Are roosters all mean??? Please tell me they aren't!

[bantyhen'sfriend]

We have two roosters right now, one born in January of this year (Australorp), one if February of last year (bantam Cochin). They are both very nice right now, but there may be a spurt of aggresive behavior when they first reah sexual maturity. At five months, the Cochin would attack anything that came near his girl, and that was how we could catch him. Then we brought him to a completely new (and scary/strange) environment called the county fair. He was the sweetest rooster after that!

The australorp is getting BIG. In dominant behavior he never pulls out feathers, and is always very gentle with the pullets he is with, and he is five months old. He has never shown any sign of agression with me either. It all depends on the rooster, the amount of handling, and the amount of aggressiveness you will tolerate before the rooster gets the chop. But give it a year or so, so the youngster can get used to the hormones, before you make any decisions. And, a big change in scenery and activity level can help, too.

 

[Jennyhaschicks]

I have only kept chickens for about 14 months now. I have had a handful of roos though. I have had to cull one who kept lunging at my son. My son was the only one he was mean to.
We now have a NHR who is very mellow. He doesn't bother anyone and respects us. He will attack anything that bothers his girls though. (dogs) We hope he stays like this forever!

 

[4hooves&featheredfriends]

My EE, George is tremendously gentle. He has his new found freedom outside the run so he is a bit harder to catch but he is a snuggle bunny. My AmStaff X plays tag with him - wish we had it on video.

Yesterday, he was wandering the barnyard while I was riding in the ring and made his way up to the edge of the arena to watch. He just plops himself down and talks.

His existence has been pampered, as he is a very rare rumpless EE - thanks to his hens.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I have 6 roos right now. My white cochin bantam is the meany. He attacks me everyday flogging my leg and trying to get to my face. I just pick him up and pet him telling him what a nice boy acts like. When i put him back down he runs away grumpin like he is cussing me out. The other day tho there was a big hawk in the trees out back, 2 blue jays were tormenting this hawk to get it away from the chickens. The boys saw this and sounded the alarm immediately. One bunch ran one way and dudley my other cochin roo took a handful of girls and hid in the bushes by the deck. Crash the mean one ran like a scared school girl into the coop without gathering up his girls

. My serama boys are great, they hover over the girls wings out and everything at the first sign of danger.
I have had many roos here in the past, my best by far was my glw named nelson. Due to our decision to only keep bantams nelson went off to live a great life on a small hobby farm with a flock of ladies his size and no other roosters to compete with

 

[JenEric Farms]

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[wordgirl]

Wow!

I hit a popular topic!

So...the verdict is...it really depends on the roo, and even sweet chicks can end up being mean cocks? Hmm. I hope Mr. Incredible continues to be sweet. When does chicken manhood begin? Six and a half weeks?

Hehe.

Is there anything you can do to have a better chance at having a nice rooster? Handle them a lot as chicks, or does this not really matter in the long run?

Mr. Incredible is a Buff Orpington. How has your experience been with BO roos?

 

[janinepeters]

I think it helps somewhat if you handle them a lot as chicks, hand feed them, and generally establish yourself as a non-threatening presence. However, as they mature and the testosterone kicks in, even the sweetest male chicks might develop the natural urge to protect his flock at the slightest possible threat. This drive seems to reach peak as they go through their first spring - their first breeding season (at least for some breeds - maybe others take longer to reach maturity). One false move on your part - and it might be so subtle (like slightly changing your coop management routine on a given day) that you cannot even identify it yourself - and he suddenly feels you are a potential threat. Then, he might become aggressive towards you.

But if you previously had been able to hand feed and handle him, then you have a better chance of restoring that positive relationship. In my experience, there is no question that chickens can distinguish between individual humans and remember their past experiences with different people. All those niceties you bestowed upon this newly maturing rooster during his chickdom will not be entirely forgotten.

Our roosters have tended to be more aggressive towards children, especially the fast moving, unpredictable sort (that's just about all of them, right?) We had a rooster that was very well behaved until one day when my 9 year old son took his very energetic friend, another 9 yr old boy, into the coop. His friend began chasing and grabbing at the hens. The two roosters went bananas, and from that moment on, one of them began attacking children, especially little boys, including my son. I was able to "rehabilitate" this guy, so that, while he remained suspicious of little boys, he would no longer attack....unless provoked.

As I said before, though, some are highly aggressive and might be impossible to tame. It depends somewhat on how motivated you are and how much time you want to devote to it, but it depends on the individual rooster, too.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Actually, I heard quite the opposite on holding them. The more you cuddle, snuggle and hold the more likely they are to be mean and it seems to be true. I held George (the mean roo) all the time. Hansel (I hatched from an egg) I laid off the holding and cuddling and just took care of him. Edward I got as an adult from people who don't strike me as the chicken cuddling type. What I heard was if you hold and cuddle and try to be their "friend" when they mature they will simply take over as top roo. You have to let them know from day one you are not friends, you are their master. As long as they know that, life is good.

 

[Poupoulles]

I have three cockerels right now but generally my philosophy with roosters is pretty strict. They only get tasty treats from me so I am deemed "ok" (true of my hens too, so I can keep an eye on them - strawberries work well for this.) But I dont cuddle them.
Cowards and meanies go in the crock pot. I have a Partidge Rock cockeral who is shaping up to be a SUPER rooster. He is protective but very "calm assertive"

My Ameraucana seems to be dumb as a hammer but his hens like him so its all good. The Polish is the boss but I dont count on him since he cant see so good with all those feathers.
We just rehomed two Polish roo's who didnt fit the plan.

 

[geareduplyn]

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You didn't say how long to leave his head in the water. I would think an hour would be good. After that he's definitely not going to be mean anymore.