Backyard Rooster

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi All, we are rehoming our rooster today. My kids are absolutly terrified of him.
What is the best way to raise a rooster so that the kids will be comfortable
with him. do I need to start with chicks or maybe a really young roo. My flock
free rangers in our huge backyard, fenced in by a wood fence, so a rooster
would be a good idea to protect the hens. We have numerous hawks
around here. What do some of the chicken experts out there think?

 

[midget_farms]

There are a number of ways to make a nice rooster.

1. Start with a friendly breed - Buff Orpingtons RIR a bunch of others. My araucauna's are skittish & don't come around at all - My BO's come running & love to hang around with me.
2. Routinely catch the rooster & carry him around by his feet. Have the kids do this too. In rooster lingo this means you are the top roo & not him. He will not attack anyone whom he thinks can carry him around upside down.
3. interact & have the kids interact with them on a regular basis.


Do these things & you should have no trouble from your roo.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

ok, thanks for the great tips.

 

[gryeyes]

For an alternate view, I've never carried my rooster around upside down. Ever. I was lucky enough to raise him with the other chicks (the first ones I bought), thinking it was a pullet (bought as a pullet). Therefore, I treated him no different than any of the girls - I thought he WAS one of the girls.

The absolutely ONLY "punitive" thing I've ever had to do to show him I'm the boss is thunk him with a finger on the head when he pecked my ankles from behind me. (This was when he was obviously a rooster.) Then I just walked toward him, at a regular walking pace, but deliberately. He had to back up, then he turned around and walked away. I followed him for a few minutes.

That's it. He was fairly easy to catch the night I had to move everybody into a new coop, and I tucked him under my arm no differently than I carried the hens for the same reason that night.

He's a very nice rooster, very gentlemanly towards his ladies. Keeps a good eye on things and stops girly squabbles. He's an EE.