Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde bird

[kcan2]

I don't make pets of my males and I make a point of walking through them regularly. I don't chase them or in any way attempt to interfere with them, I just *happen to* have something to do on the other side of the pen beyond the rooster and I make him move out of my way as I approach instead of going around him.

I am not part of the flock pecking order. I am the giant who brings food and I want them to treat me like a horse or a cow or a force of nature rather than a chicken.

Just saw this great advice in another rooster thread and thought I'd mention it here . Hope your guy works out and behaves himself!

 

[Mrs. K]

You don't have a rooster, you have a cockerel and he is showing a lot of very bad signs. My worst roosters were raised without older birds, with just flock mates. With just flock mates, they become sexually active long before the pullets are ready. They are often bigger and considerably more aggressive. They can make pullet's lives hell.

This forum is full of stories where the darling becomes the nightmare. A lot of the problems is people want to treat them like kittens and puppies, where as if you are nice and friendly, they will become that way too. Chicken society does not work that way.

When you are holding your rooster and petting him, you are both seeing this from a different point of view:

• You see it as being friendly, calming him down,
• He sees it, as you are preening him, because he is superior
• When he bites you, he is reprimanding you

Right now, he is small and cute, but most inexperienced people vastly underestimate the violence of a rooster. If you have small children, they will be attacked first, and often in the face.

When inexperienced people start to see this behavior, they tend to look for ways to train this out of him. He has a brain the size of a walnut, and is mostly guided by hormones. There will be many suggestions, but most do not work well, and do not work all the time.

People often times try to find excuses for this behavior, like they wore red shoes, or touched a favorite hen. This is not true. Roosters are a crap shoot, when you get a good one, he is a treasure, but a lot of them should be culled.

A lot of roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a whole lot of people. He has a long list of faults, he would be in my grow out pen to be culled.

AArt says, "Roosters are were the romance of keeping chickens meets reality." Not every bird will work in your coop/run. Sometimes a hen won't work, but not as often.

Mrs K

 

[Aunt Angus]

Are sudden behavior changes normal? So suddenly my 9 week old sweet little cuddly roo decided to act like a crazy testosterone raging angry bird. He is trying to crow (which is hilarious) he started pecking and plucking the pullets feathers, dive bombing them from the roost bar, and he runs at them screeching. He even tried to peck and scratch me, I separated him from the rest and he stamps around, screeches, picked up a feather from the ground and shook it around like a dog trying to kill his pray. What the heck!? I put him back with the girls he tried attacking them again so threw in some peas and dried bugs to distract him. now they are in the coop and he is being good and cuddling with them. What should I do when this happens? Should I intervene? Is this a temporary thing? Is this normal? He was so sweet before.

Whew! Hormones have kicked in for your guy!

Many people separate them until they are a little older and past the raging hormones. But that doesn't sound like the signs of a good rooster...

 

[nuthatched]

He has been growing up with the pullets so I never thought of needing to keep him separated. So you think he will stay like this?

Did you pet, cuddle and baby him?

 

[nuthatched]

Really!? Well poo. Is there anything I can do? He was supposed to be a pullet with great wilco accuracy. Ive gotten attached to all my chickens as this is my first experience with them. So I don't want him to go. Another thing I realized is he attacks the others when I pet them or give them attention even call there name. Could he just be real possessive with them? Could this be how he claims them? They are all getting along this morning so far. I didn't individually greet them this morning like usual because angry bantam roo. Before 3 days ago he was a sweet little bird. Although he did always squawk at them if I picked any of them up.

He's claiming them yes, but not the way a good rooster does. He shouldn't be attacking you or his hens.

 

[3KillerBs]

He has a brain the size of a walnut, and is mostly guided by hormones.

His testicles are not only larger than his brain, they're as big as his entire head.

This photo was from a 20-week cockerel I culled. (For those who haven't seen the insides of a chicken before, the whitish things in the middle of the plate just above the feet are the testicles).

 

[Roseynose]

Whew! Hormones have kicked in for your guy!

Many people separate them until they are a little older and past the raging hormones. But that doesn't sound like the signs of a good rooster...

He has been growing up with the pullets so I never thought of needing to keep him separated. So you think he will stay like this?

 

[Roseynose]

Yes

 

[Roseynose]

You're likely not going to have an easy time training him to respect you, he's gotten used to the idea of you aren't a threat.

Really!? Well poo. Is there anything I can do? He was supposed to be a pullet with great wilco accuracy. Ive gotten attached to all my chickens as this is my first experience with them. So I don't want him to go. Another thing I realized is he attacks the others when I pet them or give them attention even call there name. Could he just be real possessive with them? Could this be how he claims them? They are all getting along this morning so far. I didn't individually greet them this morning like usual because angry bantam roo. Before 3 days ago he was a sweet little bird. Although he did always squawk at them if I picked any of them up.

 

[Roseynose]

He's claiming them yes, but not the way a good rooster does. He shouldn't be attacking you or his hens.

Hmmm is there any way to tame this behavior?