How do you get a good rooster????

[saving grace]

I'm no professional, but I'll add how I trained my Easter Egger rooster.

I got 20 straight run EEs and 13 ended up as cockerels. I knew I wanted to keep one, so at about 4/5 weeks old I picked out one to start training as my future rooster. I held him daily, I didn't coddle him, just asserted my dominance frequently. After only a couple weeks of socializing him and not the others, I could tell a big difference. The one I picked out was tame and docile, while the others were aggressive, and they just got worse as they grew older. At only 10 weeks old the other EE cockerels were unbearable, but the one I had chosen was still very well-behaved. I processed the extra roosters and continued holding and socializing the one cockerel. At about 14 weeks old he got a little bit aggressive, but every time he went to attack I would hold him for about 5 minutes to reassert my dominance. After about a week of that, he went back to being extremely docile. Now he is 24 weeks old and is an extremely behaved rooster. He's very good with the hens, does a good job at protecting them, never attacks, and he isn't attached to me either. It might be I just got lucky, but I'd rather attribute it to my training.

 

[Ryguy3684]

I've noticed that a lot of people get rid of, or eat, cockerals as soon as they turn aggressive. The only mistake I've found with this, is that around 6 months to a year, the hormones are really flying. That's when most people give up on roosters. Both of my Buff Orpington roosters went through 4-5 months of being unbelievable a-holes to my wife and youngest son. They were fine around myself and my oldest son, during that time, and were great for the hens protection, so we let them grow a bit. Once their hormones started to balance out a bit, they settled down and became much better behaved. Neither go after my wife and son anymore. I'll keep them in the run if strangers are in the yard, mostly because I don't want to take any chances, but they are great with the family now. All that said, some roosters are aggressive, no matter what. I think you have to take it on a rooster by rooster basis.

 

[SilkySilkie]

I've noticed that a lot of people get rid of, or eat, cockerals as soon as they turn aggressive. The only mistake I've found with this, is that around 6 months to a year, the hormones are really flying. That's when most people give up on roosters. Both of my Buff Orpington roosters went through 4-5 months of being unbelievable a-holes to my wife and youngest son. They were fine around myself and my oldest son, during that time, and were great for the hens protection, so we let them grow a bit. Once their hormones started to balance out a bit, they settled down and became much better behaved. Neither go after my wife and son anymore. I'll keep them in the run if strangers are in the yard, mostly because I don't want to take any chances, but they are great with the family now. All that said, some roosters are aggressive, no matter what. I think you have to take it on a rooster by rooster basis.

yes thats what i want everyone to understand that its not their mistake they are just be a teen im trying my best to put up with him i dont want him to me culled for being a rooster

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Ehhhh, I might just be super lucky then, but my males either don't get aggressive period, or they have warning signs that get worse as they age.

I don't have males that go through hormone violence and then calm down into nice males later on

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Spoil the cockerel, and he'll be mean. Raise him feral, and he'll never attack.

Often that's the case. People raising roosters, and who doesn't want to love, cuddle, hand feed, and all that good jazz with the adorable creature? Then, because he has no fear of you, he'll be at your heals. When you're raising them, don't give them any attention. If they come near, scare them off.
Yes. It's hard. I hatched out an adorable.cockerel, and I was the first face he saw. Something is wrong with him at first, so he was extremely docile, and wanted to be around me constantly. He'd just randomly fly up and perch on me for no reason! I've tried shoing the adorable thing away, and I'm hoping my efforts worked, but he's still a little too friendly...

I agree with this. Coddled roosters seem to come out aggressive over roosters raised with little interaction.

I have a tendency to believe that improper imprinting is often the cause of chronic human aggression and people who have a tendency to coddle chickens usually have their faces over the new chicks constantly.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have quite a group of roosters and in my experience, experience makes a huge difference! Out of my first 3 birds, all boys, two are nasty aggressive. With experience, the number of aggressive roosters has dwindled. Out of my last group of 4 roosters, all of them are respectful and well behaved boys. One of the newest boys (he's a little over a year old now) actually reacts to nervous behavior so I keep a close eye on him, but he hasn't ever flogged, spurred or anything like that. He seems nervous if I act nervous. So with my MANY roosters, confidence and experience has made a world of difference.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

Reading through the thread slowly.

