Hen-raised roos better than human-raised?

[wild chick]

Any opinions or experience on Roosters being better behaved if they are raised by a hen in a free range flock as opposed to being raised in a broody box by humans? My currant original flock all came on the same day from a hatchery & raised together from day-old to maturity and they all turned out fine. We tried to select the best rooster and he wasn't aggressive at all until he became the only rooster. Getting tired of him & his antics, as I have posted on previous threads. Now, a bit over a year later I have had 2 broody hens who have successfully raised 2 clutches, each clutch has a cockerel. The flock keeps them in their place - yet they do mingle with the group. The Rooster (sire) is the only one that doesn't peck them into place. Wondering if all this learning would make one of his sons better behaved toward humans as well? Seems like people who have free range hen raised flocks have few problems with human aggressive roosters.

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Following.

 

[tastyacres]

I don't coddle my roosters but I do hand raise them....

I had mama Hen raise a batch but she died when the chicks were just 2weeks old so I had to raise them.... But the rooster was the friendless rooster ever.... He would sit on my shoulder while I milked the goats and did chores.... But he also was kept in line, no grabbing food out of my hand, keeping a distance unless I told him otherwise, etc.

I don't know if this has anything to do with how there raised or not but I love crowing at my roosters... And I will fight with them on who is louder and I always win.... I can't say if it is the same for others but I know it worked for me. They would eventually not even try to prove to me they were top dog. Lol.

 

[anatess]

I grew up in the Philippines where cockfighting is a sport. My uncle owns a whole lot of roosters. They are all hand-raised and cuddled like prized pets. Most of them attack humans including my aunt who feeds them. This, of course, could be because my uncle selectively-bred aggressive roosters. So, I'm thinking, aggressiveness has more to do with the breed/genetics than how it is raised. But, I have zero expertise on the area and can simply talk about what I've seen in my narrow view of the world of chickens.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I've never raised Cockerels to adulthood, can't have any where I live but from what I've read, it's seems they can be the sweetest UNTIL hormones kick in Not sure if breed has anything to do with it also but we all know genetics play a role. Really think tastyacres may have it figured out....

 

[Chickassan]

It really depends on the individual rooster.If
he's good he's good, if he's a jerk he's a jerk.

 

[tastyacres]

I've never raised Cockerels to adulthood, can't have any where I live but from what I've read, it's seems they can be the sweetest UNTIL hormones kick in Not sure if breed has anything to do with it also but we all know genetics play a role. Really think tastyacres may have it figured out....

I have gotten some roosters that are super aggressive but I have gotten most out of top dog mode.

 

[song of joy]

My hen-raised roosters have generally been well-behaved, probably because they were raised in a multi-generational flock where they learned their place in chicken and human society. I'm sure genetics also has a lot to do with temperament.

The couple of roosters I've had that were human-raised in a flock lacking a rooster turned out to be more human-aggressive and more aggressive toward the hens.

Also, I think that having a couple of roosters may play a role in whether or not they view humans as a target of their aggression. I usually have 3 or 4 roosters/cockerels in the flock at any one time, and they quickly figure out that their fellow roosters/cockerels are their competition, not ME! They're so busy keeping each other in line that they don't recognize me as part of the flock . . . and that's the goal. They shouldn't see people as flock mates that they need to dominate. If they do, it can lead to major problems.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Imo yes a completely hen raised cockerel/rooster would turn out better.
I believe almost all these roosters turning out nasty/aggressive are because of the human factors in their upbringing and how they're being raised that cause their issues
Its not only the coddling and hand feeding but the playing rooster/domination games people are doing with/to them.
Leave those cockerels alone and let their mothers raise them without any interaction with you and see what you think.

 

[tastyacres]

And by "hand raising" I don't coddle or anything... I think it very important to keep my roosters to where I can walk up to them and pick them up, comes in handy when doing my annual health check, and just being able to easily separate if needed, etc.

Also, with the chickens I just got the rooster is a fearless roo but also won't mess with me... All it took was a grab him and hold him for a good 20 minutes