What goes into raising a friendly roo?

[Alexandra33]

Alex- I have pure GFF Blue Isbar hens, hatched from eggs I got from a lady who has first gen. I bred my Blue Isbar with a Brahma I had, who was a very nice rooster, but I wanted smaller roos so He became soup. This rooster is a large roo, but he is so friendly I don't plan on processing him any time soon.

This boy loves to be held, and gets kisses every day.

Cool beans! We also have Isbars; 2 Blue cockerels, and 2 Blacks - cockerel and pullet. Your boy looks VERY lovable....I can see the sweetness in his eyes.

Hopefully our handsome guys will turn out well and prove themselves to us as true gentlemen. (although they don't have any Brahma flowing in their blood to add some extra docile genetics)

~Alex

 

[gimmie birdies]

His mom is very blue

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

The rooster I Have in my avatar is Owl, he was a GLW, and was suppose to be a hen. He was held and loved on till he just got too big. When he was figuring out his place, he started dancing around me, I would back him into a corner and tell him that I was the boss, but his job was to make sure the hens were safe. I could hand feed him with no problem, was very gentle. Two years later, both he & I hurt our leg from a mole hole. He had trouble getting all the way up the roost. So I told him to hop on the first rung, and I would boost him up the rest of the way. Once he was up with the girls, I would check his legs and hips, never a peck or growl towards me. A few months later, we both hurt the same leg again, but for Owl it was beyond repair. Our neighbor had to come over and put Owl down.
We had a silkie roo at the same time, and once Owl passed, he became head roo, and went from a sweet loving rooster to one you had to watch your back. We have two of his sons that we hand raised, and two of his grandsons, that we hand raised.
Hank is a beautiful rooster, and will call the hens over for food. I try to give Hank snacks, but he turns and gives them to his ladies. Only when they are done, will he eat what I give him. He is very gentle when taking food from me. His brother on the other hand, Cotton, is aggressive, and you walk with a stick in your hand. I again hut my foot this past week, and was helping my youngest take the older chicks to their play area for the day. As I was making my way across the yard, Cotton saw me, and was about to charge. All I have to do is say "Hank, go get Cotton!" and Hank will come running and shoo Cotton away from me.
Been trying to re-home Cotton, but so far, no one wants him.
The grandsons (Hank's boys) are as sweet as can be, they are 2 years old, will try to chase the ladies, but as soon as they start squawking, Hank comes a runnin. Puffles looks like his grandpa silkie, and my youngest can scoop him up and love on him.
This is No Name, he was named this, because he was the first chick to hatch, and we did not know how many we might have, and the name stuck. He is beautiful burnt orange saddle feathers. As you can see, he got his feathered feet from grandpa. Both Hank & Cotton have feathered feet. I want to put No Name and my gray Easter Egger together, and see what their chicks would look like.
I have been given roosters, who within 2 months re-homed them, because they were just too mean. I guess it is the luck of the draw as to how your rooster will be.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Nice roos are not a dime a dozen. Keep the good ones if you can.

 

[awarmrainyday]

3 of my 6 Red Ranger chicks ended up being roos. The one has always been way ahead of the curve as far as developing his comb and wattles, tail feathers, and crowing. He was also the first to show signs of being a roo including aggression when he was about 3 weeks old. I held and handled him a lot and he has been by far the most affectionate of the group. We even went through a stage when it was time to transition outside where he didn't want to act like a big boy and just wanted to be held and be in the house with me. HOWEVER the brunt of his hormones just started kicking in and now he is aggressive about getting the attention he wants. He follows after me pinching my legs and if I'm crouched doing something he pinches my butt and if I reach down to pet him he will grab my hand. But if I give him access to my lap he happily hops up and settles down to rest. As soon as I let him on my lap the aggression stops and he's perfectly content to be held and petted. It doesn't seem that the technique of holding him is going to work because it just reinforces his behavior by giving him what he wants! Anyone had this problem before?

 

[Folly's place]

So true! The 'friendliest' young cockrels can become the jerks they really are, as hormones kick in, and attitude develops. I like the cockrels who stay out of my way, because I've found that they are more likely to be respectful of humans as adults. The rooster's job is to take care of his hens, watch for danger (not me!), and generally be totally involved with being a chicken. Mary

 

[Jmay402]

I started with 10 chicks last year. 4 Black Austrolorps, 4 red sex linked hens, and 2 mystery bantams. 3 of the Black Austrolorps ended up being roosters and 1 of the bantams. I spent quite a bit of time around them and held / checked on them occasionally. My first dominant rooster started showing signs of aggression very quickly. He would try to peck / flog me every time I went to feed them. The other 3 roosters at that time, were not aggressive and just ignored us. After the dominant one was culled however, the second in line stepped up and started being aggressive. He flogged my son, so he was culled. Then, the little bantam started in on the kids and me. I now only have the last Black Austrolorp. He has been nothing but a big gentle, but protective rooster. He has never showed any interest in me or my family. If one of the chickens gets rowdy, he comes running across the yard to figure out why and protect them if need be, but if we are near them, he just runs up and then ignores us. I personally believe it's not really how you raise them that will make a good rooster as much as it is their individual personality and the flock dynamics.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Well sometimes when roos are little they are shy, and they become more brave with the hormones. with hormones they come to check me out I grab'm and hug kiss'm and then they keep coming back for the love.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

So true! The 'friendliest' young cockrels can become the jerks they really are, as hormones kick in, and attitude develops. I like the cockrels who stay out of my way, because I've found that they are more likely to be respectful of humans as adults. The rooster's job is to take care of his hens, watch for danger (not me!), and generally be totally involved with being a chicken. Mary

My rooster is friendly but still does his duty,I want all my roosters just like that.He has absolutely no desire in watching over me.

 

[chippy99th]

This is an older thread, but oh well. In my experience the best way to have a "nice" rooster is:

• Start out with a decent boy, some chickens are jerks just like some people. The super friendly babies tend to be more aggressive as adults (because they get too cocky/brash IMO). Not a super controllable factor, but still.
• Don't over handle them or spoil them. Once it's clear you've got a roo, back off on the handling.
• Don't ever make him mad/scared for no reason because he will remember and he will use aggression as defense.

Hens, you can make friends with. Roosters, you have to have a respectful relationship with. Again, just my experience but none of my roos have been super proactively friendly as adults, however the ones that were very friendly as young ones turned out mean & aggressive when they became adults.

I had the fortune to have "volunteer" roosters. We have feral chickens in our area and sometimes one will decide they like the idea of free food, shelter & protection from predators, with the added perk for the roosters of some lovely ladies' company. The best way to get a nice rooster is to have a volunteer roo, haha. We've raised mean ones but we've never had a mean volunteer, in fact our current king of the roost is an older mutt volunteer who came here when his dad kicked him out of his feral flock upon reaching adulthood. He is always sweet to the girls, shares food with them, has never chased or pecked even when some medical thing or handling is necessary. Even ignores my obnoxious toy poodle, haha. If he was a purebred I would get 12 more of them. As it is all I can do is hope some of his sons turn out that nice.