11 day old roo.( pic's added)

[acy0029]

My Black Minorca's are 11 days old +/- a day and today I can see the difference between the cockerel and the two pullets. I'm really excited because that means I can spend a little more time with him so maybe he will be a good friendly roo.

 

[countrychick14]

Good Luck! Minorcas are beautiful birds!

 

[acy0029]

Thank you!

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

A lot of folks on this forum swear that if you spend very little time with roos and lavish your attention on hens you will have better luck by not having him grow up to be aggressive. Others swear the opposite is true.

My experience was last year we had one roo in with our pullet order. I held him and tried to get him used to being handled from the time he was brooding until his hormones kicked in. Long story short he was not afraid of me (even if I held him, held him down, walked toward him aggressively when he was giving me the stink eye) and he attacked 3 people before we culled him. This year we have at least 5 roos out of 24 chicks and we are not handling them at all and will probably send them all to freezer camp. Hopefully we can buy an 'extra' roo from a good breeder who has bred for behavior.

I've got my fngers crossed for you that you have a better roo than we did!

 

[Dez]

I have a scar on my knee from a rooster attacking me as a child. I walked toward him and he jumped toward me and took a good chunk out of my knee. Ever since them i haven't really liked roos

 

[acy0029]

I grew up with chickens but, i haven't had any since i was a kid I had several roo's that all loved me but hated everyone else. I'm not sure anything can prevent a roo from being aggressive if it's in their blood.

 

[georgiagail]

Just like humans, when those teenage hormones kick in, watch out!

Gail

 

[macadam8157]

PIC!

 

[acy0029]

Pic's
Pullet

cockerel

The cockerel has a slightly larger comb,waddles are starting to show,and has a smaller tail.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I don't know much about the Minorca's temperament. I have had nice roos and mean roos of the same breed. For instance, the Old English Game roosters who got a lot of handling lost their fear and grew up to be butt kickers. But roosters of the same breed who got some handling as chicks, but then less as they matured turned out to be nonaggressive (even the alpha roo with hens) They got treats from me over the first year, but were not picked up much. As adults they will still accept treats from my hand, but run away from being pet.

On the other hand, I have Orpingtons who got lots of handling when growing up who have never been aggressive toward me (These rooster however do not have hens to protect, which may make a difference).