Hereditary Rooster Aggression

[DyingPhoenix]

So, there's this thing where my favorite, extremely tame cockerel has become a real douche. He is about a year old now and his name is Hoppie.

I have an experimental breeding program going where I am trying to breed my tamest birds. I'm currently on the third generation, keeping only the tamest and culling the rest.

Hoppie has begun to act like a jerk to me these last couple months. The hens all love me and crowd around and climb all over me. Meanwhile he is in the background tidbitting like crazy on nothing, trying to call them back nonstop by any means, making all kinds of racket and obviously distressed. He attacks me, biting and flogging if I move too close to him. He also loudly alarm calls on me whenever he sees me and becomes instantly aggravated. It's the same sound when they see a hawk.

The only reason he keeps his distance to try and call the hens is because I have been vigilant in teaching him some respect with a switch, swatting him until he learned to keep his distance and now runs from me if I even look at him. ( followed a thread here about aggressive roosters to a T ) This fixed him for a good while... Until today. Gave him an inch today while I was doing maintenance, and walked too close and he flogged me again.

Couple questions: Do you think this is young and dumb hormones?

I have chicks sired by him in the brooder now. What are the chances of getting a son worth keeping if he's being a punk?

I culled all my other roosters due to various bad behaviors and lost my first choice rooster this winter. It's not the greatest time for him to start this stuff.

I want to cull him every time I'm out there nowadays but I try and remember he used to be very good and this could pass. He is great to the girls otherwise.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Probably not young and dumb hormones at this age -- more like mature and taking over the world hormones, because he is a tame rooster.

Typically the young and dumb hormones start at 12-20 weeks old. If you're preemptive at requesting respect at that age, they typically are growing out of it and become trustworthy at 1 year old, sometimes a little older. If you're not preemptive with those young and dumb hormones, and they are more tame than respectful, then at maturity they don't see you as dominant, they see you as competition to be conquered. The tame ones that have only been loved on often alternate between snuggling and flogging, and often grow up to be untrustworthy, in my experience. Some of these are the most aggressive, as they are tame so have no fear to give them any second thoughts about their attack. The tame ones that have been both loved on and taught to be respectful are usually trustworthy as they mature, because they respect you as the dominant rooster. Obviously, there are some that are perfect no matter what, and some that cannot be trusted under any circumstances, but those are not the usual cases.

I have gotten many nice sons out of fathers with horrible temperaments. It won't be the majority, but you just have to select properly and train for respect early. The flighty hen is most likely to produce an aggressive son, whereas the calm hen is most likely to produce a trustworthy son, all else being equal, in my line. I rarely retain aggressive roosters anymore, but if there is something so superior about him that he is worth keeping despite a bad temperament, I only breed him to the calmest hens, usually with good results.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Thank you for the in depth reply!

I went back and looked at his baby pics and my age is off. He was hatched Aug 18th. That makes him around 32 weeks so this could be what you described. He never had any stages of aggression before this.

 

[junebuggena]

It takes about a year for you to really get a good understanding of a rooster's temperament. It could just be springtime hormones, and he may settle down in a few weeks. Or, this may be who he really is, from now on.
In my opinion, there is never a good excuse for breeding a rooster that has been aggressive towards people.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Update: Hoppie was put back in his place pretty ruthlessly after being a total jerk. He submits but it seems when he has some time to rest he challenges again.

However, this morning when letting them out I notice him charge me when the fence was between us so I think he's on borrowed time. The more I think on it, the more I think I should move on and not waste my time. I don't want any more of his genes anyway, with this going on.

I think the next time he attacks me, he's being culled right there.

Hopefully one of his sons will show some promise. I have a few already that are obvious cockerels and one already acts just like he did at that age. Fears absolutely nothing and curious.

I'm hoping I can end up with one just like him, minus the human aggression!

 

[nicalandia]

Update: Hoppie was put back in his place pretty ruthlessly after being a total jerk.

man fighters as they are known in the fighting cock circles are very dangerous and are to be culled on the spot to prevent any of his progeny to pass on such bad genes

 

[Sydney Acres]

Start working with the cockerels as soon as you can tell that they're cockerels. Gently request respect from them every day. You don't want them to fear you, but they absolutely have to respect you. Let no transgression, no matter how small, go unchallenged. Be the adult rooster who is dominant but non-abusive.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Well, this afternoon, Hoppie went to the great freezer in the sky.

He went after me when I was filling the waterer.

When you mention respect, what do you mean by that exactly? He never pecked or flogged me before. One day it just happened and after that it kept happening. I always move through them while working, not around. And I am definitely not afraid of them as adults. As a chick, he would run up and investigate anything, even loud sounds and strangers and he would tolerate pets and attention. It's what made him stand out and be liked by everyone.

Walking too close to him always seemed to be the trigger for attack though. He would move if he felt like it, but more often than not, he'd attack.

