Got Flogged by A rooster tonight

[al6517]

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I have only had 1 or 2 of my LF cornish get an attitude the rest have been just fine, Genetics is a part but sadly with as much game that has been bred into them from breed inception, it's not an option to breed it out, I find them to be more docile than most other LF breeds. I would much rather retrain him and retain him for his traits.

I must respectifully dissagree. You can breed manfighting out even if games figure heavily into background of your birds. I have American games and the manfighting trait is almost nonexistant. Manfighting in games is major no-no. When detected the bird is promptly culled from breeding flock and relatives are scrutenized closely for same attribute. Sometimes a parent and siblings also culled to prevent its progation. This can be done without compromising gameness, therefore it should be possible to do same for your flock without compromising production characteristics and appearance. If all roosters in flock are prone manfight, then gives those that do it least higher marks if all else they are measured by is equal. This will take generations but you are already well versed in that with respect to your other selection interest.


I have an ongoing dominique project where American game is being incorporated into a line to enhance feathering and free-range qualities. The F1 are intermediate in respect to gameness. I will be selecting, without dilution with more dominique, for less gameness. I could just as easily go other way, again without dilution by the addtion of more game.

I hear you on all that but with these LF standard whites being so rare I am forced to concentrate on other things with them first and as I said I can live with it and it's not that big a deal really.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Hey, let's keep this nice now, elevan is having to do WAY too much tonight.

 

[flocksalot]

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This is what I have been trying in vien to get across to the chicken huggers, Thank's sue.

You can say it as plain as day and as long as a mile, but some people will never listen. What works for some people and their chickens will not work for all people. There is nothing wrong with giving a nasty roo a boot. If some people have been lucky enough to never have a really tough roo well good for them. I myself have only ever had one little snot (or foofoo if you wish) and I count myself lucky to have some well behaved roos. I do however have some hormonal little boys that need a good woopin. I found a solution to that problem though. My mother reminded me that when we were little we used to dress the roos up in doll clothes. Seems they would always run and hide when they saw us coming. Now I need to borrow someones little girl as my son looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him if he wanted to play dress up with the roos. Ah the memories............I still remember putting the little petticoats on them. It took both my sister and myself to get them on. I think those roosters died of shame!

 

[Minniechickmama]

My daughter doesn't play with dolls, but I bet she would help me make dresses to put on those boys if I told her about what you said!

 

[flocksalot]

Make some for me too and I'll come show you how to best pet them on!

 

[Beekissed]

I, myself, have been blessed with some very smart roos....not too often have I had to give a lesson. The first was to my old roo, Sue...he did the dance when I was catching a hen. A swift reaction with a roo stick on the soft feathers under the tail did the trick, along with chasing him out of the henhouse. The next time, he pecked me as I was taking a hen off the roost next to him. A light cuff on the head stopped that action and when next I reached to take a hen, I found the good ol' boy with his head tucked under his wing!

He never needed another lesson.

An adopted, extra roo tried to flog my egg basket once and I got to use the my more intensive training method described earlier in the thread...it was kind of fun, I didn't have to use my foot~I would have broken it on this big boy~ and he got it in the first lesson. Smart boy.

Toby, my present roo, was watching all the schooling as a youngster and so never once tried to flaunt the rules....even smarter.

Now, despite all the mushy threads to the contrary, I could pick up each and every one of these big boys and do what I wanted with them....and never once cuddled, hand fed, footballed, flipped, tickled, pinned, or otherwise rubbed the roo all over my body. Socialized without all the time and all the feathers rubbed off the roo....go figure. Just roos bein' roos and flock owner bein' a person.

 

[elevan]

Folks the nature of this thread seems to be exaggerated and jovial. Let's keep it that way. If you do not like the topic or discussion then please move along to enjoy the rest of the forum. Thank you.

 

[spiritdance]

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Yes, I guess we will. I don't think that hand nurturing is needed to "socialize" a roo, as his social structure doesn't really include humans, nor their affection. His social peers are his flockmates. Humans are merely the food source to a chicken.


