How to find or raise a friendly Roo

[Kernel Cluck]

I am thinking of getitng a rooster but am hesitant because all I hear is about how difficult they can be. My neighbors Polish Rooster is super aggressive. I have named him Diablo! Any suggestions on breeds that I might look at or raising them to be more gentle?

 

[HamburgCross21]

Hmm, I had a cross Roo who was really kind but only to me. I raised him from two days old. Thats what I recommend. Raise from chick and it shouldn't be a problem.

Some Roo breeds can be naturally aggressive, Some breed are placid. My friend has a Hamburg too and he's really quiet and kind.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

Thats good to know. I dont need him to be a push-over, just not attack me every time I come into the coop.

 

[HamburgCross21]

Haha! My Roo use to go all Agro if I let him out late. If I had to wake up at sun rise to let him out I was always in a bad mood. He would have a go at me then I would stomp my foot and step fowards. He never did it again!

 

[azygous]

Select a docile breed if you want a gentle roo. Stay away from Wyandottes and Barred Rocks, and definitely Rhode Island Reds. Brahmas and Cochins are known to be gentle and sweet, but you have to get them through the hormonal period between six months and a year first.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

How funny is that.. I have Wyandotte and RIR hens and they are super friendly and gentle. I guess what I learned is that just because the hens of a breed are sweet doesn't mean then rooster will be?

 

[centrarchid]

For me, handily, game roosters are the easiest to raise as family pets. The are bred for ease of handling and they are easy on the eyes. I use them to introduce kids to poultry.

The birds up bringing and you husbandry style are extremely important regardless of breed.

 

[azygous]

How funny is that.. I have Wyandotte and RIR hens and they are super friendly and gentle. I guess what I learned is that just because the hens of a breed are sweet doesn't mean then rooster will be?

My Wyandotte girls are the sweetest things, if a bit stand-offish when young. The Wyandotte roo was a fighting dervish before he wore himself out boxing with me every day. I had a friend who had a RIR roo and she said he was such a hellion, she finally put him and herself out of misery by shooting him with her .22 rifle from the kitchen window.

 

[RedDrgn]

Every roo is different and even from a strain of gentle sires and of a breed tending to produce gentle roos, you can end up with one "bad mofo". Of course, the inverse is also true.

Having been in your situation a little over a year ago (and not caring too much about roo breed or chicks), I started my search the same way I do for any other animal - looking for an older bird that really needed a home. I ended up finding our New Hampshire (10 months old at the time), which is not particularly known for laid back roos. However, having grown up raising/living with big dogs and a variety of other animals, I felt up to the challenge should he tend to be ornery (and wasn't above moving him to the dinner table if he earned the honor).

So far, no real complaints. He's going to be 2 years old soon, and while he is ornery, it's in a good way (e.g. he never does more than a rare bite or just a fluffling of head feathers with my husband or I, but will try to tear the face off of anyone/thing else). So he suits us for our purpose and even did his job in rounding up and herding the girls to safety when we had two neighbors dogs coming rampaging through our yard a few weeks ago. For the first 3 months we had him, he was quite a bit more questionable, but since he never deigned to try and spur either of us, we kept working with him. Now his anger towards us is very rare and seems highly dependent on daylight hours/egg laying frequency (e.g. the longer days and more laying hens make him much more protective than mid-winter freeze). So as where he ignored us entirely all autumn and winter, in the past two weeks he fluffed his head at me once and tried nipping a finger once. I don't have a problem with that, but will be keeping close watch and resuming more training (they're not as dumb as you might think), if necessary.

 

[jak2002003]

I have had many roos and at the moment have about 8. I have never had an problem one. Mine of Japanese Bantams. They are all friendly and easily handled and don't even fight with each other.

i think a lot has to do with the owners behaviour towards them and how they are handled.