Do roosters settle with age?

[jBabychickn]

My cockerel is around 6+ months old. He's pretty good with the mating part of my 4 hens (lost one), but aggressive towards me and my teenaged son. My wife can pick him up and he does nothing, maybe growl a little but never any aggression. But me? Every morning when I let them out, he attacks. Sometimes I'll hold him down, other times just give him the brush off and stare him down. There's no really training this one at this age though. His memory only lasts a few hours. But when my wife is around, he's a perfect gentleman never attacking.

Saturday he was doing his thing and I had my gloves and so I picked him up. He must have bit my arm 20x but I was ready since I had a coat on. I held him for a long time and he started talking to the hens. No lie, he got one to attack me as well. I held him even longer after that and then held that hen. We plan on raising at least 5 more to give the others a break but for now they'll have to just endure him. Or if he gets worse maybe not. Holding them down doesn't always work especially at this age.

Thanks for this! Same here, my Hubs will carry Mr. Blue around if he continues to challenge him or if he tries to flog his leg, he will hold him down for 30 sec. However, I’d say it’s 50/50. Sometimes he will walk away afterwards and sometimes he’s super stubborn and he will continue to challenge but at a much lesser extent. So, I definitely can see and agree with what your saying here. They really are an “out of control Teenage boy” during these situations. — We raised SiX boys, all in their 20’s-30’s, now and are just Amazing. But, man, we did have some Rooster-challenging times with those Boys too! LOL!

 

[jBabychickn]

Yes cockerals settle with age, around 8-12 months depending on the breed, maybe even later for some. But being people aggressive may or may not settle. Personally none of my cockerals gets the opportunity to mature if they show tendencies to be aggressive to people or overly aggressive to the hens. Maybe they would chill out, maybe they wouldn't.

I don't want my roosters thinking I am in any way a part of the flock hierarchy. I do not challenge them or correct them, I walk right through them. If they want to challenge me, they can be someone's lunch. They know I'm there to feed and care for the needs of the flock, and they know I'm there to help them look after their hens and make them look good for the ladies. I do my best not to interfere with their job and I expect them not to interfere with mine.

I like your way of thinking! I appreciate your story! Thank you

We did have another cockerel that ended up being a surprise and we tried to keep him. He was a gorgeous Jubilee Orpington. But his personality was different than Blue’s (Salmon Faverolle). He wouldn’t wing dance for the girls. He would just basically take them during mating and they would actually cry out. It was upsetting for me to watch. He was excellent at watching over them, always watching the skies, always knowing where they were but that was it and he never paid any mind to us. But those poor girls. Then one day Blue was getting him off of one of the girls and he there was a full blown rooster fight and Blue lost a bit of his comb. It bled like CRAZY! — All of this surfaced and came about quickly over the span of a few days, the aggressive mating and the fight. It was like he must’ve received his hormones one day and just changed.

Luckily, the guy that Hays our fields took him. He’s an experienced farmer of many animals including Chickens and has multiple coops. He knew all about his behavior and didn’t blink an eye at it, said he’s handled many cockerel like him before and will eventually use him for Breeding. — I just said good riddance. But, I’m very happy he will live out his life either way…
(He was only about 5-6mos at that time)

 

[jBabychickn]

My youngest cockerel a silkie mix challenges me from time to time, but I am quick to correct him (I just carry him around for my chores) and by the time I am done he wants nothing to do with me. He is almost 6 months.

We have a Silkie cockerel too, along with our 7-8mo Salmon Faverolle Roo that this post was stemmed from.

He’s coming up on 6mos too just like yours! He’s an interesting guy. He’s trying out mating right now. He even tried to mount one of my standard breed hens. That was comical. And, this was definitely a point where I was very proud of my other bigger Roo because he just chased him off with out hurting him.

 

[pinewoodacres]

Yes cockerals settle with age, around 8-12 months depending on the breed, maybe even later for some. But being people aggressive may or may not settle. Personally none of my cockerals gets the opportunity to mature if they show tendencies to be aggressive to people or overly aggressive to the hens. Maybe they would chill out, maybe they wouldn't.

I don't want my roosters thinking I am in any way a part of the flock hierarchy. I do not challenge them or correct them, I walk right through them. If they want to challenge me, they can be someone's lunch. They know I'm there to feed and care for the needs of the flock, and they know I'm there to help them look after their hens and make them look good for the ladies. I do my best not to interfere with their job and I expect them not to interfere with mine.

This is what I do now also. Our first batch last March, we were soooo hands-on (incl four of my kids, oldest being 9 at the time) and I gave two away thinking it would help the entire dynamics of the situation but I ended up putting our last cockerel down on the spot when he JUMPED the run gate and ran after my kids. It wasn’t the first time he chased them or tried to kick them but it was the first he jumped the gate after I attempted to make it escape-proof (I’ve learned there’s no such thing with flying animals).

We raised another batch in September and I insisted they be less involved and I tried to stick with just feeding and watering, cleaning up, etc. Two were human aggressive and some others didn’t do well with pox when it went around so I just got rid of 5. The two I have left seem okay. I walk where I need to walk and handle the hens if necessary and they step aside. They might watch me but they know their place. They don’t see me as part of their pecking order, at least that’s what I assume. They do go to the fence line when my kids walk past the run, and they take a rake when they go in there to collect eggs. Part of my breeding project is to breed for temperament, which I think is vastly overlooked by breeders in general.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Part of my breeding project is to breed for temperament, which I think is vastly overlooked by breeders in general.

I agree, but I am breeding with a different standard in mind; protecting the flock at all costs. That does not include from me however. Finding a rooster with the perfect balance is very hard.

 

[pinewoodacres]

I agree, but I am breeding with a different standard in mind; protecting the flock at all costs. That does not include from me however. Finding a rooster with the perfect balance is very hard.

That is the truth. One in particular I have is very good with the girls, the other is meh. But I don’t do human aggressive and I don’t do sickly, so here’s what I’m left with for now. It’s always a work in progress.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Yup, and as soon as you get a good one they die in battle

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I agree, but I am breeding with a different standard in mind; protecting the flock at all costs. That does not include from me however. Finding a rooster with the perfect balance is very hard.

That would be a tricky balance, good luck! How is it going so far?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I have a promising cockerel, but he is struggling with letting they other roosters live... so.... yeah.