Do I have a "broken" rooster?

[Cheesay]

Hi, I'm new to raising chickens. I bought 4 barred rock pullets at 2 weeks old. They're around 10-11 weeks old now. Unfortunately, one ended up being a rooster. Thought about taking him to a swap to exchange for a pullet, but couldn't make up my mind. He was always nice, and I thought maybe it'd be good to have a rooster around to protect the girls. But the past few weeks, he's just been really stand offish...even scared of me. I've been offering them goodies from my hand since the day I got them, and he would eat out of my hand no problem. The girls come running to me. The rooster never comes for treats anymore.

I figured he was just coming of age...maybe it's the teenage years for the roo. But everything I read points towards roosters being more aggressive when coming of age, not timid. I don't see any problems between him and the hens. They get along fine. It's just he's scared of anything that moves. The hens don't mind me, the dogs or the cat. The rooster runs for his life the second any of us walk by. And I'm not talking just moving out of the way, I mean he really runs away...practically back to the coop.

The whole reason I decided to keep him was for protection....but I'm certain, at this point, he'd happily toss one of the girls in the line of fire to save himself. Is this normal? Will he come out of his shell once he gets a bit older?

 

[WooingWyandotte]

It's better by far to have a scared rooster than a mean one. Maybe he'll grow out of it, I don't know. But rooster's are rooster's, and I've only either had mean ones or scared ones (my favorite rooster wasn't scared like yours, but still extremely stand offish), no matter how they were raised (I've raised quite a few by hand and otherwise). Good luck with him!

 

[krista74]

As your cockerel matures you will likely see many behaviour changes in him. He may remain timid, or alternatively once the hormones start flowing he may 'find his feet' and toughen up a bit.

From my experience, a rooster doesn't truly come into his own until he is at least a year old. Mine was quite timid until about 6 months old. At that point he had only one thing on his mind and would go to any length to get it - including pulling feathers out of my girls. As far as protecting the flock goes though - forget about it! He would run a mile and leave the girls behind if there was anything confronting him!

As he approached a year old he settled down a little. The girls began to accept him, but he was still a big sook at heart.

Now, at a year and a half, he remains good with the girls, and has 'manned up' a little. He will allow me to pick up his girls to care for them, but if they become distressed he will confront me. That's not to say he attacks me - there is a big difference. He is protecting his flock and that's what I wanted him for!

I think at 11 weeks old, it's too young to determine what sort of rooster your boy will grow up to be. There is still hope he will grow up to be a big strong boy!

- Krista

 

[azygous]

Your little cockerel reminds me of a Cochin roo I had a couple years ago. As a chick he never was as keen on being held like his sister was, but he suddenly became pathologically fearful around four months of age. When cornered he would go into a complete meltdown and fling himself at any opening he could see to escape, often practically knocking me down to get past me. It became worse the older he got, until I decided to consult a chicken psychologist to help me rehabilitate him. After months of working with him and taming and calming him, I was finally able to handle him without him going to pieces.

Then some dogs killed him one day, and all that work was for nothing.

I agree it's better to have a roo that's a little afraid of you, but if he's going into meltdown mode, that's not going to be useful for either of you. He can be tamed but it will take work and dedication.

 

[Cheesay]

I'll definitely give him time. I know he's young. I just really did not expect such a drastic change. I've had to pick him up a few times because he'd run away when I'm herding them back to the coop at night, When I do get a hold of him, he doesn't put up much a fight. I have held him and offered him treats, but he won't eat any. If I pick up any of the girls and offer them treats while holding them, they happily gobble them down.

Definitely don't want an aggressive rooster. Was hoping maybe hand feeding and exposing them to the other pets would help acclimate things. But at the same time, I really don't need a timid rooster...really don't want/need any babies at this point. Hopefully he'll gain some confidence. The girls pretty much have everything eaten by the time he decides to come around.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I'd say its much too young to really know. Maybe right now everything to him, all the changes, are just too overwhelming. The not eating treats part seems normal to me, although I'm trying to remember if it was around 11 weeks when that occurred or not with my roosters. I have four roosters right now- only one (the head roo) eats from my hand- and I think its because he is mellowing out in his old age. All the others won't let me get near them with food, even though they are friendly.

I've never had a vicious rooster before, so maybe they do a better job at protecting hens.

I think young roos at this age probably feel the weight of the world on their shoulders instinctively. All of mine seemed fearful at a certain 'teenage' age, but they weren't running away from me like you describe here. One thing I have noticed with mine is that their personalities have not changed, but they did mature. I had one Blue Andalusian break out of a screen window to save a hen in trouble- to this day I still don't know how he managed to pop the screen out. He was more timid than the other rooster I have to the point of being flighty, but when duty called, he went.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Whoops.. forgot to say in my post, that I think just having a rooster around , with their crowing and being around, works to intimidate predators. Is your little one crowing yet?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If a rooster is afraid of nothing (as in unconcerned) his head isn't into protecting his flock. A roosters' function is not to run off grizzly bears but to be an early warning system. This starts with a healthy (I repeat HEALTHY) suspicion of everything that moves, and some things that doesn't.

 

[Cheesay]

He hasn't let out any big crows. Every now and then I hear his voice crack lol. But he's pretty quiet in general. I haven't been able to watch him too much when I let them out to range, too busy doing yard work. But I do see him out eating grass and whatnot with the girls, even on windy days...so I don't think he's just a paranoid roo scared of nothing. Although, usually he's off by himself and not with the others.

 

[donrae]

I'd just give him time. You wouldn't expect a 10 year old boy to act in a protective manner yet. By the time he's 6 months or so, he will be more what you want. Keep in mind, also, keeping a rooster with free ranging birds does not mean he will sacrifice himself for the hens. Some will, but his main job is look out and early warning so the hens can hide. I'm thinking if he's already this hyper vigilant, he'll be wonderful at alerting the ladies to possible dangers.

And, if he just never comes into his own, he'll still taste like chicken. New rooster are always easy to come by.