being "top cock" and Ninja hens

[sstehm]

Two behavior questions:
1) I had read somewhere that you need to present yourself as the "alpha rooster" in order to keep a rooster from becoming human aggressive or diffucult to deal with ---among other things this article said that you should never allow him to mate while you are around
This sounds wierd to me but I don't know much about chickens so any input on this one would be appreciated

2) I had 2 Delaware hens---arguably some of the most beautiful birds in the flock---but they had a habit of making what can only be described as the ninja sound that you would hear on tv---almost allthe time
now the one I know has always disliked humans from day one, always protested the loudest and fought handling the most when I was trying to tame them
Why do they do that? Is that breed just particularly noisy?

The rest seem quite reasonable in their volume and chatter (btw I thought hamburgs were supposed to be flighty and fearful of humans, I have one little hamburg hen who hops right up onto me every time I enter the coop)

thanks !

 

[WriterofWords]

I can't help you much but I'll try and bump you up some to see if someone else is up this late that can help!

 

[sstehm]

Anyone???? I don't want to be acting ridiculous by chasing my roo around every time he does what roos do b/c of some article if this is completely ridiculous---i've never had chickens before so i have no idea whats right info or wrong info
thanks

 

[IcameIsawIleft]

1) Any alpha rooster would knock another roo off of a hen. You don't have to keep constant watch though, just whenever it happens around you. You just do it to show you're the alpha roo so once he learns his lesson, you can stop.

2) Sorry, I don't know much about Delawares, but even though a breed is supposed to be noisy doesn't mean every bird in that breed is noisy. Chickens have personaltitys just like humans.

 

[marytoast]

Boy did I learn something! I never have knocked my roo off the girls. He is only 6 mths old. Do I really need to interupt the act?

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

We have a RIR rooster that was human aggressive, especially towards my 10 year old son. The final straw came when he cornered him in the tar weed and let my son have it. DH came running and grabbed the roo and held him by the legs upside down until my son could leave the yard and go and get his wounds tended to.

I looked up aggressive roos here and found the rooster reform school article. (I think if you search for it, it should come up.) We all read it, and DH and I agreed to give it 2 weeks. If we had one more attack, that was it......stew pot.

Basically, we knock him off the hens when we are around. We keep him away from treats until a majority of the hens have eaten. And we swat at him and chase him around if he is not giving us a wide berth. We treat him like a subordinate roo. It is what they understand.

We still have our roo and it has been a month with no attacks OR even aggression towards us. He keeps his distance from us, and does his job.....protecting and caring for the hens when we are not around!

HTH! It sure did for us!

As for the other question, I have no idea!

 

[chicklips]

As for ninja chicken, I have one as well!!! I love this bird it is the nicest one in my flock and all it does is walk around making kick butt ninja sounds. I read somwhere that chickens have over 150 different sounds thet can make. Don't worry about it.

 

[damselfish]

Last year, we tried the "prevent him from mating in front of you" advice. It didn't turn out too well. It was stressful for us and it made the rooster angry and frightened. We eventually culled and ate him because he started to fight back.

This year, we are letting the rooster do his thing with no interference. We speak kindly to him as we do to the hens. We don't act frightened of him, we walk thru his personal space as needed and he gives way. So far, it is going well. If we have to cull him for aggression later, it will have been much less stress on all of us in the meantime.

DH & I agree on this: We are not chickens. Chickens are smart enough to know that you are not a chicken, so why try to act like an alpha rooster?

You'll get lots of differing opinions on this and I wish you the best with what you decide to do with yours. I feel a lot of relief in not having to yell at and chase a rooster for doing what he was born to do.

Edited to say: Welcome to BYC!

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
Im not sure I can agree with this

As care takers of our flocks, we are seen as a part of that flock. Your roo may come up to you and crowd you or call you over for food if he is feeling his oats. This is his way of being dominant.

I don't mind this at all though. I breed rosecombs and cochins.. both are docile and sweet breeds. My roos even come running out of the coops and give me a little chase like they do the hens. I laugh and flap my wings and crow and they stop in thier tracks!!! hahahahaha They will def battle for dominance and it only matters if they are aggressive toward you. If you feel threatened but still wish to keep that threatening roo, then you should try these methods of kicking him off of his throne... But, if he's in ignorant bliss that he's the man, and you are one of his minnions but it isn't hurting anything... than let it go.

 

[damselfish]

Well, everybody's got a different opinion, but now I want to go flap my wings and crow at my rooster just for the heck of it!