Do the sweet roos always go bad?

[Glory to His name]

I have a 9wo roo that has been a love since day one, oddly enough I singled him out as a roo right away too.
He always hops on my lap and follows me around like a puppy.
His dad (a blue copper Marans) was extremely docile, not at all aggressive or dominant. Is that a “trait” that could be passed on?

I have four roos from this batch and have to narrow it down to two to keep. I’ve heard the ones that are the sweetest can tend to be the ones that turn out the meanest. Is that always the case?
By what age should I have a pretty good judge of temperament?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'd say by 6 months you can usually know, but some still can go sour later. Have you had male's in prior years?

 

[Glory to His name]

I'd say by 6 months you can usually know, but some still can go sour later. Have you had male's in prior years?

We’ve had two prior, one went to freezer camp and the sweet one (dad of this batch) we lost to a predator at 2 years old.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We’ve had two prior, one went to freezer camp and the sweet one (dad of this batch) we lost to a predator at 2 years old.

It's definitely a trait that can be passed on. You could certainly keep the sweet one for a bit longer and just know he might turn sour. I have a few males thar while they prwfer to be left alone, are quite sweet and gentle when I do handle them

 

[Traffie Chickens]

It all depends, I had 2 roosters which were both very overly friendly, and one of them, which was a bit more friendly, started nipping me, and bullying the pullet at just 8 weeks old.he went to another home, while we still have the other one and he is still just so friendly to me and loves me when I pick him up, even now that he is a big old grown up guy.

 

[SourRoses]

No, the sweet ones don't always turn mean. But the spoiled ones almost always do.

As he's getting older, he needs firm boundaries. For instance, hopping up on you should no longer be a thing.
If you want him in your lap, pick him up and hold him there, so you're controlling the interaction. (*holding can just be a hand supporting the breast bone)
When you walk around, he should give way, not make an obstacle of himself, otherwise you need to walk more assertively right through him.
And watch for early subtle signs of aggressive thoughts... such as holding your stare intently, flapping his wings in your direction, walking sideways towards you, etc. If you're not sure what the various body language signs mean, if he does something new, ask about it. Most folks get a lot of early warning that a rooster is turning mean but they don't recognize it.
I'm firmly in the camp that, if they're going to be mean, they will be, and nothing anyone can do about it. But you can try to avoid encouraging it, by not acting submissive (or excessively aggressive).
Just require respect and remain consistent, and may the genes be ever in your favor.

 

[Traffie Chickens]

No, the sweet ones don't always turn mean. But the spoiled ones almost always do.

As he's getting older, he needs firm boundaries. For instance, hopping up on you should no longer be a thing.
If you want him in your lap, pick him up and hold him there, so you're controlling the interaction. (*holding can just be a hand supporting the breast bone)
When you walk around, he should give way, not make an obstacle of himself, otherwise you need to walk more assertively right through him.
And watch for early subtle signs of aggressive thoughts... such as holding your stare intently, flapping his wings in your direction, walking sideways towards you, etc. If you're not sure what the various body language signs mean, if he does something new, ask about it. Most folks get a lot of early warning that a rooster is turning mean but they don't recognize it.
I'm firmly in the camp that, if they're going to be mean, they will be, and nothing anyone can do about it. But you can try to avoid encouraging it, by not acting submissive (or excessively aggressive).
Just require respect and remain consistent, and may the genes be ever in your favor.

Oh wow! I never new that the spoiled ones go bad, but it would make sense because, I had two cockerels, and one which was everyone’s favorite, always got to get brought outside, got to perch on shoulders and always be held, he went bad at 8 weeks, while the other one didn’t get to be held a lot because he would poop a ton! lol
we kept him, and he is all grown up, and still such a sweet guy!

But still make sure to spend time with your roosters at a young age, because if you don’t, when they grow up and they don’t trust you, they will usually attack you if they think your a threat at any time.

 

[SueT]

I have found that the best boys are those raised by a mama hen. They have imprinted on the hen and understand what they are. Those raised by humans imprint on the human and this may cause issues. It is usually recommended to encourage standoffishness in cockerels. These will be the keepers.

 

[nuthatched]

He's not being sweet, he's seeing where your boundaries are.

 

[SourRoses]

But still make sure to spend time with your roosters at a young age, because if you don’t, when they grow up and they don’t trust you, they will usually attack you if they think your a threat at any time.

With ours, we just spend time sitting near and watching the chickens, rather than holding them. We're pretty hands off, even with chicks. But just letting them get used to human movements, noises, and behaviors, all seem to help them be less skittish and more curious.
Since I've been breeding a lot, we've raised hundreds of cockerels. I'm really picky who makes the cut in terms of behavior. He has to not only never look askance at a human, but be gentle on the hens.
From an extremely gentle foundation rooster, several of his sons and grandsons have been very gentle as well. Still, some were too pushy with hens and eyeballing humans, which is as far as I let things go.
Personality is mostly genetic IMO, BUT, it's a complicated mode of inheritance... there's the mothers side, equally influential, which can be hard to tell because she doesn't have testosterone driving her the same way. And the grandparents, or even further back, all throw a bit in the pot and who knows what will come up in a particular spoonful.