Chicken Raised Rooster

[bragabit]

Is there a difference between hens and roos that are people raised (brooder) or Hen raised (freerange)? My rooster that we have right now was Hen raised and he is so wonderful. We currently have a Biddy with chicks and we see her call the chicks over when there is food on the ground. She picks the food up an drops it and makes chirping noises. The babies run to her to check out the treats. Our rooster does the same thing. When we take treats out he is the first to the fence. He will chirp an pick up the treat and drop it right at the hens feet. We are new to this maybe all roosters are like this. We are wondering if when we get ready to sell our current set of chicks if it would be a good selling point that they were "hen" raised?

 

[Judy]

From what I've read here, it is more likely he behaves as he does because of his genes. Lots of people won't breed mean roos because they feel the meanness is genetic. It might be a good selling point that they came from a roo who is caring towards his flock.

I would prefer hen raised chicks because I think Mama can teach them what to eat, how to avoid predators, etc.

 

[DTchickens]

it's genetic.. Gentle parents, usually gentle chicks unless something from ancestors croped up or the genes just didn't mix well, Which 99% of the time.. is because they both had the gene and then breeding produced.

hand raising chicks will make them more gentle towards you and make them see you as mom/dad, Hen raising is a lot easier on you.. And the hen can teach them what's good to eat, how to forage, avoid predators (which will even count as you until you gain their trust), etc etc..

Personally if i could let all my hens raise the chicks i would, but i like raising them..and when you let a hen hatch off she's done laying for about 6-7 months. possibly all year unless she didn't hatch any (they died during incubation..)..

 

[basicliving]

A good rooster will always call the girls when he finds food.

Hand raising chickens and spending time with them will usually make them more friendly than just letting a hen raise the babies. The hen will take care of them just fine, but if they don't have human interaction on a regular basis, they will likely not be very human friendly.

I've never incubated, I let my broodies hatch out and raise their chicks. The chicks are terrified of me, but learn to come when treats are around. After hatching the chicks, my broodies resume laying within 3 to 4 weeks.

I'm not sure if stating you have hen raised chicks is a selling point or not. I guess it depends on your target buyers - if they are looking for more friendly chicks, maybe saying they were hand raised would be a selling point.

If you sell them as day old or week old chicks, it probably wouldn't matter anyway.

Enjoy your chickens!

ETA: I just noticed your subject has "Chicken Raised Rooster" in it. If you are asking specifically about how friendly a hand raised vs. hen raised rooster is, it depends on the rooster. If the rooster is the alpha rooster and is very protective, how he was raised will likely not impact his behavior. I have a hand raised alpha roo that used to sleep in my lap. He is now a very aggressive protector of the flock. He and I tangle a LOT. But he is a great protector of his girls and takes very good care of them, even tackling and penning a chicken hawk that was after some newly hatched chicks. He's earned his keep and I deal with him.