated in our garage which gave us special time to spend with him. It also helped to feed him culinary treats.

 

[keesmom]

I ordered all hens and after raising them with love and affection.. The most affectionate of the group turned out to be a rooster. My husband demanded that we kill him but he's adorable . He's the only one who likes to be held and follows me around the garden to hang out. He doesn't chase me or peck me in anyway... But after reading some of these comments I wonder if I'm doing something wrong by continuing to display affectionate behavior towards him. Rupert formally known as Ruby just started crowing last week. He's about 5 1/2 months old.

Also big question can he sleep in the coop with other hens ?

He should sleep with the hens.

Not all cockerels turn into butt-heads. There are some nice boys out there. When my kids were young we had Moe the splash laced red Wyandotte as a flock rooster. Moe never once looked sideways at anyone and would herd the hens to a quiet spot in the yard when the kids were out. I never lavished affection on him, I let him lead his chickeny life with little interference and all were happy. He lived to be 10.

I have Faverolles now and the vast majority have been non-human aggressive. Watch your cockerel's behavior. If he begins to act differently towards you, then you need to change your approach.

 

[1ChickyMomma]

So glad i found this post since in having a difficult time with a rooster we recently got a few months ago. He just turned one so i was told, he is a black silkie with a new serious attitude!! At firsthr wasnt aggressive then he startrd to turn on my kids then myself (the ones who cuddled him) but never my husband who is bigger man... We didnt know u shouldnt cuddle roos... And now hes a jerk to us, i have to carry a broom when i go in the run, and when i clean it i have to close the run door from the coop the night before...
Anyways how can i give this little snob an attitude adjustment, is it too late since ive ran away from him to show him im the alpha? In my avatar is the pic of him and my daughter before all this started

 

[LadyCluck77]

So glad i found this post since in having a difficult time with a rooster we recently got a few months ago. He just turned one so i was told, he is a black silkie with a new serious attitude!! At firsthr wasnt aggressive then he startrd to turn on my kids then myself (the ones who cuddled him) but never my husband who is bigger man... We didnt know u shouldnt cuddle roos... And now hes a jerk to us, i have to carry a broom when i go in the run, and when i clean it i have to close the run door from the coop the night before...
Anyways how can i give this little snob an attitude adjustment, is it too late since ive ran away from him to show him im the alpha? In my avatar is the pic of him and my daughter before all this started

Try to not run away from him- that is showing a submissive behavior to him and making him feel like the Alpha. Yes, do take a broom in with you, see if you can put him in his place when he challenges you.
Make yourself larger and louder when you see him coming towards you with his head down- throw out your arms and shout "No!"
Then be ready to grab him behind the neck.
I usually put mine right on the ground and hold them down for about 30 seconds to force them to submit to me if they try to challenge me.

Sometimes they smarten up and leave you alone with some training. Sometimes they don't.

It is unfortunate to wind up with a mean one, but there are absolutely good roosters out there who need homes. So if you eventually need to cull him, hopefully it's comforting to know that it is relatively easy to find a decent gentlemen.

 

[Ladyanne57]

Getting a lot of info out of this thread because we got 6 gold lace Wyandottes this spring and one of them is a cockerel, which is ok - I've heard/read a lot about the pros and cons of having a rooster, and I don't mind as long as he behaves himself. I don't over-handle any of the chickens - they are comfortable around me although cautious when I do something new like put up a new perch in their run - but no cuddling or even holding other than absolutely necessary. They are almost 11 weeks old and the incipient roo is as mellow as the pullets. Should I take that as a good sign so far or is it still to early to ultimately predict if he'll be a jerk? We don't have any kids so no one is over-handling any of them; I feed, water, sometimes hand feed a treat and sit outside the pen watching them, and they all will come near me if I call them. I have seven dogs and would definitely say I have a stable dog pack with me as the alpha, so I'm hoping that in my beginning experience with chickens I'll have the same good luck. Also - when do they start to crow?

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Getting a lot of info out of this thread because we got 6 gold lace Wyandottes this spring and one of them is a cockerel, which is ok - I've heard/read a lot about the pros and cons of having a rooster, and I don't mind as long as he behaves himself. I don't over-handle any of the chickens - they are comfortable around me although cautious when I do something new like put up a new perch in their run - but no cuddling or even holding other than absolutely necessary. They are almost 11 weeks old and the incipient roo is as mellow as the pullets. Should I take that as a good sign so far or is it still to early to ultimately predict if he'll be a jerk? We don't have any kids so no one is over-handling any of them; I feed, water, sometimes hand feed a treat and sit outside the pen watching them, and they all will come near me if I call them. I have seven dogs and would definitely say I have a stable dog pack with me as the alpha, so I'm hoping that in my beginning experience with chickens I'll have the same good luck. Also - when do they start to crow?

