help with rooster

[Joellen71]

There is not anything wrong with her holding and handling the rooster. The rooster just needs to know it is on HER terms. He should never be picked up when he pecks.

To the OP, now would be a good time to arm yourself with a squirt bottle felled with water. When he pecks you, squirt him right in the face. If he crows while you are around him. Squirt him. If he 'dances' at you another squirt. Breeding a hen when you are around gets him another squirt. If you start correcting/training him now, you might make an excellent flock rooster out of him.

this is only my second year with chickens. I'm unsure what a good flock rooster is supposed to do. how is he supposed to act? what am i training him to do?

 

[enola]

When you pick him up and pet him, he is putting you on the same level as his hens. Mature hens will 'groom' a rooster to show him he is dominant to them.

Does he crow when you are near him? Is he breeding the hens yet?

 

[Joellen71]

actually, I have never heard him crow. BF says he sometimes crows in the mornings before I wake up. I've seen him jump on a couple of the hens, but he doesn't really seem to know what to do. I've also seen the 2 hens jump on each other as well, so it may just be some kind of play.

So are you saying that it is impossible to have a cuddly rooster without problems?

On a side note, do roosters know the difference between human males and females? Because BF picks him up and cuddles him as well. Does he think BF is a hen too?

 

[enola]

Once he learns your rules, he will know how to interact with you. It is just a matter of you and he figuring out each other's role in the relationship.

I don't treat my chickens like pets. They are livestock. However, they are not the least bit afraid of me. I can reach down and catch most of them when they are at the feeder. Even the roosters.

I teach my roosters to move away from me when I move through the coop. They are not allowed to follow me, either. When they are young if they crow, I force them to move off and stare them down until they change their mind. Same with breeding a hen while I am in the vacinity.

Roosters crow to show their dominance in the flock. The dominant rooster will breed his hens in front of other roosters to show the whole flock who the boss is.

He will do the same things to impress you of his dominance.

And now I probably have you completely confused.

 

[centrarchid]

9 to 10 weeks of age.

 

[Joellen71]

9 to 10 weeks of age.

what do you mean?

 

[centrarchid]

Much of discussion more approprite for older bird.


You are new to roosters. Make preparations for swapping him out to avoid complications later. Select replacement from stock less likely to be problematic. Then handle new bird less and do not react to him otherwise.

 

[Joellen71]

Once he learns your rules, he will know how to interact with you. It is just a matter of you and he figuring out each other's role in the relationship.

I don't treat my chickens like pets. They are livestock. However, they are not the least bit afraid of me. I can reach down and catch most of them when they are at the feeder. Even the roosters.

I teach my roosters to move away from me when I move through the coop. They are not allowed to follow me, either. When they are young if they crow, I force them to move off and stare them down until they change their mind. Same with breeding a hen while I am in the vacinity.

Roosters crow to show their dominance in the flock. The dominant rooster will breed his hens in front of other roosters to show the whole flock who the boss is.

He will do the same things to impress you of his dominance.

And now I probably have you completely confused.

When he follows me he squeaks like a puppy wanting attention. it's very cute.

he's actually having a hard time...we have 3 older hens that we got last year. when we got rid of the mean rooster, the leghorn hen became dominant. This little rooster and the hen face off sometimes and she always wins...he tries to get away from her so fast that he slips and falls lol

 

[enola]

I sent you a pm

 

[Kev]

actually, I have never heard him crow. BF says he sometimes crows in the mornings before I wake up. I've seen him jump on a couple of the hens, but he doesn't really seem to know what to do. I've also seen the 2 hens jump on each other as well, so it may just be some kind of play.

So are you saying that it is impossible to have a cuddly rooster without problems?

On a side note, do roosters know the difference between human males and females? Because BF picks him up and cuddles him as well. Does he think BF is a hen too?

By jumping do you mean grabbing and getting on? Or something like jumping jacks with some chest bumping?

Generally, there are more problems with cuddlers becoming terrors as they mature. Bascially those roosters have no fear of humans/regard them as funny looking chickens to dominate.