Arizona Chickens

I think that my Blue Australorp rooster is trying to feed me? When I put out the food, he picks up a piece and just takes a step forward then drops the food like he does to the hens. All of the hen's are behind him. He doesn't try to bite nor attack me.

Awe! :p I think my little guy does that, too. He was half chasing me around with a dead spider a few days ago. :sick I can't remember what thread I saw it on or who said it, but I think I remember reading somewhere that it's bad to let your rooster do that? He thinks your part of his flock or something, not sure. I personally think it's adorable, though. :lol:
 
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One of mine crows every morning. If I don't go out, he crows even more for attention and if I go out my front door without going to see him, he crows, too. :rolleyes::lol: He does do a little dance for about 2 seconds when I sit on the ground near him, and he's pretty snuggly when I pick him up. I found a little staple (I have burlap stapled to one side of my run to block from the sun) in the run maybe 2 days ago and went down to pick it up and he bit me. :barnie Not enough to draw blood, but it was a little bite. My pullets do it, too, occasionally. Is there anything I can do to fix that before it becomes an issue? Should I completely ignore his little dances, pecks, etc. or continue to pick him up to calm him down? Or is it best to just wait it out with him a bit longer so his hormones settle a bit? He's a bit protective of the girls now and keeps them together during free ranging, makes sure to warn them of any bird that passes, etc. so I'm hoping he'll be a good little guy, but if he gets aggressive, I suppose it's best to rehome him. (Probably to someone's stew pot, in all reality. :()

Also, for anything I've been doing wrong with him, (probably a bit lol) he's almost 4 months - have I completely messed up with him so it's irreparable, or is it possible to still fix any issues I could've caused? It's not ideal, but they're currently separate from 6 of my other pullets that are about a month and a half older so they free range separately, and occasionally he'll wander over to their run and they fight through the bars. I pull him away and pet him to calm him down, so hoping that that hasn't taught him to be aggressive to me. Normally I'd let them work it out, but since he's still smaller than them, I'm hoping to wait until he's a bit bigger. The pullets he grew up in his grow-out pen with are still tiny, too - seem to be all feather and no chicken underneath! :lol:


Four months is still very young and well within the uber-hormonal stage. My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up when he's that riled up, especially early in the morning and at dusk. That's when cockerels/roosters are the most hormonal and unruly and most inclined to try mating and/or defending their females. Make a habit of only handling him when he's calm and then love him and maybe even give him treats for behaving himself. It will teach him that good manners get rewarded while bad behavior gets ignored.

As far as him biting when you reached for the staple, that's probably a nervous reaction more than anything. It's very normal at this age. As they get older they become less likely to do things like that, especially as they learn to recognize that your hand is a "welcome" sight rather than something alarming.
 
Four months is still very young and well within the uber-hormonal stage. My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up when he's that riled up, especially early in the morning and at dusk. That's when cockerels/roosters are the most hormonal and unruly and most inclined to try mating and/or defending their females. Make a habit of only handling him when he's calm and then love him and maybe even give him treats for behaving himself. It will teach him that good manners get rewarded while bad behavior gets ignored.

As far as him biting when you reached for the staple, that's probably a nervous reaction more than anything. It's very normal at this age. As they get older they become less likely to do things like that, especially as they learn to recognize that your hand is a "welcome" sight rather than something alarming.

Thank you, I'll make sure to stop picking him up when he's doing his little dances at me, then. lol Mine seems to constantly be riled up, though. :rolleyes: Two of the boys, you wouldn't even know they're cockerels if not for their combs, coloring, tail feathers, and very occasional crowing. They even sound like some of the hens with their little chirps, but they do seem to be afraid of me. The dominant little guy, I can't tell if he likes me or hates me with his little dance and constantly coming over to stare at me. Hoping I don't have to get rid of him for aggression in a few months! :fl
 
Hello all! I am relatively new to BYC and to raising chickens. I am not sure if there is a way to search just our "Arizona" forum, so please forgive me as I am sure this must have been covered somewhere along the way... Does anyone in Tucson know of a processor that will process our non-laying hens? I read the tutorial on processing myself, but would rather not unless I can't find another way. I don't quite trust my cutting capabilities and don't want to botch things up for the poor hens.
 
Hello all! I am relatively new to BYC and to raising chickens. I am not sure if there is a way to search just our "Arizona" forum, so please forgive me as I am sure this must have been covered somewhere along the way... Does anyone in Tucson know of a processor that will process our non-laying hens? I read the tutorial on processing myself, but would rather not unless I can't find another way. I don't quite trust my cutting capabilities and don't want to botch things up for the poor hens.

:welcome! Sorry I can't help you with your question.
 
And I 2nd @Junochick! It was awful here in my part of Chandler - trees snapping everywhere, signs ripped out of the concrete, flash floods, traffic lights out, ridiculously heavy rain and wind, etc. My family and I were out on the highway when it hit - it went from a light drizzle to ridiculously powerful in a matter of minutes! I wasn't home to see how my poor chickens did, but I had them locked in their runs. When I got back, the run gate was blown open and a few of my girls were missing; luckily I found them hiding out in the shed, but that was definitely scary. Somehow, despite having a latch-lock on my grow-out pen and just a simple two-step gate on my main run, they both were blown open. All the chickens are safe and accounted for, luckily, albeit a bit rattled and wet. One of my girls camped out on the nest the entire time, from the looks of her - she looked like a drowned rat! :hit:lau

How was it in everyone else's parts? I had no idea this storm was even on the forecast! Monsoon season definitely made sure to tell everyone in my area that it was officially here. :p
 
Four months is still very young and well within the uber-hormonal stage. My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up when he's that riled up, especially early in the morning and at dusk. That's when cockerels/roosters are the most hormonal and unruly and most inclined to try mating and/or defending their females. Make a habit of only handling him when he's calm and then love him and maybe even give him treats for behaving himself. It will teach him that good manners get rewarded while bad behavior gets ignored.

As far as him biting when you reached for the staple, that's probably a nervous reaction more than anything. It's very normal at this age. As they get older they become less likely to do things like that, especially as they learn to recognize that your hand is a "welcome" sight rather than something alarming.

Wow, I had no idea posting about this guy was going to incite such a discussion about it!
Just fyi, he's not biting my toes anymore. :yesss: He got over that pretty quickly. I've been going out there more often lately to sit with them (now that it's not 115 degrees out), and he is guaranteed to come over and hang out near me. Usually to just stand near me, or he'll start scratching the ground and such around me. I reach out to scritch his chest or pet him and he'll either act like he doesn't mind, isn't sure if he should mind, or will start biting my fingers. One thing I've learned with roosters is that the first one to turn away is the loser, so I never give up first. He doesn't like to give up either though... haha!! But so far he's only been biting when I'm the first to reach out to try to pet him, and not every time. I'm pretty confident that, in this situation, it's just hormonal nervousness like DesertChic is talking about.
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This was just today.
 

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