Recently we had to cull l one of our 5 month old cockerels due to aggression. Tonight our remaining cockerel flogged my son, twice. I know I have little experience but how on earth do you get a rooster who isn't human aggressive? I would really like to be able to hatch my own fertilized eggs. I also want my hens to be watched after. Is it just luck of the draw with roosters?

I have seven that I hatched in April, and one is human aggressive. The other six are pretty good so far. The only aggression they have is that they want to mate badly, and they are in a bachelor situation. So sometimes a couple will try to mate with my foot, and I'm not counting that because they aren't flogging or seeing me as a threat. So far, I'd say it's part luck of the draw, and part how to handle them.

In my opinion, aggression in roosters is mainly due to the body language of their keepers. There are several articles on BYC about rooster behavior, and I can link you to a few of them drawn from various management styles if you wish.

I think it's individual and also how it's raised. There are some prone to being aggressive and no amount of love or socialization will change that. I currently have 2 cockerels that I'm raising but will only keep 1. Both I can pick up, both will roost but I will only keep the one that maintains this calm. If they both stay that way then it comes down to which one I like more (one is barred rock, one is dominique and I'm favoring the dominique because of it's rose comb it's the only one with it so for me it will stand out) I will not be sad at not keeping a rooster just as you feel now disappointed it didn't work out. Human aggression is not acceptable though in any way. Yes they get teenage attitude but I'm a stand my ground person. I didn't back down to the grown roosters that came at me and I won't to these guys but I won't keep any that fight a person or my child. Child trumps my desire to have a rooster. I'm sorry this one wasn't a to do. Was it a certain breed? Did they come from same breeder?

Agree.

I raised mine as pets, so all the roosters had the same treatment as the hens. So far, I've only had two that were aggressive. One started to get that way and I sold him. He was only aggressive to me, and I know the day it changed and it was my fault. I wore Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer socks, had a puffy red nose. Jules Verne saw the face and the red color and deemed me a threat. After that day, he treated me differently and would attack me sometimes. Always attacking the socks like he did when I wore those with the deer face. I'm much more careful about what I wear now.

Any rooster old enough to breed and aggressive enough to protect the flock is capable of hurting an adult much less a child. There isn't a way to guarantee you'll get a mellow rooster. Roosters and children aren't a good fit. If you find one good with small kids its rare

Definitely. My legs are already quite beat up from the one evil rooster I have that I plan to get rid of soon. I can't imagine a child dealing with the attacks!

Spoil the cockerel, and he'll be mean. Raise him feral, and he'll never attack.

Often that's the case. People raising roosters, and who doesn't want to love, cuddle, hand feed, and all that good jazz with the adorable creature? Then, because he has no fear of you, he'll be at your heals. When you're raising them, don't give them any attention. If they come near, scare them off.
Yes. It's hard. I hatched out an adorable.cockerel, and I was the first face he saw. Something is wrong with him at first, so he was extremely docile, and wanted to be around me constantly. He'd just randomly fly up and perch on me for no reason! I've tried shoing the adorable thing away, and I'm hoping my efforts worked, but he's still a little too friendly...

This is Patriot. I raised him from an egg in July 2020. He was the first hatched and unless he turned into a tyrant, I promised I'd keep whatever hatched first. And it was this wonderful boy. I've spoiled him, treated him, and he was trained at one point but I haven't been able to spend as much time with him lately to keep it up so I don't know how much he remembers, but he's amazing. He follows me around like a dog, and he likes to ride around on my arm. And be cuddled. Since he is over a year old, I'm hoping this means that hormones haven't changed him and he won't change into an evil thing anytime soon. The only problem I have occasionally is that he wants to mate with my foot... I guess he sees me as part of the flock...? I had to train him a little when his hormones kicked in not to do that. And he's pretty good about it now.

