This makes sense! When my broody betty hatched and raised two silkies (one of each) earlier this year the cockerel was a lovely gent. The breeder of my Araucana cockerel said she kept an aggressive rooster for breeding purposes but did most of the hatching herself.
Come spring I'll most certainly have extra Fayoumi and Sumatra mix cockerels running around if you'd like one of those
That would be good. I'm going to have to reign in the little lady because she is getting more and more adventurous. Another week and she will be out in the neighbors pasture across the road with the calves and donkeys if I don't.
That's very likely why yours was aggressive. Agressive males shouldn't be kept for breeding.
That did cross my mind... after all, ppl have bred for aggressive traits in certain dog breeds.
Ditto. Same for me. The chick imprints on its caretaker. If it imprints on a hen, the chick grows up understanding what he is and how to behave. All my hen raised cockerels have been gentlemen. Even those descended from an aggressive rooster.
Hmm. I don't know... the rooster that attacked me grew up in a mixed flock, with an older rooster, and we never messed with him. Our chickens are not pets!. He was a bachelor for a couple of years, as the older roo definitely kept him in his place. When the older rooster died (hawk? I don't remember), he became flockmaster and was perfectly fine for at least a couple of years. Then my Kid started telling me Mike would chase him when he (The Kid) went out to do chicken chores, and would flap his wings at him. He started being scared of the rooster so I took over the chores. The Kid was about 11 or 12, I believe, not little. The rooster didn't bother me so I didn't see what The Kid was talking about. Until ... that day when he charged me from behind and raked my bare legs (I was, for once, wearing shorts). When I turned to face him, it was on. I've told this before. He came flying at me and nearly got me in the face. I swung my cane at him. I swung again but he came back, smacking me in the knee with his beak, hitting me with a force like a grown man swinging a claw hammer and I went down. I couldn't believe he had hurt me like that. I got up and went after him, trying to knock his head off with my cane but he kept coming at me like he was determined to kill me. It was terrifying! My husband finally rescued me. I couldn't believe I hadn't been able to kill him. He was like The Terminator and I was in tears. I know my Kid's timidity around him made him worse, but I don't know what made him belligerent to begin with. He wasn't. And then... he was.
You say you have no choice but to kick him. I understand that if you are attacked unexpectedly. But by now, this is not unexpected: you know very well what he is going to do. So you should do something to change the situation.
