Aggressive Rooster....How do I re-home??

[chickengeorgeto]

No need to run after any bird to treat for those issues. Wait til dark and pluck them off the roost. No running on my part, minimal struggle on their part, even if it's been literally months since the bird was last touched by a human. Way easier for all involved.

I'll second, and third, and fourth that. 2nd, 3rd, 4th. etc. ∞

The following is intended for no one in particular, but for everyone in general.

If it is too much trouble for you to wait until the Sun is well set so that you can easily catch your chickens off their roost, then IMHO why are you keeping chickens in the first place.

Take my word for it, you won't miss much of Dancing With The Stars, or The Amazing Race, and even if you did you can catch up on what you missed during the reruns. .

OK, I'm stepping off my soap box now.

 

[One Chick Two]

Different people have different situations, and so have differing theories on raising chickens. With respect, what works for one doesn't work for all.

For us, having larger numbers in a rural area, it really has been much easier to deal to be able to deal with them for some of the serious issues as the problems arise, than when we're tired at night, or, have multiple birds that each need special attention.

Our chickens can be picked up anytime-no chasing. So, we do not want to have a situation to have to wait (possibly) multiple hours later to deal with emergencies, or issues when they happen. If we had multiple birds to wash who got sprayed by a passing skunk, or a bird who gets bitten by a snake, or a bird stranded on a hot day away from the water, it's just my opinion it would not be best to wait for them later that night- if possible. Things such as these would not likely not be an issue as much in cities, or with small, or penned up flocks.

If we did ignore them during the day, I'm certain we would have had many dead birds now- or wounded birds that have additional damage by flockmates. We don't want animals on our property that we could only handle just at night. Ignoring may work for some people. Just would not be a long term solution for us. Again, just my two cents.

 

[speckledhen]

I have no trouble picking up any bird on the property (other than my two spastic bantam Belgian D'Anver roosters, who must be tricked). I can walk up to any LF rooster I've ever had and just pick him up. That's what I keep here, good tempered, easygoing males who know who fills the feeder and who understand who is dangerous to their hens and who is not. I refuse to walk around on guard all the time. Life's too short. And a 10-14 lb rooster hitting the back of my legs is not something I want to deal with, not ever. There are way too many great roosters for anyone to tolerate one like that. I stewed a 25 week old Delaware cockerel for just this reason years ago, mainly because I didn't want to pass on his genes to a new generation.

This isn't something you want to be human aggressive, trust me. He was almost 15 lb in his prime. He was a teddy bear with us, perfection.






The original question was how do I rehome an aggressive rooster. One answer is "with full disclosure" of his nature, but the better question is why would you want to pass on his genes to a new generation? If you do rehome him, the new owner will probably become tired of his antics and he'll end up in a stew pot anyway. Sometimes, it's just a rooster's lot in life to become dinner, especially a nasty, mean one. I know you want to be rid of your problem rooster, but you won't be able to dictate what happens to him after that.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

In my experience sneaky, low down, nasty, mean, man fighting roosters are mostly the results of haphazard breeding practices.

Grabbing up a shirt tail full of eggs fertilized by roosters and laid by hens whose backgrounds are unknown and setting these eggs is a sure way to get a coop full of unfriendly roosters. The reason is not in his genetic makeup so much as it means that an overly inbred bird will have behavioral issues related to nervousness.

Only roosters thrown from hens who for countless generations are themselves the daughters of calm mothers and fathers will reliably produce easy going roosters. But any easy going rooster can turn bad in an instant if he perceives that you are a threat to his hens. I am not saying that you can't breed an easy going rooster but I am strongly suggesting that the criteria for breeding such a rooster as presented here is flawed. All I have heard anyone admit to is that they cull any and all roosters who don't measure up to their idea of what a calm rooster is. Don't tell me that "rehoming" your juvenile delinquent roosters is not culling those roosters. Any rooster that fails to pass its DNA down to future generations has been "culled" from the gene pool, the reason for that failure is immaterial. Besides that, "rehoming" man fighters also requires you to "rehome" the mother, sisters, and daughters if not the aunts, and girl cousins of problem roosters by not setting the eggs that they produce.

I didn't write this to put anyone down but to try to help you enjoy your chickens more by helping show you what IMHO is achievable in a back yard flock and what is unachievable.

 

[speckledhen]

In my experience sneaky, low down, nasty, mean, man fighting roosters are mostly the results of haphazard breeding practices.

Grabbing up a shirt tail full of eggs fertilized by roosters and laid by hens whose backgrounds are unknown and setting these eggs is a sure way to get a coop full of unfriendly roosters. The reason is not in his genetic makeup so much as it means that an overly inbred bird will have behavioral issues related to nervousness.

Only roosters thrown from hens who for countless generations are themselves the daughters of calm mothers and fathers will reliably produce easy going roosters. But any easy going rooster can turn bad in an instant if he perceives that you are a threat to his hens. I am not saying that you can't breed an easy going rooster but I am strongly suggesting that the criteria for breeding such a rooster as presented here is flawed. All I have heard anyone admit to is that they cull any and all roosters who don't measure up to their idea of what a calm rooster is. Don't tell me that "rehoming" your juvenile delinquent roosters is not culling those roosters. Any rooster that fails to pass its DNA down to future generations has been "culled" from the gene pool, the reason for that failure is immaterial. Besides that, "rehoming" man fighters also requires you to "rehome" the mother, sisters, and daughters if not the aunts, and girl cousins of problem roosters by not setting the eggs that they produce.

I didn't write this to put anyone down but to try to help you enjoy your chickens more by helping show you what IMHO is achievable in a back yard flock and what is unachievable.

Aggressive hens would be culled as well, if I had any (other than Tiny). I know a Delaware breeder, coincidentally, the one where Isaac came from, who culled an aggressive pullet (shoe-biter, aggression ramping up, not the norm at all for the breed) around the time she sent me the eggs from her improved line.

It is my considered opinion, partly from my own personal experience, that temperament generally comes from the sire rather than the mother. Case in point: my hen with Sumatra blood we call the Tiny Terrorist. She has spurs, bites, flogs, etc., a nasty piece of work, that one. Accidentally, two years ago, when collecting eggs for a broody hen, one of her eggs was mistaken for my blue Rock's and hatched, resulting in my rooster, Deacon. I never wanted to reproduce Tiny because of her aggressive nature, among other issues she has. Deacon's sire, however, to swing the pendulum the other way, is my Delaware rooster, Isaac. Deacon is the quintessential pet rooster. He has nothing of Tiny's nature in him. He's lovable, goofy and sweet, loves to be petted. Isaac's male progeny almost always are like he is and they tend to produce same. JMHO.

I do agree that when you just hatch randomly, you never know what you're going to end up with. You have to be a tad choosy and select for traits you want, temperament being one of them.