Handling Chickens Around Protective Cockerel

[FortCluck]

No kidding! I bet! JGs are gorgeous, though. Love those iridescent feathers.

Yeah, this little guy doesnt even weigh 2 lbs. He can fly, though.

I have a bantam polish that's about the same weight that can fly out of the 8 foot fence and does its own thing. It did have a sibling but it went missing, I'm not sure if it got lost or what.

 

[centrarchid]

I handle my hens in two ways. First is to take them off roost at night taking care not to stress them and take them to a well lit area some distance away if more than quick feel needed or a move to another location. Second, during the day has me call hens up taking advantage of food or curiosity where the hen will sometimes even perch on me. I will briefly touch and look, but do not stress hens by overt handling at such times. Beyond that I generally move slowly and deliberately around birds which helps a lot. No hierarchy stuff involving me at top or bottom. I have a lot of roosters and need many to be good around people not familiar with chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi, again. My little 5 month old cockerel is shaping up to be a good roo so far (knock on wood). He's protective and hasn't shown any human aggression other than a few times first thing in the morning, but that behavior has ended.

Well, a new problem has arisen. If I need to handle any of my hens, he gets awfully upset. He doesn't attack or anything, but he crows and calls to them frantically, running around the yard. I've got a girl who needs her nails trimmed, otherwise I'd just wait until he's asleep, but I need daylight to see what I'm doing.

Any advice?

As far as your cockerel is concerned you are mating his hens. As he gains in confidence and matures the likelihood is he will at some point attack you.
You can stop handling the hens while he is there.
You could handle his hens at night when he's roosting.
Or best solution I've found is not to pick the hens up if you need to handle them. Leave them with their feet on the floor and get used to inspecting them this way.

 

[Aunt Angus]

As far as your cockerel is concerned you are mating his hens. As he gains in confidence and matures the likelihood is he will at some point attack you.
You can stop handling the hens while he is there.
You could handle his hens at night when he's roosting.
Or best solution I've found is not to pick the hens up if you need to handle them. Leave them with their feet on the floor and get used to inspecting them this way.

Makes perfect sense to me. This is normally how I do things. It was the toenail conundrum that caused the consternation. I brought her inside last night and took care of it. My eyes are just so bad, I was hoping to get it done during daylight hours. And I wasn't sure if he'd ever allow me to handle them. I'm fine if he doesn't ever allow it. I just need to change how I do things a bit.

Now, my birds are all sit in my lap at times (him included). Will this be a problem?

 

[aart]

My eyes are just do bad,

Mine too.
But I have an excellent headlight, with several light levels to choose from.
I also have a chair to sit on in the coop shed, outside the actual coop, to do exams and 'treatments'.
I am in the coop every night with that light, so they are used to it, and frequently touch the birds or remove them from the roost...they all get used to the activity.

 

[Folly's place]

My attitude differs a bit here. I am not part of the flock, and so not'taking his hens away'. I am just different, like any other species is different, and my roosters don't
try to defend their flockmates from me. I bring food, sit around, and sometimes handle birds, even during the day, and don't expect or have any issues.
My first rooster, another tiny bantam, never gave up, and could easily fly up to my head level. Small ceases to be cute when it's in attack mode, and can cause injuries just the same.
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

Well, we'll see what happens with my little guy. For now, I will handle inspections and health maintenance stuff at night. I guess, like with most things chicken, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

 

[Shadrach]

Makes perfect sense to me. This is normally how I do things. It was the toenail conundrum that caused the consternation. I brought her inside last night and took care of it. My eyes are just so bad, I was hoping to get it done during daylight hours. And I wasn't sure if he'd ever allow me to handle them. I'm fine if he doesn't ever allow it. I just need to change how I do things a bit.

Now, my birds are all sit in my lap at times (him included). Will this be a problem?

I don't know. I don't handle the chickens here unless absolutely necessary. This doesn't mean that some wont walk on me or jump onto my shoulder but I don't put them there and I neither encourage or discourage them.
I would think, if your flock is stable and your hens know you if one of your hens jumps onto your lap and you don't restrict her in any way your cockerel may find that acceptable.
What seems to upset the roosters here is if you restrict the hen, or pick her off the ground.
Not much help I'm afraid. Maybe someone who handles their hens may have better advice.

 

[aart]

I don't handle the chickens here unless absolutely necessary.

I don't either anymore, but have done so in the past.
A cock/erel can be acclimated to it.

 

[Shadrach]

I don't either anymore, but have done so in the past.
A cock/erel can be acclimated to it.

You are probably right in most cases.