Good or Bad??

[thechxwhisperer]

I have a big rooster, a Splash Ameraucana. He is pretty skittish, but if you manage to catch him, he will fall asleep in your arms! He is adorable. Anyhow, I was talking to someone today and they said that every rooster(they had a few at different times)they held and were nice to, eventually turned on them and attacked them like crazy. Then, they said that one rooster, they never really held. That rooster never attacked them or went too close to them. So, they said do not hold and spend time with your rooster. Is this true?

 

[Michael OShay]

I've read these same comments from other BYC members, and while this may have been their experience with roosters, It's not a hard and fast rule. I've raised chickens for the past 50 years and have had lots of roosters, both aggressive and non-aggressive, and I haven't seen any correlation between how much they were held. From my observations, it depends more on breed and the individual temperament of the rooster. My children made lap pets of Cochin, Brahma, Orpington, Australorp, Silkie, and Sussex roosters and none of them were ever aggressive. I've had Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, and Silver Laced Wyandotte roosters that were never held that became aggressive and I ended up culling them from the flock. Others roosters of those same breeds were docile whether or not they were held. The meanest rooster I ever had was a Golden Polish rooster (normally a docile breed) named Ivan that would attack anything and everything in his vicinity. Interestingly enough he never attacked me (I held him a lot but I was the only one who could), but everything thing and everyone else was a target to him. I kept him in a separate pen for a while, but my wife and children were terrified of him and refused to go into the pen and feed him, so I ended getting rid of him. As far as Ameraucanas, I've never had pure Ameraucanas. All of mine have been Easter Eggers, but they have generally been docile birds. They tolerated my children, and now my granddaughter, but they've never seemed to like being handled and neither my children, nor my granddaughter, were really able to make lap pets of them like they did of some of our other breeds.

 

[appps]

I have a big rooster, a Splash Ameraucana.  He is pretty skittish, but if you manage to catch him, he will fall asleep in your arms!  He is adorable.  Anyhow, I was talking to someone today and they said that every rooster(they had a few at different times)they held and were nice to, eventually turned on them and attacked them like crazy.  Then, they said that one rooster, they never really held.  That rooster never attacked them or went too close to them.  So, they said do not hold and spend time with your rooster.  Is this true?

I have been wondering this exact same thing. Our pet Cochin x silkie roo became very aggressive yet my boss had a big leghorn cross rooster who's only contact was when fed and he just watched over his ladies while maintaining a safe distance from people. I never had any fear of walking past him.

It made me wonder if by making pets of our roosters we teach them we are part of their flock rather than separate to it and so increasing the chances they will feel they need to challenge us for top spot.

Mind you two roosters does not a statistic make lol

 

[thechxwhisperer]

Ok, thanks for the replies! I am beginning to notice that he gets a little aggressive when I hold his favorite hen. He just fluffs up, that is probably normal though. When I set the hen down, he just walks away.:/