Advice: Get a Rooster!

[Nugs]

Get rid of your rooster. I had one until it attacked my 4 year old grandson. Luckily he only scratched his arm before I could get to him.

 

[HappyChickenLover]

Not all roosters are mean, at least not towards humans. Get rid of ones that attack you, do not get rid of ones that are aggressive to protect!

 

[speedy2020]

English orpington or Bielefelder is a good rooster to have.

 

[surfingdevil]

We live in Spain and here on the island of Mallorca there aren't many predators, we are lucky. We do, however, have a great many birds of prey, but although I see them flying above the fields nearby, I've never seen one trying to get to my flock. However, I have found the odd hen dead as a doornail - for no apparent reason - before. I wonder if they were in shock after a prey-bird attack! Anyway, generally no problems. Our last rooster was so mean, that we couldn't go into the coop any more without wearing full body armour! My son wasn't able to go in as the roo attacked everyone and everything. He only had 4 girls to look after and he was brutal. Suffice to say we did him in and he made a great chicken stock!! - sorry to any vegetarians out there!

I have, today, bought another 2 girls - ready to lay - and added them to my 3 remaining girls. I also bought two female pullets and a male, so I am going to hope this cockerel will be nicer! who knows...

I won't be able to keep hens when we move back to the UK (not at first anyway) so I am making the most of it now.

 

[Springermom]

The jury is still out on my current roo, but it's looking positive.

My neice gave us a roo that was supposed to be a hen. He was a sweet boy with people, tolerated being carried around by a 3 year old and was handsome. However, he was young, the same age as my 6 month old pullets and had no respect for them. He would keep them in the coop, guarding them so they couldn't get to food or water and was rough with them. He found a new home and I swore no more roos.

I then added 2 new chickens and the black copper marans ended up being a roo instead of a hen. He's a few months younger than the pullets so came into the flock at the bottom of the order. He was wary of us at first but will now eat out of my hand and, once I catch him, sits quietly under my arm. So far no human aggression.

He has now romanced 3 of the 5 girls in the flock and is very gentle. He' s starting to tidbit and keep watch but I don't know how aggressive he would be with a predator so I still don't let them free range when I'm not outside with them. I already lost 1 girl to a roving dog so am cautious.

I think the key here is that he was young and the big girls trained him. If he mounts one and she squawks, they come running and attack him. When he's gentle so the girl is quiet, he gets by with it. My flock leader and her henchhen have whipped his butt a few times, once plucking out his tail feathers. Even though he's now much bigger than them, you can still see the respect (fear) when he steps aside. They seem to use guerilla tactics to maintain the status quo, ambushing him from behind occasionally to get a beak full of his tail feathers.

I have heard the legends of a good roo and am hoping he's one but he's only 6-7 months old so he may change. In the mean time, it's still pretty entertaining watching the girls keep him in line.

 

[SireniaSolaris]

I had 12 chicks hatch in June. Of those, only 3 turned out to be hens (how do you like those odds?) It was really tough picking which rooster to keep because only one was skittish/aggressive. The rest were sweethearts. I decided to keep my rir, ginger. He was the sweetest rooster with people. I held him a lot and sometimes he would just sit in my feet when I was doing stationary yard work. My 3 year old daughter was able to pick him up and carry him around and my little brother with autism loved having him eat from his hand. He would always ask about seeing the red chicken In spite of his sweet side to people, he was GREAT about watching over, and keeping his hens in line. A couple of weeks ago, a large opossum came in my yard at night and broke into the coop I built. My newly added hen was killed, and I found him on the top of the coop with the remaining hens with some missing feathers and a small scratch. I'm assuming he must have fought it off. My parents babysat my chickens for me while I worked on predator proofing my coop, bringing the chickens inside a large kennel indoors at night. The other day they went outside to find him dead. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with him physically. He had been eating and drinking normal and watching his hens throughout the day. It is a mystery and really really heartbreaking. I'm not sure I'll ever encounter another rooster as awesome as he was. With such a high bar set, I don't know if I should even get another one. Unfortunately one of my hens has grown super feisty since his passing :/

 

[Diannastarr]

Quote:
yes using food can train most animals ..? I trained my bronco parrot, with an apple & peanut butter a day, have a good one take care Dianna : )

 

[mbiondo]

Yes, we have had similar things happen with our rooster, and he stops fussy hens from spoiling the peace of his flock.

This is just a thought. I do not know how to navigate this site, and don't know if I could follow a response. I'm trying to grow-up! Sure enjoy our chickens! Would like to know more of you in the San Diego area. I live in Ramona with 6 hens and one lovely rooster.
Oh husband, too!

edited by staff

 

[Trumanda]

I agree! 1 of my initial 4 (95% sexed as hens) chicks became a rooster. Thankfully, I was able to keep him. Now that he has matured he sends out warning calls when he sees incoming hawks-we have a lot. He used to "threaten me" and did peck me once. I tried various methods to stop this behavior--putting out my foot (did not work long term), looking him in the eye and singing to him before opening the coop (this did work), but found the most effective permanent solution was to act like I'm trying to pick him up every time he puffed out his wings and looked threatening. For some reason they hate being held.

 

[Robeenop]

I disagree; you just have to know how to handle them. NOT pets to "hold and hug". They have a job. Mine are not threatened by me. But DO know I will swat them if needed. Don't allow anyone around my hens but me; my partner; and my dogs. Period!