WOW you two must have all the lucky cards. LOL As in any breed there are always some fighters and then some lovers. All four of my male birds have been aggressive towards people when with females. I did not see the aggression when they were in pens of all males. The 6 young males now at 5 months or so are all aggressive towards each other but not the other breeds. I have only had two breeds that have been aggressive the CL's and the Buckeyes that I had. Everyone says they were such sweethearts but out of two different breeders I did not see that. Not complaining about the aggression I just have to forewarn people who take care of the stock when I am gone to beware and always face the males and do not turn your back when in certain pens.
The Cream Legbar rooster aggression discussion brought to mind Ranchhand who was one of the shining stars of BYC before she passed away...always helpful, tremendously knowledgeable, fun, funny and also down-to-earth.... Ranchhand was someone who helped make BYC forum what it is.
I got the biggest kick out of her signature - because it articulated my thoughts better than I could ---
"Poultry- they may be your pets, they may be your hobby, they may be your livestock. But remember, if you fall down in the pen, unconscious? They WILL eat you"
It was Ranchhand or someone else who talked about how in the old days, if someone was gone from the house too long -- the phrase was uttered - "maybe they fell down in the chicken pen".....
I always think that chickens aren't too far removed from dinosaurs, and that we don't need them for our survival in the food supply in the same way that the pioneers did--- So we do often think of them as pets - which may not be their best roll....
I always think of how when you raise cattle you kind of know "never to trust a bull"--- There are exceptions, but the nature of the creatures is to see us as threats and act accordingly, I think. I agree that better dispositions can be bred for and aggression is a very good reason for culling. I think that Rancher3535 has good advice to not turn your back on a rooster. I would advise someone to not turn their back on a bull in the pen - or at the least be very aware where that bull is. Roosters the same way.
Years ago - when people would say that they had children and needed a child friendly rooster -- I would say - oh Cream Legbars are great--- but now a days - I'm not sure that I think any rooster is great for a child - unless the child is raising the rooster perhaps as a 4-H project and has some pretty good awareness of what can be involved. JMO.
Regarding handling youngsters and if that makes them less fearful of humans, and thus leads them to the fight rather than the flight response when seeing humans....I wonder how that compares with roosters being prepared for the 'show circuit' where handling needs to be kind of something that they are used to - and they take it as the norm - it doesn't ruffle their feathers. Dunno. Saw an instance where a judge wouldn't 'judge' a rooster because he was too wild. Should the rooster be handled from being a chick onward...so he knows every Tuesday he gets picked up - inspected - maybe caged for a little while - given a treat and put back -- or should he be left alone until before the show and then conditioned to be in a cage and be handled. Also wondering if it is a breed tendency - the tendency of a certain strain - or the result of nurture and not nature.
At lunch today we were talking about RIR - who are notorious for being mean roosters...lots of the Folk songs about the mean red rooster are based on RIR roosters.... but other people will swear that they are the nicest sweetest and most trouble free birds they ever encountered.... what gives?
