Can we talk about rooster raising?

[JaeG]

The girls are just teaching him not to be a rude jerk.

A rooster is either going to be nice, or he is not. We recently raised our first ever cockerels. We had 2 boys from hatch (different breeds) and we treated them both exactly the same. One is the perfect gentleman to the hens, tidbitting from a very young age, standing back as the hens eat, and looking after them all so carefully. He is the sweetest. The other would grab the biggest piece of food (if they were getting scraps) and run off with it before anyone else got a look in, or he'd be at the feeder first, absolutely stuffing his face, not at all interested in how the hens were faring. He also started to challenge our son (so he got the chop), whereas our little gentleman does nothing worse than growl if one of the hens is picked up. Our son can also pick up this rooster very easily and dear little Fox just puts up with it.

In the end it's all about their individual personality and you won't know that until he matures. I gave our rude cockerel until 10 months old to see if he would improve, but he was getting worse.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Sooooo.....yeah...I'm tagging some of you who have raised roosters and have had both friendly and mean ones.
@Oncoming Storm @CluckerFamily @Sally PB @JaeG @RoostersAreAwesome @Mrs. K @MysteryChicken @Britt The Chicken Chick @Chickassan @Trisseh @mcdze

Today I was sitting by the coop with a hen laying on my lap. Oscar was intrigued with this, as he usually is. Next thing I know he grabs a full grown BO close to me on the neck and mounts her. She was NOT happy, but he won. I could swear he was doing this in front of me because they are MY hens. I just had this weird vibe from him. I got up calmly, I did not want to upset the hen on my lap, and he didn't run from me like normal but as soon as I took a step towards him he did. He then went back to his two flock mate pullets and was back to normal.
Except super jumpy as Buffy was NOT happy and let him know as soon as she figured things out. Some of the other ladies also thought they'd let him know he is not boss. He stayed away from all of us for the remainder of the evening and only entered the coop once all the hens were perched.

We have not seen this behavior yet and he has not crowed that we know of. We, or at least one of us, is home and checking on them multiple times throughout day.
I am very obviously ignorant to rooster behaviors and really don't want to misconstrue this situation. I feel like I need a plan moving forward to hopefully set us on a path for success.

Thoughts?

That doesn’t sound like worrying behavior to me.
Here are some pictures (with descriptions) of possible aggressive behaviors and body language to look out for.

These three, two of which were cockerels, would all puff up their hackles and peck, though they never spurred me. The adult rooster (middle) was trained out of this behavior, though he still often acted cocky around me. Note the puffed up body, lowered tail, single shoulder dip (body is angled towards the person they are trying to intimidate, one shoulder, facing the person, is down, while the other is up, tail is sometimes cocked towards you), and lowered head.

Of the two roosters above, one is the cocky bantam mentioned before, and the other a rooster who often tried to spur me and would seek me out to attempt to spur or peck me. He usually waited for me to make the “first move”, though he considered me stepping forward or moving in any fashion a first move. Notice how, in the first picture, he is in a ready-to-attack stance, with his body sloped downwards and his eye on me.

That same rooster- can you see the difference in his body language from the other roosters? In the first picture, his hackles are loose and his tail and head are down. In the second one, his body is sloped downwards, he has his eyes on me, and his hackles are slightly puffed up. He is waiting for a response. I’ve noticed that aggressive roosters will creep up to you, pecking at the ground the whole time. However, if you watch them closely, you’ll see that they aren’t paying attention to what they’re pecking at. They’re staring intently at you while sort of “pretending” to peck at their feet. It’s a behavior that hens will even do each other before an attack. Not to be mistaken with the food call roosters do for the hens, where they make a few calls and raise their heads, not paying any attention to you.

Popcorn, demonstrating the wing shuffle/wing dance/side step to another hen (hard to see in the picture). Notice too how her tail is spread, something less noticeable with roosters but still a sign of dominance/challenge. The wing shuffle is usually either a challenge or a greeting. It’s not a definite sign of aggression, but if a cockerel starts to do it he should be watched carefully for any other aggressive behaviors.

A few examples of non aggressive behavior. These roosters just want some food. This behavior should be practically identical to a hen wanting food.

Examples of non-aggressive body language. Notice how the roosters are interested in what they’re pecking at on the ground, not me. Their hackles aren’t puffed up at all. While their bodies are sloped downwards, they’re obviously staring at the ground, and actually stretching their necks to pick up some food, instead of just making a show of picking at the ground. No shoulder dip.

