Can we talk about rooster raising?

[CluckerFamily]

Can anyone guess what this hen is mixed with? She has the sweetest personality.

Looks like and Easter Egger

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Can anyone guess what this hen is mixed with? She has the sweetest personality.

Easter egger

 

[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

 

[gimmie birdies]

I chose to keep nice roosters. I have one I think is a cochin mix currently, he is very friendly, but he is only 5 weeks old. I have 3 older roosters 5 months old. One is a blue cochin. He is not friendly or unfriendly. He also has not realized he is currently the top rooster. (Just 2 days now.) 1 rooster a BO is friendly but he will not ever be top. And one young EE barnyard rooster.

 

[bhawk-23]

He is not friendly or unfriendly.

I really like this description.

After all the opinions, shared experiences and wisdom I think I am just beginning to understand roosters. My hope is to have Oscar be a bit indifferent to me. I am the house keeper, egg collector, food and water supplier and most importantly treat giver for him to call his ladies over. I am neither a threat nor foe. I am not a rooster and do not want "his" flock. In the end, we are sharing this space as mutual friends of his ladies.

I don't know if I'm living in a fantasy world or if this is possible but with a little education, support and mostly luck we can succeed.

Side note: I cannot believe my guess was right on the EE hen!!! Hahaha

 

[bhawk-23]

After reading all your comments I feel so bad. My copper maran rooster attacked me this morning. I was going to get the eggs. Six times he came at me with his claws. I had to kick him off of me. He was only 5 months old. My son went out and cleaned him for supper. I am now without a rooster. I had ordered an EE roo but my order got messed up so I got him later from a local breeder. I hope to find a breed that is not so aggressive.

You have no reason to feel bad. He attacked you and did not stop after the first attempt. He would have been euthanized that day if he were mine and I'd bet for many others.

In my area we have a FB page for local chicken tenders and they have roosters needing homes on it. They are mostly nice roosters that are crowing and need to be re-homed because of this, not aggressive behavior. Good luck finding the right one for you!

 

[Brown Chick]

Looks like and Easter Egger

 

[Brown Chick]

I don’t know if I am cut out to be a roo owner. The hens are all so much nicer without the roo.

 

[Sally PB]

Then it is time for him to go. For their sake and yours.

 

[JaeG]

I don’t know if I am cut out to be a roo owner. The hens are all so much nicer without the roo.

If you can no longer enjoy your flock then definitely get rid of the roo. But with the right boy it is possible to still enjoy them.

We had that with our Muscovy ducks. The boy we raised and kept turned into an absolute horror. He wouldn't touch me but he would full on attack our 9 year old son and anyone who came to visit. It didn't matter how much we sat on him and held him down - as soon as you let him go he was ready to fight again, even if we'd been holding him down for 10 minutes and he seemed calm. So we culled him from the flock (never thought I'd have the heart to do it but I was ready for him to go). One of the Muscovy girls also became aggressive because of that drake, but once he was gone she settled right down again and is now a sweet pet. I felt like you did - I didn't even like those ducks, any of them, because of how that drake was making me feel.

We've been raising another Muscovy boy (well, we had a bantam do the raising) and he's turned out to be a lovely boy who respects us.

There are good ones out there.