Bold cockerel or problem child?

[drangle]

I have a young buff Orpington cockerel (12 weeks) I am worried might cause me problems in the future.

He is bold, curious, and and a food hog. He is always the first to greet me at the gate and is not afraid to peck at my shoes and is always the first to try and eat the treats from my hand. In general he seems to be the most driven by food and will force himself to the middle of the feed trough and even set in it to make sure he gets his fill.

Right now his antics are kind of funny or even cute. But I am worried once he matures he could be a problem. I try to show him his place by pecking him with my finger when he is hogging food or pecking at my feet, and try to walk through him when he gets in my way. He doesn’t seem to mind and is only deterred by this for a few seconds.

I have 8 other cockerels I am growing out but I will only be keeping two. One of the others cockerels acts similar but not as bad. I would like to keep the buff Orpington but not if he is going to cause my problems.

What do you guys think? Is this normal for a buff Orpington? Will he settle down with age or just get worse?

Thanks for any feedback or advice.

 

[Sussex19]

I think buff Orps are a bit inclined that way as they tend to be 'friendly' which sometimes just means bold.
To me, this doesn't sound like its going to end well, and suspect that he's just going to get worse.
Pecking at your shoes is definitely a sign of aggression.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Do they have food 24/7 or are they rationed? If rationed how much are they being fed? When you say he pecks at your shoes are your shoes bright colored or have any eye catching designs?

 

[aart]

I have 8 other cockerels I am growing out but I will only be keeping two. One of the others cockerels acts similar but not as bad. I would like to keep the buff Orpington but not if he is going to cause my problems.

Are they all living together or are they separated?
I'd get rid of, or at least separate, the extras now.

 

[drangle]

Do they have food 24/7 or are they rationed? If rationed how much are they being fed? When you say he pecks at your shoes are your shoes bright colored or have any eye catching designs?

I feel like he is pecking at the odd bits of my shoes. White trim on my boot or the holes of my crocks. It doesn’t seem like it’s at my feet in general just the parts of the shoes that stick out.

 

[Folly's place]

This is a learning experience for you!
I like cockerels who pretty much ignore me, except to get out of my way. My best boys are paying attention to their flockmates instead, and because we have a mixed aged flock, including mature roosters, these cockerels have plenty to watch out for!
I agree that this Orphington is pretty bold right now, often not a good sign. Regardless of what you are wearing, you are still NOT a flock member to be pushed around!
If you really want to keep this guy, see how he matures. He's still a baby, so watch and wait.
@Mrs. K has good advice: eliminate any that don't appeal to you, for any reason, first. Here we want birds who don't have health issues or conformation flaws, have good size, and are polite. Then, see how the remaining cockerels develop. You might have two winners, or none.
Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

Thank you for the compliment ^^, @ Folly's Place.

I am going to question on the how you feed them. Once Centrachid posted on the how you feed. And I think he is right, and I make an effort to do so.

There is something rather flattering, when they all run to you wanting treats or feed when you come into the run. But there is something mob like in it too. And that leads to an adrenalin surge, and can cause behavior that might not exist without the mob.

He suggested that one goes in, and deals with the water, watches a while, and then when they have all calmed down, then put out the feed. Yes, they will run to the feed, but it seems less of a frenzy.

So - give it a try.

As for your rooster choice - I would be creating the bachelor quarters pretty soon. And as said above, whittle them down. See - it changes the dynamics. Wait, cull a few more, wait and see...cull the third time.

And while currently you want to keep 2 - there is a real chance that none of them will work out. If they don't, let them go. Where ever you have people, people have chickens, and they always seem to have extra roosters.

I am not sure if you are raising just flock mate roosters, or raising up roosters under older birds. Only flock mates often produce aggressive roosters, but no matter how you raise them, train them there is a real possibility of not getting good ones, it is the luck of the draw.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

Agree, I neglected the feeding issue here.
Mary

 

[drangle]

This is my first go with chickens and I don’t have facilities set up yet to separate the cockerels. I will soon just need some time to build the run.

The feeding could be an issue. I feed them twice a day morning and afternoon. I don’t want to ration them but instead feed them a large enough amount so the food is almost all gone by afternoon and almost all gone when they go into roost. I also toss a few handful of scratch grains for them to peck at.

Maybe two self filling feeders would help with issue of them all bum rushing me when I enter their run

 

[drangle]

They are all flock mates. I ordered them all at the same time.

The more I think about the more I am deciding I need to eat him or give him away. He is annoying me and I spend most of my time in the run trying to correct his behaviour instead of evaluating my other chickens.

I still have 8 other cockerels to choose from. 6 of them avoid me if they are able so maybe there is hope a couple will be good.