How do you get a good rooster????

[BigBlueHen53]

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.

The rooster that hurt me smacked me just below the knee with his beak after I turned to face him when he blindsided me. I felt like someone had whacked me full force with the claw end of a hammer! He was also raking my bare legs with his spurs and flogging me with his wings, but that beak blow just about put me on the ground.

 

[BecaHawaii]

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'll be honest I didn't read another word of your post except the first line. It is so true! I have 4 Roos in my yard. Not one has ever attacked me.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@OzarkChooks - congratulations on the new baby, by the way! Is this your first? Hope you are well recovered but haven't let on, so everyone is still treating you like the goddess you deserve to be! Best wishes to you and your precious little one!

 

[BecaHawaii]

They are meant to protect. Love your hens. The boys are there to work. They shouldn't be protecting the hens from you.

 

[BecaHawaii]

Is it possible that roosters raised by a mother hen versus chicks bought from a hatchery will turn out boys with better manners? I had a cockerel turned into dinner because he started acting aggressive, and he was a hatchery chick we got early this year. We also have a cockerel given to us by a friend that they hatched using a broody, and he is a perfect boy (so far). Nice to his ladies, wary of us and looks to get out of the way. It makes logical sense, as far as growing up with chickens who are already adults would help teach them manners. I wonder how much of a difference it makes.

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

 

[McChooky]

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.

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.

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.

100%

 

[BecaHawaii]

Is it possible that roosters raised by a mother hen versus chicks bought from a hatchery will turn out boys with better manners? I had a cockerel turned into dinner because he started acting aggressive, and he was a hatchery chick we got early this year. We also have a cockerel given to us by a friend that they hatched using a broody, and he is a perfect boy (so far). Nice to his ladies, wary of us and looks to get out of the way. It makes logical sense, as far as growing up with chickens who are already adults would help teach them manners. I wonder how much of a difference it makes.

No. I think it has to do with yard manners. I can not imagine one of my 4 cockerels or 2 Roo’s attacking anyone.

 

[McChooky]

No. I think it has to do with yard manners. I can not imagine one of my 4 cockerels or 2 Roo’s attacking anyone.

Were yours hatched naturally in the flock meaning not an incubator chick?

 

[BecaHawaii]

Were yours hatched naturally in the flock meaning not an incubator chick?

Mine are all yard birds.

 

[BecaHawaii]

Mine are all yard birds.

Were yours hatched naturally in the flock meaning not an incubator chick?

I don't know that it matters.