 

[Sydney Acres]

When I raise my chicks, I handle them daily from the first week. Some are super friendly and want to cuddle. Some are shy and don't want to be touched. But they all get gentle handling at least once a day. When they are 8 weeks old I start working on respect with the cockerels. I walk up to them, and expect for them to move away. If they don't, they get gently pushed. After a week they figure it out. They're still babies, so nothing aggressive -- just gently teaching the rules, every day. I also randomly but regularly hold their head (and when they get older, their comb and waddles), push them to the ground and gently "stand on them" with my hand (almost no pressure -- I don't want them feeling that they can't breathe, or that this hurts), hold both feet in one hand and set them on my lap on their side while using my other hand to rub under their wing or on their chest or move their head around while being held on their side or back. I start with them early, but only after they know me well and don't consider me a predator. I never do anything that is rough or painful or even scary. Just gently dominant. It's an every day thing and they grow up knowing that I'm the dominant rooster of the group.

When they're 12 weeks old, they are separated from the pullets and put in the bachelor pasture. At that age they aren't old enough to be a threat to my adult roosters (who are really good with chicks -- don't do this if your roosters are too aggressive), but they're old enough to run and hide. I call it "going to rooster school." Because the adults will seriously put them in their place when needed, and I watch how they do it. Basically, they do exactly what I described above, but much rougher. The youngsters are expected to step aside for the king, and if they don't they are body slammed to the ground, the comb is grabbed and the head is shaken until the chick can run away. They're not injured, just intimidated. They learn quickly not to do anything disrespectful, until the hormones hit in full force. Then they lose their mind and forget everything they learned for 1-3 months. That's the young and dumb stage. Some will handle the testosterone poisoning well, make a few bad choices, get put in their place and then it's over. Others will have so much drive and not give up for a long time, or ever. That's when you have to make sure that not a single transgression ever goes unpunished. One success will embolden him for 100 attacks. Most of my boys will get that look in their eye before the attack -- that expression of glazed over aggression from the testosterone surge. That's the best time to act, before they strike. Reach down, pick them up, roll them on their back, hang them by their feet for 15 seconds, grab their comb and move their head around for a minute, move into them with aggressively scuffing feet -- whatever works best to redirect the attention of that particular cockerel, and get his mind off attacking you, and refocus his brain on the fact that you're the dominant rooster. Once the attack has already started you're trying to clean up after the car crash -- stopping the attack is like preventing the accident in the first place. When they're this age I always carry a large towel with me. If I'm not able to redirect their behavior, or if I can't catch them because they're stalking me instead of attacking (which is absolutely not allowed - I will run at them aggressively if they're stalking me), then the towel keeps them from landing the first blow. A cockerel that is able to land the first blow and doesn't redirect will fight and fight. Engaging him in a fight only promotes the aggressive behavior, even if they lose every time. Like the adult rooster, you've got to prevent him from landing any blows, and teach him that you're the boss when he gets twitchy. Hitting him with a thick towel when he's coming at you isn't painful and doesn't cause injury, but it deflects his attack and prevents him from being able to get to you. A cockerel that can't land even a single blow will eventually give up, and continued towel swats will cause him to run from you, which is what you want at this stage.

Once the hormonal hell passes in a few months, most cockerels that have been taught respect, and have not been able to assert their attempted dominance over you, will mature into sweet, trustworthy cocks. I never judge them for going through their teenage months -- that's how their body is made, and they can't help it. But I don't tolerate it if they can't adjust to the ebb and flow of their hormones once they get passed this hormonal flood. I tried the alternative method on many, many roosters years ago -- keeping them super tame, being their friend, never showing dominance -- just love. It worked on a few that had no innate desire to be the top dog anyway, but usually the sweetest, tamest roosters matured into fearless, dangerous cocks later in life. They had never been taught respect as youngsters, and saw no reason to give it as adults.

I have a beautiful, huge Speckled Sussex cock who is 4 years old, 11 lbs of muscle. He was late maturing, so his hormonal hell hit 2-3 months after the rest of the group. Oh he was a challenge, possibly having more drive because he was older and stronger than the others when they went through the same stage. But we eventually got through it, and he matured into the most amazing cock -- totally trustworthy with me, but he doesn't tolerate other roosters AT ALL, so he has his own pasture away from other males. Last week he was in his pasture and a hen walked by the fence. It's full out breeding season here, and he was 1000% focused on this hen. I needed to move him to another area, and I walked up behind him to pick him up. He didn't realize it was me, being totally focused on her, and I unfortunately didn't do anything to bring his attention to me before touching him. When my hand touched him he almost exploded with aggression. His beak was clamping on my fingers when I said, "You don't really want to do that, do you?" in a dominant voice. He immediately let go of my finger, backed away from me a few feet, sat down and made several little cooing noises. He was so sorry. It was totally my fault for not letting him know it was me behind him instead of another rooster. I let him stay back for a minute, then pulled a treat out of my pocked and called him to me. I kneeled down, gave him the treat for being a good boy and respecting me by backing off, then asked him to jump in my lap for snuggles. He is a pet and I love him dearly, but he is still a rooster. I can't ask him to understand my values of empathy and kindness to others, as that is not how he's hardwired. His brain is hardwired to be either the dominant rooster, or the subordinate rooster. That's what is there to work with. Accepting that will allow you to develop some wonderful, totally trustworthy males, but it takes a plan of consistency to make it happen if you've got a boy that has any drive at all.

 

[nicalandia]

From my experience, you don't want to be handling a cockerel too much, they will think you are part of the flock and will try to assert dominance once they turn to roosters, is best to leave them to be cockerels/roosters... Handling hens is a different matter.