One can be kind without cuddling and hand feeding treats to a roo. I'm kind to all my animals and they are kind in return. I'm kind enough to not force my idea of affection onto their life and into their space....one doesn't often see one bird cuddling with another unless they are mother and chicks, or they are beside one another on the roost and I still don't see them offering physical affection there either.

What you call socializing, I call inflicting one's idea of love onto an animal that neither wants it nor requires it. I chicken is quite content to be left alone to just be a chicken...all the other things like jumping up into human's laps or on their shoulders is learned behavior from receiving treats for the action. Even that reward system will not keep a roo from deciding to act like a roo one fine day.

It has NOTHING to do with "enforcing ideas of love" on the animal, and everything to do with being able to walk into the run and pick up that animal anytime I choose to without having to run him down or suffer a flog! You may choose to interpret any method of socialization other than yours as "coddling" and attaching an emotional quotient to the relationship, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say. I have roosters that I can handle without fear of serious injury, that I can pick up and place in a breeding cage without running a marathon, and that I can medicate, treat for mites, etc., with little stress for me or the roo, and I achieve this with consistency from chickhood on. I get them used to handling regularly, whether it's to have me clip their nails, trim their wings, feed them the occasional treat, or just turn them upside down and "tickle" them (less stressful for them when the face "the cone" eventually). And if this is such a bad thing, all the people I know who show their birds are obviously delusional, since they spend a great deal of time getting their birds, hens and roos alike, used to handling for the show circuit. And as for "cuddling" a roo, it is just one more way to accustom that bird to the idea that I am not a threat to him or his hens when I need to handle them. If the feel of soft feathers and a mushy bird body brings me a moment of pleasure, so what? It is quite apparent from the condition and behavior of my roos that it does them no harm, and it makes me smile. I'm selfish enough to not give one flip whether anyone else thinks it's "appropriate" or not, as long as my birds are good with it.

Would you mind telling us what breed of chickens you raise, so we can get a better idea of what your dealing with.

I have BR, RIR, Delis, BCMS, Americaunas, EEs, Polish, Sultans, Cochins, Silkies, OEGBS, Dutch, and Sebright. In the past I've had Cornish, Brahma, and Leghorns. And as I said, I would never put up with a roo charging me, either. The only reason I even posted on this thread is to respond to another post that made the point that "boss" is an attitude, a point I completely agree with. The next thing I know, I'm being lumped with "women who are out of their depth" or some such nonsense. Quite the contrary, I do very well with my chickens, I have no problem addressing a problem bird, and I don't put up with any nonsense from them. My point, however, is that if you have the time and are raising your own roos, there ARE things you can do as they mature to reduce the chances of having a problem bird. I've been successful with my approach, as others have with theirs, and I don't feel that just because it differs from someone else's approach that is should just be dismissed out of hand as 'coddling' or somehow inappropriate. There are thousands upon thousands of show birds in this country that are socialized from hatch day to perform well in shows, so I really don't see how this approach can be so easily be dismissed.

 

[Beekissed]

Aw, we aren't dismissing it....we just feel it has little practical application in the real chicken world. Show chickens are not in our reality....nor are they in most country folks'. We just come from different backgrounds is all....no need to belabor the point. We get it.

We think our birds are beautiful, soft and fluffy just as you do. We also sneak in a pet to them now and again, talk to them and sit next to them on the swing....but we usually don't use extensive cuddling as a method of correction as we have found it is both quicker and more successful to just do the one lesson. We are people who don't have a lot of time to carry around chickens....too many other chores, projects, things to be done.

This isn't our hobby...we generally don't have time for hobbies, really. Nor for the showing of chickens. Our chicken shows are right in our backyard/field/pasture and we judge all our own chickens to be the winners....makes it much more simple that way!

 

[centrarchid]

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Beekissed,


Some of the penalties you impose based on your descriptions above suggest you does not know as much about chcickens as you should. My birds that are not manfighters will peck at something they feel but can not see. It is a feeble defensive reaction, not aggression. The bird tucking head under wing was not recognizing your superiority. He was asleep.