Hen-raised roos better than human-raised?

[Chickassan]

The last one I let mom raise she almost beat him to death knocked his hip out. I'm a sucker and I nursed him back turned out to be the gnarliest roo. Couple things could have come into play he might have had his noggin scrambled, could have been his breed he was a game bird, could have been I named him a☆☆hole after he took a chunk out of my calf with his beak. But I've had similar roosters come from hand raising as well, minus the mama smackdown. Different breeds but never lacking for any chicken necessities. I've also had wonderful roosters come from both types of raising. Don't get me wrong you probably can mess one up but I think they pretty much are what they are.

 

[anatess]

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

I take my roos into the house every night because I live in an urban neighborhood and my neighbors would be most unhappy if my roos wake them up at the crack of dawn. What I usually do is before I go to bed, I go out to the coop, pick up the roos and take them inside. I've never had a problem just putting my hands over their wings to pluck them out of their perch and putting them under my arm like a football. I started doing that the day they started crowing and they've never given me problems. I can even turn them upside down with their feet in the air on my lap and trim their nails and they don't make a peep.

But, I have to say, these 2 roos (one is a polish/silkie mix, the other is a modern game bantam) are the calmest roos I've ever seen. I was just saying on another thread that my silkie hen beat up the polish/silkie roo! That hen is one mean lady!

 

[wild chick]

Great input everyone, Thank You! When I raised my original chicks from the hatchery I handled them all a little, but I didn't want pets, and I knew all but one or two boys were going to the freezer, so I didn't want to get attached to them. The roo we kept was not aggressive until he was the only roo left. He mounted the hens until they were all bald & having to wear saddles and then he started making runs at us. These hen-raised youngsters are pretty wild, I never handled them. BTW, these are all Gold & Silver lace Wyandottes, which are *suppose* to be docile. So, looking at the now-3-month-old cockerel, pondering going thru that raging hormone period again, maybe it wouldn't be nearly so bad, as these hens have already put him in his place, perhaps he'd be better about it? He would replace the big roo eventually, as we are really tired of watching our back all the time and that guy is living on borrowed time anyway. He's only still here because the hens love him and he has been excellent with the chicks, even watching over them during the weaning time when the other hens peck at them.

 

[junebuggena]

In my experience, it's not so much brooder vs. hen raised. It's whether or not you have a few battleaxe hens in the flock to beat manners into them once they start maturing that makes the biggest difference.

 

[The Moonshiner]

In my experience, it's not so much brooder vs. hen raised. It's whether or not you have a few battleaxe hens in the flock to beat manners into them once they start maturing that makes the biggest difference.

Whole lot of truth in this. Which is why I voted for hen raised.. Those hens know more about raising cockerels/roosters correctly then we'll ever know.
I also free range and those broody raised chicks grow up more apt to surviving when free ranging. Another plus for my situation.
Back to junebuggena's point. Seems the advice now is leaning to separating cockerels out to their own enclosures when the hormones start kicking in. I can see the point when its just cockerels and pullets but putting them with some no nonsense older hens would do a world of good. Being hormonal males locked together I don't think is doing much for them just buying time for the pullets.

 

[Naser]

I have roosters raised by hens and others under electric hen, I don't see any difference, I have one now 4 weeks old under a broody hen, if I remember, I will come back later to write a comment when he is older

 

[wild chick]

Thanks, @junebuggena and @The Moonshiner. When my pea-brain finally started thinking about this, at first it was just the thought of chicks raised by people, but then I thought also EVERY chicken in the flock was the exact same age, so the pullets couldn't have the clout an older hen had and the cockerels had never been told to back off by a full grown rooster either. After watching the hens giving the new teenagers what-fors all day, the light bulb went off to ask this question... Genetics-wise, I have to remember that these two cockerels are the sons of the one that is human-aggressive, and I have no idea which hen is their mother, so it would be an interesting thing to see how much different one would be.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am a believer in multigenerational flocks, especially for raising roosters. Most people do not live with their birds, but pay visits to care for them a couple of times a day. Roosters are not highly effected by this.

A rooster raised just with flock mates, becomes much bigger than the pullets more quickly, become sexually ready much sooner than the pullets, and there is nothing there to knock some manners into him. This lets him get braver and braver and more and more bullish. If these boys have been played with by humans, they have no fear of humans either, and eventually, start to try and exert dominance over them. Usually starting with children (very dangerous for small kids) then women and finally men.

Where as a rooster chick raised with other chicks in a flock, learns right away, he and his flock mate are not the top dog, and that they all have to give way to older birds. They are often a sub flock within the flock, once the broody hen has weaned them. They get educational thumps, which keeps them in their place. Having a mature rooster in the pen, will mostly keep them from breeding most of the time. They learn proper chicken society. Chicks raised by a broody hen, are skittish around humans, they fear and respect humans, and tend to stay that way.

HOWEVER, there is no 100% this is the way to raise a perfect rooster. If you are going to keep roosters, you need a sharp knife, cause not all of them are going to work out. If you ask, I recommend a hen only flock the first year, get some experience. Roosters in my opinion take some experience. Add chicks the second year, maybe under a broody, but definitely with the flock by 3-5 weeks. Then be ready to cull down to a good one.

Mrs K

 

[centrarchid]

I raise a lot of roosters using a variety of means. Many are used as teaching display animals that are exceptionally good around people. I have been doing it for close to 40 years.

That said, I do not know. This is something where a more controlled study is needed to figure out if rearing method is impactful on later behavior patterns. My opinion on outcome is related to how well I know a rooster. Therefore, the study needs to be blind.

 

[wild chick]

@Mrs. K This is what I was observing this summer as Broody Hen 1 weaned her 4 little ones! I completely stayed out of the raising of those chicks and have been observing now Broody Hen #2 who is just now weaning her 3 that are 6 weeks younger. I'm not into having pets, although I am fond of the friendly hens that come up and "talk" to me. I think the way the chicks learned from momma hen and now what they are learning from the flock without momma hen to protect them is priceless. That's why the lightbulb came on about my rooster, how when he was the last boy standing just did a flip-flop in personality. I thought it was teenage raging hormones, but now I'm thinking he just never had anyone to teach him manners. I'm leaning toward keeping one of his sons which will get lots of schooling from the elders. I'm thinking Big Blue, the original rooster, will not change - he's almost 16 months old now - but I would keep him around for a few more months to teach the young cockerels yet another point of view that maybe the hens don't have a way of telling them. Big Blue will have to go one day if his people-stalking doesn't stop, but if he can influence the next in line to be a better rooster, I'll keep him until his replacement is ready.