Did I Ruin My Rooster?

[Pretend_Farmer]

I recently just sent my 7 month old Buff Orpington Rooster to a new home. He was attacking my kids, wife, even me. The funny thing is A.) Buff Orpingtons are supposed to be docile B.) I raised this rooster up from the day he hatched C.) He was very friendly right up until he got mean. This rooster loved to jump on my lap, eat out of my hand, and be carried around/petted. I’ve had some people tell me that I made him mean by babying him too much. I guess they’re trying to say he learned to not respect me because he didn’t fear me. Did I mess up? I have a new rooster now that is the same age and very timid. He’s terrified of me. I want to try and help him warm up to us, but I don’t want to create another monster. Should I just leave the new roo alone and keep things the way they are, or should I try and befriend him? Thanks for any info!

 

[Tonyroo]

How old was your buff orpington when he acted up?

 

[Pretend_Farmer]

It started when he hit puberty (around 24 weeks) over the course of the next three to four weeks his behavior got progressively worse.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

You'll get a range of replies and opinions and you'll have to choose your own path. Most male animals (actually a lot of female ones will too, but not so much with chickens) will become people aggressive if they are hand-reared. Hand raised ram/bull/stallion/buck = big trouble. There are always individuals that don't follow the trend of course.

I would recommend calm but uninterested interactions with your new rooster. He will get used to you without learning he can cross your boundaries.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Forgot to say, some roosters are just aggressive, and it wouldn't make a difference if you hand raised them or not.

 

[azygous]

You can be friends with a rooster but not a cockerel. There's a big difference.

A cockerel, under one year old, is "in training". I call them rookie roos. They are, at the same time, overrun by hormones and confused and trying to learn how they fit into the flock. Also, they are learning how they fit in with your role in the flock.

By coddling and petting a cockerel, by the time he experiences the flood of hormones, he's pretty sure he's your equal. That means the urgency he feels to dominate the hens is going to set him up to compete with you and others who also handle the hens. So all of a sudden, it appears your sweet cockerel has gone rogue.

With this new cockerel, you want to strike a balance between disciplining him when he shows aggression and ignoring him when he's simply learning his role in the flock. This means you allow him to interact as he needs to with the hens, but you will immediately discipline him if he gets out of his role and shows aggression to humans.

There are lots of great rooster training threads on BYC. Here's one I wrote as an article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/i-think-i-have-a-cockerel-now-what-do-i-do.76274/

After a rooster matures and roles are established, you can be friends with your rooster. I have two older roosters that I'm friendly with, although cuddling is something neither one wants a lot of.

 

[Pretend_Farmer]

You'll get a range of replies and opinions and you'll have to choose your own path. Most male animals (actually a lot of female ones will too, but not so much with chickens) will become people aggressive if they are hand-reared. Hand raised ram/bull/stallion/buck = big trouble. There are always individuals that don't follow the trend of course.

I would recommend calm but uninterested interactions with your new rooster. He will get used to you without learning he can cross your boundaries.

Thanks. You’re the second person I’ve heard this from. I hate to have a rooster that always shys away from me like he’s scared but he was raised with almost no human interaction and it’s probably best to just let him be the way he’s going to be. At least we can go get eggs without 3 layers of PPE

 

[Pretend_Farmer]

You can be friends with a rooster but not a cockerel. There's a big difference.

A cockerel, under one year old, is "in training". I call them rookie roos. They are, at the same time, overrun by hormones and confused and trying to learn how they fit into the flock. Also, they are learning how they fit in with your role in the flock.

By coddling and petting a cockerel, by the time he experiences the flood of hormones, he's pretty sure he's your equal. That means the urgency he feels to dominate the hens is going to set him up to compete with you and others who also handle the hens. So all of a sudden, it appears your sweet cockerel has gone rogue.

With this new cockerel, you want to strike a balance between disciplining him when he shows aggression and ignoring him when he's simply learning his role in the flock. This means you allow him to interact as he needs to with the hens, but you will immediately discipline him if he gets out of his role and shows aggression to humans.

There are lots of great rooster training threads on BYC. Here's one I wrote as an article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/i-think-i-have-a-cockerel-now-what-do-i-do.76274/

After a rooster matures and roles are established, you can be friends with your rooster. I have two older roosters that I'm friendly with, although cuddling is something neither one wants a lot of.

Makes perfect sense! Unfortunately these YouTube children farmers lead you to believe that the more you handle your birds the friendlier they’ll be. Not necessarily . Thanks for the advice!

 

[Tonyroo]

It started when he hit puberty (around 24 weeks) over the course of the next three to four weeks his behavior got progressively worse.

You might have just needed to wait for his hormone peak to settle down.

When there under the influence of hormones, they can't control themselves and become violent and flighty. It generally last for about 2 to 4 months. Then he's back to normal.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Makes perfect sense! Unfortunately these YouTube children farmers lead you to believe that the more you handle your birds the friendlier they’ll be. Not necessarily . Thanks for the advice!

YouTube advice. Worth no more than you paid for it, likely less. Sure, we are all anonymous posters here on BYC, but we do tend to call one another on each others {...}.

I have no advice on this topic (whether or no you "ruined him"), my management practice means I never have old roos, I constantly have roos on the verge of hormones (generally when I cull them), and I count on my older girls to enforce desired behaviors upon the brats. I don't handle my birds at all, except for weighings and cullings, and sometimes to step between them when they misbehave.

As to the culling, THERE I have advice. You did right. Human aggressive roos move to the top of the culling list, and culling moves to top priority in the day's chores.