Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

Well, I finally turned those 5 surviving grow-out chick's loose with the rest of the flock this evening (the one's that the ant's didn't kill), and have been out there watching the results for the last hour or so. They look like they will do ok, and the runt of the bunch keeps trying to hide under the other ones.

 

[igorsMistress]

It's cool if you don't pick them up but it's a misconception if you think they are mean bc you do. You can still hand feed and hold them as long as you draw the line

Just walking with him won't work imo, like igorsmistress said walk through them or like I said in my other post is good imo


Good luck, be careful, no fear.

No fear is right, good advice

I choose to be hands off because it works for me, that's the only reason. He has a job, I have a job. We just need to get along. My goals aren't pets with benefits

 

[BlueBaby]

My dog is my pet with benefits. He get's to live and sleep in the house as my pet, and the benefit is that he bark's whenever something or someone comes around to let me know!

 

[meetthebubus]

No fear is right, good advice

I choose to be hands off because it works for me, that's the only reason. He has a job, I have a job. We just need to get along. My goals aren't pets with benefits

For sure, I think, personally, either way works. You can leave them alone and have a good relationship like you described or you can cuddle and have a good one too or it can go bad either way depends on owners and roos both I think.

I've just read in other places what I feel is a misconception of never handling a roo, if you do he will get mean. No one said that in this thread yet, I was just putting it out there imo

It just depends like you said on the owners desires and if the rooster has a good personality.

 

[DesertChic]

So It's been years since I've actually kept a rooster a few weeks past when they start crowing.... which means I'm no longer familiar with the behaviors. The two Aloha boys I have, crow quietly at sundown (I can live with that, if that's all they do) but both of them have been trying to (for a lack of a better description), 'herd' me...
They walk sideways into me with a wing down..... Can anyone explain it?
I can pick both of them up and cuddle, and of them will still fall asleep in my lap if I hold him that long... Just not sure how to react to the behavior.

Even my most affectionate roosters "herd" me like that. It means he's selected you as part of his flock. It doesn't have to mean aggression as it's simply a natural form of communication for roosters. Yes, it can indicate an attempt at dominance, but your response will determine how things proceed from here. You can use that behavior to train them. I have one boy that very quickly learned that when he does that I'll pet him or pick him up to cuddle. He's VERY tame with me and when he's lonely he'll walk over, perform his herding dance and then just look up at me expectantly. As soon as I pick him up he completely relaxes in my arms and just snuggles in. Chickens are so much smarter than most people realize and you can turn nearly any natural behavior into a training opportunity.

 

[meetthebubus]

Chickens are so much smarter than most people realize

Yyeeesss!

They are smart! You can communicate with them! And their names aren't just for you, they can learn and respond to their names!

Surprisingly no one ever talks about this, with all my research before and even now you don't see anything on this. Do people not know? You can train them, respond to hand signals, recognize sounds and colors (purple bag means Mealworms i.e.)

Come when called.... individually! If a girl is out of sight during treat time I call for her and she comes!

The 2 little ones have trouble finding a roost spot due to typical pecking order meanness so at roost time they run to me for help



Ok I went off on a tangent, I know you all know how great these babies are!

Oh and to add to desertchic my ee roo does something similar, he knows when he's on a roost I can pick him up but he knows I'll never grab him from the ground so when he wants to cuddle he hops on the roost for me lol

 

[nicollee]

the two Aloha roos, are pretty sweet, I'd like to keep them that way as long as I can. They are still afraid of Five Alive, but not the other older hens. It's funny to see this giant roo, running from a small hen.
@BlueBaby, when Salt starts crowing, he is all yours... by the way he is not cuddly, he was raised by FiveAlive, and did not bond with us like the Alohas did. If you come up by Tempe, you're welcome to take him.

 

[nicollee]

Ya I’m not that aggressive in making my kids eat other foods. In time they will try new foods. I never force them to eat anything. I was forced as a child and I still refuse to eat those foods. Not my type of parenting style.

I understand, I didn't mean force, I said present....
Some foods they will never get curious about, other foods they will see and follow.
But i do believe in limiting choices, eat or not... your choice...
My youngest got the message, if he didn't want to eat, he would say at dinner "no dessert tonight"(His likes are very texture based). My dau, would wrinkle up her nose and choose to eat. Different responses to the same situation...
And yes there were also those times I just made chicken nuggets, pizza or hot dogs, because it was fast and easy, and no one would complain.

 

[nicollee]

No fear is right, good advice

I choose to be hands off because it works for me, that's the only reason. He has a job, I have a job. We just need to get along. My goals aren't pets with benefits

LOL, but my goals are... pets with benefits.... however lately, I have not seen many eggs to benefit from

 

[Michelle Guynn]

I have loved and cuddled my Roos from the beginning. Silkies are hard to sex so didn’t know they were boys till they crowed. Gus went through a stage he would stalk me and run me down. I just never showed fear. He would also chase my son. This phase lasted about a month. Since then he has been fine with us. He still dont like little humans to much. I make sure he is in his pen when my granddaughter is over. The boys and Emma know their names and they have a name for me. They alert when my son comes around but he is very impatient with them when they crow and I think they feel threatened by him.

Roosters get a bad rap sometimes but I have had and been shown nothing but love to them and from them.