Can we talk about rooster raising?

[bhawk-23]

Can you get a picture of him watching you? It’s possible he just wants you to give him more treats.

I sure can the next time he does it!

I do feel sorry for the lad. I have 2 ISA browns who are my bullies. Not really mean or unrelenting, just like to remind others of their place. But if Oscar even looks their way they chase him off. I think he is most scared of them! But funny thing is they are not even top hens!!

 

[bhawk-23]

Can you get a picture of him watching you? It’s possible he just wants you to give him more treats.

@JaeG @Mrs. K

I do not know how to edit videos so in the end the chaos you see is one of the girls flew out of the coop and over my head. Made the whole flock jump! Hahaha

Shoot! My video didn't link!

OMG!!! OMG!!! I did it! I figured out something techy all by myself!!

 

[bhawk-23]

Here is Oscar kinda hanging out, not sure he is actually watching me too much here but I like that you can see his demeanor change when the older gals walked our way. He was eating the seeds at the end.

The pullet you see on top of the straw is the one he mated aggressively. I have not seen anything like that again from him and today he called her over for the seeds, did the circle with his wing down and when she was not interested he did not mate. But later he sneak attacked an older gal but the second he did another gal ran him off. Lol

 

[Mrs. K]

Looks good so far.

 

[MeowthLover_ThatsRight]

my rooster almost got killed by his dad once
but then his dad got eaten by a fox
@v@

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

@JaeG @Mrs. K

I do not know how to edit videos so in the end the chaos you see is one of the girls flew out of the coop and over my head. Made the whole flock jump! Hahaha

Shoot! My video didn't link!

OMG!!! OMG!!! I did it! I figured out something techy all by myself!!

Here is Oscar kinda hanging out, not sure he is actually watching me too much here but I like that you can see his demeanor change when the older gals walked our way. He was eating the seeds at the end.

The pullet you see on top of the straw is the one he mated aggressively. I have not seen anything like that again from him and today he called her over for the seeds, did the circle with his wing down and when she was not interested he did not mate. But later he sneak attacked an older gal but the second he did another gal ran him off. Lol

I don’t see anything outwardly aggressive in those videos. Though roosters/cockerels that are aggressive don’t always show signs of it, which means that it can be hard to predict. However, I wouldn’t worry about it, just keep doing what you have been doing.

 

[bhawk-23]

my rooster almost got killed by his dad once
but then his dad got eaten by a fox
@v@

Yikes! Good thing we are a one rooster household!!

 

[bhawk-23]

Ok, we had our first predator (hawk) attack today. Extenuating circumstances so hopefully last. But Oscar flew over the 6' privacy fence along with 1 of the older gals. She is a good flyer but he is big! How and why would he have flown off during the attack?

 

[Mrs. K]

Trying to save his butt, chickens are prey, they escape. If you were expecting him to stay and fight off the hawk, it is not going to happen.

A rooster's job is to be aware. He should be the first to notice you, when you come. Hens are always head down, looking at the ground right in front of them, easy to sneak up on. A rooster, will do that too, but he bobs up more often, and seems to look farther afield when he does. He will sound the alarm, and everyone will scatter.

I have coyotes, hawks, owls, and coons. A year old rooster is big enough, and mature enough, to really start making it hard for a predator to sneak up on the girls. Once I have a good rooster at that age, my day time predation drops.

However, nothing is good against coyotes, or coons in the night. They are just too much bigger. I have had a rooster take the attack, and be killed, but all his hens escaped. And I have had a rooster loose all his tail feathers (I thought a bobcat). But these were all mature roosters.

Not all roosters are good roosters, in fact I would go so far to say, a lot of roosters are not good roosters. But they do need to be at least a year old, younger than that, and they are just into chasing tail, not the other responsibilities.

Mrs K

 

[bhawk-23]

Now that you say it, I feel kinda naive. I think I was in shock that he had not sacrificed himself to save the damsel in distress

But mostly I just wonder what the heck happened. How did he end up in the front yard?? How did he even get over the 6' privacy fence? Why did he not run to the coop? To my defense I was still kinda loopy from the anesthesia that morning and it was our first ever predator attack so not a great combination to say the least. Hahaha

But you are correct, I want a rooster for an early alarm for the girls and a pretty bird for me. Not much more I can ask of him. At least he's got the second one down. Still lots of time to work on the first. He is only 18.5 weeks.

BTW, when is a rooster fully feathered out? Like, all the tail, saddle and hackle feathers.