Help with cockerel.

[Thechickentrainer1999]

Get a second cockerel to live with him!
Have their pen near the girls so everyone has company.

How does a coop with all Roosters work? Any experiences?

 

[Norcal527]

It would be cruel for me to put him with all the ladies and watch them get beat up.

I keep MULTIPLE roosters and my hens have never been beat up by them. The rooster watches over them...when I bring treats he stands over the treat and calls the girls over with a special call. It's quite awesome to watch. And out of the dozens of roosters I've raised I've had 1 aggressive one. Youd probably be surprised at what a nice addition a rooster is to a flock. I mean males are a natural part of a flock...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I did have a rooster that was not gentle with the hens. I replaced him. There are abusive men out there, too. They too, are replaceable. There are very many excellent roosters available. They are not hard to find.

 

[GoatDragonFarms]

HANDLE HIM DAILY!
Ok, so roosters are like aggressive? And scary? And we have all seen the videos of them attacking people when they come in to mess with his girls. Sound about right?
This does not, and I repeat, -not- have to be your rooster. Spend quality, nurturing time with him. Pick him up and hold him until he stops struggling, then give him high-value treats. Teach him that you are one of the flock and a "chicken" to be respected, not feared, and for heavens sake don't separate him!
We raised a pair of SLW roos that we were frankly afraid of. Had to rehome them. Now we have a Cemani in one pen and a Silkie in the other that look forward to seeing us because it means good! Things! For everyone!
Seriously, just because he's a dude doesn't mean he is bad. The hens will keep him in line until he grows up a bit

Oh, check this out. It saved our tailfeathers!
http://chickenrunrescue.org/filter/Care-and-Rehabilitation/Rooster-Behavior

 

[Farmgirl1878]

And yes, the GLW is a cockerel. I’ve never heard a bad thing about Wyandotte cockerels and roosters.

After a quick Google it seems that they are deemed: quiet, docile and friendly.

I’ve had two Wyandotte roosters. The first, Javier, was in with seven pullets his same age. He was a little too rowdy and needed to be with some older girls who could help him learn how to be a gentleman. He’s a great protector now that he’s been rehomed to hang with the older “chicks.”

My BLRW, Flash, was part of the second batch of chicks, so he had the advantage of growing up with older pullets to interact with. Now, he’s eleven months old and he’s AWESOME!! He watches over his girls, breaks up fights, tidbits all day long, lets the girls groom him, lives to show them where the safe nesting spots are in the coop, dances like a mad man, keeps a eye on the sky, and leads them around the yard and woods like a tour guide. He’s also not too aggressive with me (tho he has decided that he likes to run up behind me when I’m not paying attention to him and poke me with his beak or chest. - Not peck me, just touch me.).

I’d say, if you are allowed to have a rooster, you should have a rooster. If, at some point, he gets aggressive toward you, rehome him then. In the meantime, give him a chance!

 

[Biddybot]

Wyandottes are awesome. My second chief rooster for the big mixed flock I used to keep was a silver-laced Wyandotte which I bought off a fancier when said bird was five months old. A big, beautiful, smug, proud fellow who always did his job once he assumed the top position and who never gave me any trouble. I named him Elvis for his, er, portly dimensions.

Anyway, if you're now a first-time rooster owner and somewhat nervous about it, please refer to one of the tutorials on this site about how to train your chicken for showmanship handling and get going on training your cockeral. It's the chicken equivalent of taking your young dog through a basic obedience school class. You will gain confidence in how to handle him and he will learn to behave in a docile and agreeable manner when you have hands on him, which will help a great deal in establishing a good relationship all around and make him more easy to care for in the future. No, you don't have to show him any more than people who take their dogs to obedience classes have to compete in obedience trials afterwards (although quite a few go on to enjoy the sport), but it's a START and the steps/exercises are usually well laid out and easy to follow. I used to advise oh, just handle your rooster enough when he's young to establish a habit of compliance and get him used to the idea that you're going to be a dominate force in his life and you'll have no trouble with him unless he's inherently bonkers and hyper-aggressive (which happens). But that's not enough for new owners, is it? It's too general and assumes you understand basic chicken behaviour. So if that's applicable to you, please do try the showmanship training route. Both you and your cockeral will likely enjoy it.

As for housing, since he's already partly grown up as part of a little flock, it would be cruel to now separate him entirely from the others and keep him as a singleton; he is already socialized to want to be with other chickens...you're just the occasional friend who drops in now and then. If you want to keep him, yet not let him run with the others for fear he'll harass them too much, the best solution is the small pen next to/within the bigger pen option. That way, he'll get to still socialize with the girls and be part of the flock, but in a restricted way. You also then have the easy option of letting him out to run with the others PART of the time...and you might find that he's actually a pretty decent guy who treats the ladies quite well. At the very least, he deserves to be kept through his raging teenage hormone phase, which is when cockerals are typically at their bitey, jumpy, obnoxious worst if they're prone to being obnoxious at all...not all are. I don't remember my own Wyandotte rooster ever going through an obnoxious phase. Never ever. Maybe yours will be the same.

Anyway, best of luck, and hope all works out whatever you decide to do. Have to admit, though...I'll always advise to favour the chicken, so, take what I've just written accordingly.

 

[50-45-1]

Give him a chance first.
Leave him with the hens and see what personality he has. He may be a great rooster for you, and if you sentance him to solitary confinement it WILL drive him crazy.
I recomend the hads off method with roosters. No handling or cuddeling. Keep a healthy distance and retain the respect and fear they have of humans. The good rooster i have now is only handled ar night for health check, spur removal or injury care after dark.

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

So I've decided to move him in to the older girls soon along with his sisters (flock he grew up with) the only questions so far is?
#1 Eating fertilized eggs?
#2 How to prevent him from jumping on the hens in general if there is a way?
#3 can my hens get a disease like hpv/aids in humans if he constantly hangs with the girls...
#4 how to trim spurs with no pain?

 

[aart]

So I've decided to move him in to the older girls soon along with his sisters (flock he grew up with) the only questions so far is?
#1 Eating fertilized eggs?
#2 How to prevent him from jumping on the hens in general if there is a way?
#3 can my hens get a disease like hpv/aids in humans if he constantly hangs with the girls...
#4 how to trim spurs with no pain?

1. Not a problem, as long as you gather eggs daily no chicks will develop.
2. No way other than removing him.
3. No..tho mating can help spread external pests like lice.
4. There shouldn't be a need, but just file down the sharpness at the very tips.
5. The older hens will beat him up long before they let him mount.