Breeding for PERSONALITY. AKA Hello SWEET ROO!

[enola]

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!

 

[centrarchid]

I am back per Enola's request. Lets devise a way to breed for personality without compromising attributes.

 

[Free Feather]

I do not know much about breeding. How long does everyone think this could take, to get to where most or all of the male offspring are not aggressive to humans?

 

[lazy gardener]

I am new to working on breeding my own flock. I expect it to be a work in progress, and will eliminate any aggressive birds, be they male or female as they show up. There are a number of folks on the Natural chicken keeping thread who have bred aggressiveness out of their flocks. I'm sure, it depends in part on the gene pool you start out with, the breed of chicken, and your management style. For example, any flock of chickens will be aggressive if kept in crowded conditions, or if they have to compete for food, but take that same flock, and spread them out, give them ample food, and for the most part, a lot of that aggression will go away.

 

[Free Feather]

Yeah, management is definitely a big one. It really ticks me off when people I know have a really crappy setup for the birds, and do not act like they are supposed to around them, and then get angry when their cockerel acts testy. Crappy does not necessarily mean ugly. You could have it all clean and painted pretty, but not ideal for proper bird management.

 

[centrarchid]

To facilitate my efforts I try to standardize how the birds are reared when it comes to the production birds where hens and adult flock members are not involved. Where they are kept is consistent as a function of age from year to year. This makes so I do not have to keep relearning selection process each year. Of particular importance is how feed is applied. A problem I have had in the past is what I call feed bucket aggression where birds figure out the buckets have the feed and the feed tastes sweetest when they get it first and in big piles. Through exploratory pecks they can sometimes get me to put out feed on the spot which makes problem worse. What I do to control that is to put feed out while birds are still on the roost. Then most times I am out they do not associate me with food. Exception to this is when treats are applied but treats are concealed and not applied until a signal is given after I have been with them for a little while. Then it is the signal rather than me that gets them excited. It is the feed bucket aggression that can cause problems with my American Dominques. It can be licked but requires time out with birds. The feed bucket aggression can result in more serious aggression later but considerable variation exists on how that plays out and that is likely where genetics are involved. California Grays for me are the worst about feed bucket aggression for me and RIR are a close second. Males are much more prone to bucket aggression but some females will do it as well. I have significant experience with only six breeds (RIR, White Rocks, Barred Plymouth Rocks, American Dominiques, California Grays,) so use that as a qualifier as to what I know.

Hen rearing can be different.

 

[centrarchid]

I do not know much about breeding. How long does everyone think this could take, to get to where most or all of the male offspring are not aggressive to humans?

With some breeds you can be there without real selection, rather changes in husbandry. With others the effort will likely take more time than you have, especially if genetic basis strong and genetic variation for that trait is low. In latter situation it may pay to get roosters from various sources as chicks and rear them up together to make comparisons more fair. Most will fall somewhere in between but exchanging birds with others having similar objectives should be included in the process to reduce inbreeding depression and enable more people to benefit from efforts.

 

[enola]

On one of the Legbar threads one of the posters is wondering if a thread on rooster's comb size is an indicator of testosterone/aggression. If any of you think this would be of interest, maybe we should invite her over here??

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I think that is an interesting and very possible connection. Although it would be difficult to determine.

 

[SharkmanDan]

It is likely that my input is simply anecdotal, but.....
About 6 weeks ago, I had a chicken, just decide to join my flock. I don't know if it was a feral chicken, who liked the idea of regular food, or if it was an unwanted bird, that someone "locked out" of their flock. But, a red Speckled Sussex (I believe) one day just appeared, when I let my laying flock, out into their rather large pen (75'x50'). Apparently the day before, it must have hopped the 5' fence around the pen (5-6 of my hens do so nearly every day). It might have even done so, 2-3 days previous. But, 4 days prior, I saw it, loose, took photos, and figured I'd talk to the neighbors.
Well, that day, that I discovered this young, yet seemingly, nearly fully matured cockerel, I took the photos I had, to my neighbors, and asked around. Nobody knew whose it was. So, I figured that I'd keep him around, to trade off, or make him the guest of honor at a Sunday Chicken Dinner. Now, I suppose he could be a capon, but, why would anyone caponize, then let go of a very docile bird? That all said, he has a very small straight comb, and small wattles. So small in fact, that I believed him to be a pullet, until it was pointed out that he has pointy hackles and saddle feathers, as well as a single sickle feather.
I have two very assertive roosters and one aggressive one. None of them seem to bother with this youngster. No challenges, no fighting, no chasing away. He mixes in easily with any of them. So, given the size of his comb, as compared to what my other three roos combs were, at his age, this may be a valid consideration. He certainly doesn't seem to have the temperament, of a typical rooster, if there is a typical temperament.
I'd say it's a theory, worthy of closer consideration.