 

[bhawk-23]

My only concern is that he might get too comfortable with you and misbehave. I’m certainly curious to how this turns out as the first rooster I owned definitely had the most love and affection offered and he turned out to be a homicidal maniac. Keep us posted.

Exactly my worry also.

Everyone has a different experience with roosters. I hope he continues to impress you!

Thanks! Me too!! Lol

Based on this level of patience, I think you will be successful! I've tried a number of different methods, and the most successful has been simply holding the cockerel, gently but firmly, until they relax and then put them down. Repeat often. I don't necessarily pet or cuddle them, just get them used to me handling them and deciding when to hold them & when to let them go (never when they're squirming to get out of my hands).

Thank you! I am really happy to hear someone has actually tried this and not just on Google and YouTube. I do not really trust those resources but they at least offer you choices? Lol
Unfortunately, this guy is on a short leash. I am much more tolerable of natural instincts than hubs is so I have to do all I can to foster a calm non aggressive rooster for our flock. I just want to do what's best for him while also allowing him to stay.
I'd love more thoughts and experiences from other rooster keepers!

 

[LizzzyJo]

Do what you’re doing until it stops working (if ever). I hope that he remains nice! He may. It sounds like you have the time to devote to him which is a huge benefit.

However, if he turns out to be a jerk don’t blame yourself! Most of them are jerks and you don’t always know until they’re 6 months old (and don’t allow him around young children).

Great work

 

[cajuncluckerswla]

I have a Phoenix roo that I spoil rotten. He rides on my shoulder when I go outside and I feed him from my hand above and away from the fray that comes with "cracker time" for all of our bigger birds. It was the best way I could come up with to get the others to let him be long enough to love on him. He's quite a regal parrot-bird too..... lolololol

 

[OroBerryFarm]

I have a Phoenix roo that I spoil rotten. He rides on my shoulder when I go outside and I feed him from my hand above and away from the fray that comes with "cracker time" for all of our bigger birds. It was the best way I could come up with to get the others to let him be long enough to love on him. He's quite a regal parrot-bird too..... lolololol

That is funny, our one RIR rooster we call "Parrot" because as an adolescent he got picked on by the hens and chased from the feed troughs; so he took to roosting on my arm to eat. Fast forward a year he is now huge and thinks he should still perch on my arm. Very calm demeanor with the hens but is an absolute slave to the treats or food, training him was very easy. The only other rooster in that flock is very stand offish but I regularly carry him around until he calms down and it seems to be working as he will now eat out of my hand. Neither have been aggresive, some of the hens are more aggressive than the roosters.

 

[Chickassan]

I handle all my cockrels "lord that sounds bad" from day one.
I figure they'll be bad reguardless if they truly have that sort of personality.
The nice guys don't seem to suffer nor do they abuse the privilege of a decent comfort level with me.
Hands on gentle man bird raising is doable as long as your guy isn't nuts and you stay patient and static.

 

[JaeG]

It does seem that hens and laying pullets are excellent at teaching young cockerels to mind their manners. We put our English araucana cockerels in a separate coop as they were giving the pullets, who aren't laying yet, a hard time. The pullets have their own run but our older birds free range.

I let the young boys out to free range as well this morning for the first time and they were utter horrors, juiced up on hormones from being confined. They were quickly brought into line by the older girls who attacked them for their bad behaviour until they settled down. One decided to chase a little bantam hen, so one of the bigger girls charged to the rescue and brought him down a peg or two. It was impressive to watch.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you are aware, and that is probably the most important thing.

People come here all the time, just sure, that if they just raise the rooster right, if they act just so, if the nip this behavior then he will be wonderful.

AND people come on here, like me, saying well I did this or that and have a perfect gentleman ....

But really a LOT of it depends on the bird. And the luck of the draw, and some on circumstances. I have had GREAT roosters, so so roosters, lazy roosters and a wicked rooster. What my experience has really given me is the confidence to make choices with my flock, know some birds will come into it, and some will go out of it, and I solve for peace in the flock.

As much as I would love to tell you, 'just do this and it will be fine' it won't work. Don't get attached until they have walked the line, and you are months away from that. He might work, he might not. But there are a lot of roosters, try again if it doesn't.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

Lbrown - I second the looking locally for a grown rooster. What you want, is a rooster that has grown up in a multi-generational flock, that is so nice, that he was kept as a spare. That is as close to a year old rooster as you can get. If they have also done a bit of free ranging, he probably has learned a lot too.

That is the one you want, and people tend to have extra roosters.

Mrs K