9 week old pullets

[azygous]

The first rooster I trained was a Buff Brahma. His name was Penrod. He drilled my hide with his sharp beak on a regular basis. He didn't peck. He bit. Like in drill bits.

It took me several months of careful training, part of the training was re-training myself and my behavior with him, and he turned into the gentlest, sweetest gentleman roo anyone would be proud of.

If you choose to train yours, you would have his breed in your favor. It really is true Brahmas are a gentle breed, and when they go bad, a great deal of the blame often belongs to their human.

 

[enoryz]

This was our first time having chickens. We didn't mistreat him. We would hold them from the day we got them until they didn't want anymore. Some still liked it. The day he started to crow was the day it all changed. I'll have to look into to what kind of training because we really would like to keep him.

 

[aart]

part of the training was re-training myself and my behavior with him,

Exactly!

 

[azygous]

The thing most responsible for your cockerel turning suddenly into a problem is hormones, not the way he was handled as a chick. This is contrary to what many people here will say, their theory being a cockerel mustn't be handled at all as a chick. I have found it makes no difference whatsoever if you handle a boy chick or not.

It's how a cockerel is handled after he begins coming into his hormones that determines his behavior. And I'm not necessarily talking about mistreatment. Over abundance of handling after a cockerel's hormones begin to flow, even of an affectionate nature, can cause mixed signals and confusion resulting in aggressive behavior.

Here is the chap who personally worked with me to train my first two problem roosters. http://olychickenguy.blogspot.com/2010/07/002-how-to-stop-your-rooster-from.html He knows his stuff since he literally lives with a large pack of roosters.

He hasn't posted on BYC for years, but his web site is full of helpful information that will help you understand the mind of a rooster and how to forge a good relationship with your Buff Brahma.

BYC also has great tutorials, but there has never been any equal to this fellow's understanding of chicken psychology, in my opinion. Here is a thread that combines a lot of BYC knowledge about training cockerels and roosters. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-them.1127902/