But his child... he mated with a Rhode Island Red, and that child... is evil. I actually wondered if my not spending as much time with the roosters (because I am selling them, didn't want to get too attached) made them meaner. Maybe I'm wrong about that then and it was a luck of the draw evil thing...

They both came from a hatchery. One was an Easter egger, a little brute. But the other one, who was left, is an Ameraucana. He was always so good to his pullets but we can't let him go after our kids. Perhaps hatchery cockerels run a higher risk of human aggression? Or maybe I should just wait on trying my hand at a rooster until my kids are older.

Interesting. We had an Easter Egger rooster when I was a teen. He was very gentle and sweet, actually protecting us from the evil nightmare that was a miniature bantam that liked to spur us in the head. After that whole thing, I never want to see a miniature bantam rooster again.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

I haven’t had a ton of experience but I do think that you can increase your odds at a nice rooster if you a) choose breeds known for being good boys and b) get from a breeder who looks at temperament more than colors and SOP. I got 4 chicks and 3 were boys…all three were wonderful boys that were very good with my kids. I also spend about an hour a day sitting outside with them and handling them, and have since they were a few days old. Mine were lavender Orpingtons and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. The Orps are amazing and I highly recommend them if you can find a good local breeder. I think Hatchery Orps are a bit more hit or miss but probably still pretty great. You can see both of my boys are well loved by my kids haha. We had to rehome the one Lavender and one of the BLRW boys since we don’t have a ton of space for good ratios, and it was very hard for us because they were such good chickens. I hope you are able to try again and have good luck! They are so fun when they’re good boys.

Awww, they are beautiful roosters! So glad you got some nice ones!

 

[BesideStillWaters]

What has worked best for me so far is to let an adult rooster and a flock of mature hens raise a cockerel. There is nobody, IME, better qualified to teach a young whippersnapper good manners than a well-established flock. And don't send your children out to do chicken chores; do them yourself. If a cockerel intimidates a child and the child backs down or runs away, the cockerel will certainly become human aggressive. Once he learns that he can intimidate little humans, then he will attempt to intimidate big humans, and I can tell you from personal experience that a rooster can hurt you. But they do make good soup.

I do this too. Whenever one did try to intimidate me, I always walk toward them, sometimes reaching out to pet their back. So far so good.

Another piece of advice I will share is to start young. My last batch of chicks from a hatchery included a BJG* cockerel. Starting at about a week and a half old, when I would clean their brooder, while the other chicks would huddle far away from me, he would run up and chest-bump my hand. About the third day he did this, I bumped him back, not hard. He ran at my hand and did it again, harder. I thumped him again. I didn't want to hurt him. This time he stepped back and charged at me, hard! Feeling I needed to nip this in the bud, and the sooner the better, I reluctantly thumped him back, convincingly. I didn't want this to continue. This time, he backed up and looked at my hand thoughtfully for a minute, and then walked away. The next day he charged me again, and I thumped him, hard. He backed off. The third day he ran toward me, and I thought we were going to have another repeat, but he stopped himself and just looked at my hand, then walked away. He is over a year old now and has never shown another sign of aggression.

*Black Jersey Giant. The rooster that hurt me was a barnyard mix of primarily EE extraction. I knew George would be much bigger when grown, and I certainly didn't want any aggression issues with him once he reached full size.

Only a week and a half old?! WOW.

Hmm perhaps you are right. I had a baby about 3 months ago and my oldest son has been taking care of all the animal chores for me. This has been extremely helpful to me....but he is the one who keeps getting attacked. So I will take over the chores again. Luckily the cockerel doesn't have spurs yet so he hasn't been able to successfully injure anyone.

My evil one doesn't have spurs yet either, but he did PLENTY of damage without them with his beak. He grabs the skin and twists... once flew at my face. All it takes is once in the eye... Luckily, I had on glasses and saw him coming so I defended myself.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

All three of my boys have been raised by their “Uncle” most mommas are done at 5-9 weeks.

The uncle to mine wanted to kill them all.