When they start crowing seems to vary WIDELY. He'll probably start in the next month or two.

My guy is still mellow and well behaved *knock on wood* at eight months old. We'll see if that holds. The only thing he's objected to was a friend helping me trim the booty feathers off one of the hens (she's gotten poo on her fluffy pantaloons and it was NASTY). He didn't go after me, but he did run at and bounce off of my friend (sort of a mini flog). He also HATES her fake nails. If she hand feeds treats to the chooks, he goes after her nails every time.

 

[Ladyanne57]

LOL between gardening, horse activities and daily veterinary work, fingernails are not much of a problem here! Now if I paint my toenails, I'll watch out!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

LOL between gardening, horse activities and daily veterinary work, fingernails are not much of a problem here! Now if I paint my toenails, I'll watch out!

He isn't bothered by my plain nails. Maybe he thinks hers are bugs or something?

 

[Ladyanne57]

Well, they are attracted to the color red; maybe we'd better all check our OPI color charts in our copious spare time and go for the green and turquoise shades...

 

[maceman121]

So, reading this thread, I am concerned a bit. I had 11 chicks the first time around, 8 of which ended up in pots because they turned into roos and I live in a nice little neighborhood. I ended up getting 3 more chicks (so integration would be easier, 3 and 3), Welsummers which are supposed to be rather easy to sex. Turns out, 1 was a roo, but we didn't realize this for a few months when he started to really show. As such, my daughter (4) has been playing with all three and love them each. Until recently, he had been very, very nice, easy to hold, and easy to work with, so I decided not to put him into a pot when he got big enough and started to crow. Got the No-Crow collar and that has made it so we aren't worried about neighbors complaining to police and making us lose him. Plus, I always wanted a rooster to help with integrating new hens, giving me fertile eggs, and perhaps starting a meat flock one day. Anyways, he is now about 5 full months old, and as a week ago he started to get a bit more testy.

Before, we could hold and handle him without issues, now he has started to scratch my daughter when she holds him (mostly to move him indoors to his housing). I figured, and explained to her, it was because she didn't hold him right, he was worried about falling. He never scratches me, and when I watch her, he only scratches her when she is indeed holding him wrong. Hold him right, and he is fine. I don't think he is trying to scratch anyways, so much as grab onto something so he won't fall. But the real issue is his biting. That is what happened a week ago. About every two or three days he ends up biting my daughter or myself for no real reason that I can figure. Each time I ensure he understands it is not acceptable and that he is NOT dominant to any of us. This is done by holding him to the ground and holding his head down (read that on here to work with dominance) and it seems to work. He doesn't fight much and quickly calms down and is fine to hold after and move him on. But here is the problem... I am heading away for a rather long trip very soon and I don't want to worry about my daughter getting hurt by him. She handles ALL the birds, EVERY day, and loves them dearly. I don't want the roo to be an exception, and I heard Welsummer Roos are normally very passive and gentle overall, and he seems pretty fine in truth. Still, he DOES bite, and it draws a bit of blood sometimes, and to me, that cannot occur with my daughter. If I was around, I would just deal with him if needed, but I am leaving so that isn't an option.

Besides her just ignoring him (he doesn't chase anyone at all, only bites when approached and only occasionally and always indoors, never outdoors), is there a way we can get him to calm down? In truth, I don't see the point of keeping a roo in my current situation if he needs to be ignored. I have a fenced in yard, 2 dogs that do great with chickens and protect them from all ground predators (as does the highway that is rather close... XD), so he was more of a since we got him, we keep him type thing. Also, he does get attacked on occasion by the older hens. At first it was all the time, now its rare but it is all three ganging up on him and he loses each time. We end it as soon as we see it (three on one, drawing blood, just attacking is not setting a pecking order), but maybe this is part of the issue?

Anyways, anyone have some thoughts on this? Thank you for all the help, as this post alone has been a lot of info but seems that most are just saying to leave him alone and don't treat him like a pet. No reason for me to keep him in that case, I can get another roo when I get back and am home to deal with his bs.