Rooster 'dance' explanation please/

[dawno33]

Our one rooster is 18 weeks old and still is a friendly roo. He has some odd behavior though. When I call him or talk to him, he will walk sideways up to me and make all kinds of chicken noises. sometimes he will lift one wing a little higher than the other and he walks sideways to me. We can pick him up and hold him, but sometimes he will try and peck at us. Does anyone know rooster body language to explain this 'dance' he does.

 

[enola]

It is his first attempt of impressing you with his manliness. Most likely is his first attempt at dominating you. There are several good threads on this site about how to train roosters to respect people. Try to find one ASAP and teach him some respect. Otherwise, you will have two options...... Learn how to live with a mean rooster or learn how to live without him in your flock.

 

[krista74]

It is his first attempt of impressing you with his manliness. Most likely is his first attempt at dominating you. There are several good threads on this site about how to train roosters to respect people. Try to find one ASAP and teach him some respect. Otherwise, you will have two options...... Learn how to live with a mean rooster or learn how to live without him in your flock.

x2

Completely normal for a rooster to dance around his hens, but very much unacceptable behaviour for a rooster to try and dominate you - and that is exactly what he is trying to do.

- Krista

 

[ChickenLady2014]

It is his first attempt of impressing you with his manliness. Most likely is his first attempt at dominating you. There are several good threads on this site about how to train roosters to respect people. Try to find one ASAP and teach him some respect. Otherwise, you will have two options...... Learn how to live with a mean rooster or learn how to live without him in your flock.

X2

 

[AmericanMom]

I agree with the other posters, he is starting down the long road of domination and unless you check him now he will be a danger to you and your children. I once had a rooster that almost took my eye out, they can be vicious, unpredictable creatures and learning how to deal with them from day one is imperative to having a happy flock.

You must learn right now that he is not your pet, nor is he your friend. He serves one purpose, to fertilize the hens eggs and offer some protection to the flock. When you walk out into the coop/run walk with purpose, walk tword him with confident strides and force him to remove himself from your path. if he just merely moves out of the way and watches you, keep at him until he moves and keeps moving. If he does the side step dance twords you make him stop.. Part of me thinks it may already be to late and hopefully others will chime in with more suggestions.

For future reference... Never hand feed or "cuddle" your cockerels.

 

[dawno33]

I agree with the other posters, he is starting down the long road of domination and unless you check him now he will be a danger to you and your children. I once had a rooster that almost took my eye out, they can be vicious, unpredictable creatures and learning how to deal with them from day one is imperative to having a happy flock.

You must learn right now that he is not your pet, nor is he your friend. He serves one purpose, to fertilize the hens eggs and offer some protection to the flock. When you walk out into the coop/run walk with purpose, walk tword him with confident strides and force him to remove himself from your path. if he just merely moves out of the way and watches you, keep at him until he moves and keeps moving. If he does the side step dance twords you make him stop.. Part of me thinks it may already be to late and hopefully others will chime in with more suggestions.

For future reference... Never hand feed or "cuddle" your cockerels.

ohhh, too late for hand feeding and cuddling, but I will definitely take the advice given and then check and see what other threads I can find. Thank you.

 

[dawno33]

If anyone knows the name of a good thread to read, please post it. So many threads, so little time.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

...

  I agree with the other posters, he is starting down the long road of domination and unless you check him now he will be a danger to you and your children. I once had a rooster that almost took my eye out, they can be vicious, unpredictable creatures and learning how to deal with them from day one is imperative to having a happy flock.

 You must learn right now that he is not your pet, nor is he your friend. He serves one purpose, to fertilize the hens eggs and offer some protection to the flock.   When you walk out into the coop/run walk with purpose, walk tword him with confident strides and force him to remove himself from your path. if he just merely moves out of the way and watches you, keep at him until he moves and keeps moving.  If he does the side step dance twords you make him stop..  Part of me thinks it may already be to late and hopefully others will chime in with more suggestions.

 For future reference...  Never hand feed or "cuddle" your cockerels.
[/quote
I agree whole heartedly with AmericanMom. Had to put down 2 beautiful roos this summer because I thought if I handled them and kept them friendly it would be ok. Not the case, as soon as they came into spring & got super twitterpated that was the end of their niceness. 1 eventually attacked my granddaughter and the other one attacked me. I refuse to keep birds that behave like that. I have 2 other roos that I have not tried to make friends with and so far they are doing great. Will know more as Spring get closer.

 

[centrarchid]

For those vested in roosters, the observed behavior is usually referred to as "cutting the wing" or "dropping the wing". Has an aggression component but can also be a part of courtship. I see it at most only once per male bird and then it stops as I do not provide proper response. My response is to provide no response. I do not have aggressive roosters despite not culling against it. I also have a lot of roosters, more than most have chickens.

 

[AmericanMom]

Quote:

When we decided to get roosters again ( it had been 5-6 years that's how scared I was) I read everything I could get my hands on.. We ended up with a blue orpington.. He is huge! DH estimates he weighs in at around 10-12 pounds.. I am not in the least bit afraid of him because I know he knows I am coop leader. I have since had numerous cockerels that have been hatched and raised on our small farm, I have become pretty good at detecting the body language and now even giving me the stink eye will land a rooster in the stew pot.

Here is our Blue.. Love this boy! (yes, you can actually love your rooster if they are raised to respect your)