Cockrell dispositions consist as roosters?

[Jessdekk]

Hello there! My question is about the disposition of these baby roos. Are there attributes or traits among roo chicks that would give you a clue about what kind of roo they are going to be? I have had the luxury of raising a group of auto sexing chicks this go round, and have found it interesting to watch the personalities of the boys versus the girls. They are 4 weeks now. This is also the first time of adding a roo to my flock. My question is about universal attributes, because this dynamic made me curious. But I am also trying to assess my own situation. I have one clumsy little bulldozer, short attention span, that goes around causing trouble, picking on the pullets, and has nearly clipped the baby comb completely off the other boy. From day one he was running around grabbing the toes of everyone else and flipping them on their sides rather aggressively. I took them out to free range for just a little bit this morning, and a hen wondered over to say hello. She's pretty sweet so I let her meet them. He bowed up to her and challenged her and started jumping at and snipping at her waddles. Of course she corrected this behavior but he went back for more. I'm feeling like hes not very bright. My second baby roo is sweet, and minds his own business. He just wants to sit with me whenever possible. For me the choice on which one to keep is pretty easy, even if his comb never grows back. ( Its not going to grow back is it?) But I don't want to jump to conclusions without gathering some information first. Like maybe I do want a more dominant rooster to protect and defend and police. Maybe he will be better when he gets bigger. I sort of doubt it, but what does your experience say?
Thank you!
Oh these are bielefelders if you are curious.

 

[nuthatched]

It's hard to say, hormones will likely cause massive changes. Though, you don't want to encourage pet behavior with the second cockerel, as that might enourage him to be human aggressive later.

 

[Jessdekk]

It's hard to say, hormones will likely cause massive changes. Though, you don't want to encourage pet behavior with the second cockerel, as that might enourage him to be human aggressive later.

Thank you! I assumed the opposite! I reasoned the more I handled him the more docile and respectful he would be. I will read more on this. Do you have any recommendations on articles or blogs that explain this dynamic?

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you! I assumed the opposite! I reasoned the more I handled him the more docile and respectful he would be. I will read more on this. Do you have any recommendations on articles or blogs that explain this dynamic?

I have yet to see a blog, besides the chicken chick, that has accurate information on chickens.
With dogs and cats, yes, petting does wonders but not so with livestock (flock/herd animals), with a often violent social hyarchy. Chickens are livestock.
In the chicken world, the top ranking birds get the best treatment, they get preened, first dibs to all the treats and roost higher (if possible) than the rest. By coddling and handling a young cockerel, especially a 'friendly' or 'sweet' one (he isn't being friendly, he's testing your boundaries), he gets in his mind that he is your equal or better and when those hormones rush in, he is going make sure you know it and will treat you (or worse, a kid) like an under chicken by flogging and spurring.
Some cockerels turn into terrors no matter the treatment but all you can do is stack the cards in your favor by treating them like livestock and generally ignoring him.
Hens, you can pet all you want.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's really hard to judge males' personalities when there are other males around and extrapolate that to when he's the only male. If you have more than one, they will keep each other in check. For example your shy one might be shy just because the other male is more dominant and not letting him express himself. But if you keep the nice one and he suddenly finds himself unchallenged, and the hormones hit, he won't be so nice anymore. So what we interpret as niceness oftentimes is just submissiveness in the presence of somebody more dominant - another male, older females, a human, etc. That will all change when the social structure changes, and when he matures. So you can't really tell at this point.

 

[Jessdekk]

It's really hard to judge males' personalities when there are other males around and extrapolate that to when he's the only male. If you have more than one, they will keep each other in check. For example your shy one might be shy just because the other male is more dominant and not letting him express himself. But if you keep the nice one and he suddenly finds himself unchallenged, and the hormones hit, he won't be so nice anymore. So what we interpret as niceness oftentimes is just submissiveness in the presence of somebody more dominant - another male, older females, a human, etc. That will all change when the social structure changes, and when he matures. So you can't really tell at this point.

This makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your reply!