How to Raise a Good Roo

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi,

This is my first attempt at raising chickens and roos for that matter.
I have 2 BO roos about 5 months old right now. I raised them from chicks
and have had a hands on method with them. I held them daily in the brooder
and when they went outside I make sure that I pick them up about once a week
or so to reinforce the idea that I am the flock master.

So far my roos have been great. Only the alpha roo has tried to challenge me. When he did I picked
him up and held him then pinned to the ground and kept him there till he stopped struggeling.
He has not bothered me since. My beta roo is really docile. He submits to the alpha roo
so thus far he submits to me also.

I am counting my blessing that so far I have two very good roos. I was very nervous when raising them
after hearing the nightmares that other people had. I took what info that I had from others experiences
and made it my own. So far I am very pleased.

So in a nut shell my advice would be...
1. hold them as chicks, get them used to the human touch
2. equate yourself with treats, mine love raisins
3. when they got older hold them some, not too much but enough to let them know that you can and will have your way with them.
4. when they act up, take action, let them know that you will not put up with that behavior. Discipline them like the alpha roo would
a beta roo if he over stepped his bounds. chickens do not understand commands but they do understand order and their place within
the flock. You being the alpha flock master.

Good luck, I do think that raising them from a chick has worked to my advantage. I can say now that the only way I would have a roo
is if I could raise it from the beginning.

Good Luck

Roy, The Alpha Roo

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:

gritsar My advice, for what it's worth, is to care for him as you would any chick - making sure he is warm enough, good food and clean water, observe his behavior to make sure he is healthy. Otherwise ignore him. Don't baby him, don't pet him, just let him be a rooster. They have a job to do and that doesn't include being anyone's pet.

I agree X 10. All my roos have been good flockmasters and nonaggressive with this method. The few times I've had to "school" roos they were roos that I had not raised personally from a chick.

Even those roos required little intervention and learned quickly who rules the roost and never needed taught that again.

Baby and pet your hens, let the roo be the dignified patriarch he needs to be....my best advice.​

I agree with all of this.

Let the rooster be a rooster. They're not supposed to be lap pets. If and when he does decide to pull a dominance play on you put him firmly in his place and he'll likely behave himself afterwards. I have young children and the first time a cockbird jumps one of my kids is his last time. The hens must tell all the new boys about what happened to the last one because it's been years since I've had an aggressive cockbird.

 

[gritsar]

My feeling is, if you end up with a sweetheart of a roo chances are he was going to be a sweetheart whether you handled him or not. Problem with babying a cockerel from a young age is you never know what you are going to get. If he is genetically predisposed to being aggressive and you baby him, you have removed the one thing that may or may not have kept him from attacking a human - his natural fear of humans.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Some things that will help. You act like the "top dog". Walk in a straight line and make them move out of your way; don't walk around them.

Make them wait until you are done at the feeder before they can eat. Top bird eats first, they don't push the top bird out of the way.

Pecking at your clothing and shoe laces is not cute. Don't allow it.

Top bird makes the rules. The rules don't have to be fair, they just have to be followed.

 

[Tripp16]

I say dont baby him. I babied mine he isnt mean but he doesnt like being handled. He hasnt even tried to start mounting his "girl" Im hoping he will stay nice.....

 

[Angiebubs]

What breed or Roos tend to be more aggressive?

I currently have Barred Rocks, Polish top hat, and cochins....unsure yet which are roos/hens as they are 5 wks old.

 

[ChickenGurl15]

My parents (pretty much my mom) ordered 9 mixed breed chicks (8 baby girls and one lil boy) that will be coming the week of June 8th. Me and my younger bros got to pick 1 bird to sorta be our own. My bros picked hens, but i picked a baby new jersey giant roo. I could'nt pick a hen cuz i could'nt bare to get attached to her and then have my dad kill her once she stops laying. :'(
Im a animal freak so it'd be hard for me to ignore my roo, i also dont wanna give him the cold sholder and have him grow up cold, lol. This was very good advice, i want him to be good to his ladies, and my family....and my cats and dog. But i wont be afraid to let him know when he steps out of line, lol. Thanks for the hope that i can luv him up and have him turn out to be a good roo.
Cant wait until they all arrive!!!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

... I've heard that if you baby your rooster, he will turn mean when he gets older /img/smilies/hmm.png Any advice on raising a gentlemanly rooster?

You can read anything on the internet but truthfully, it's a roll of the dice. I raise about 50 roosters a year and....
I've raised batches that I totally ignored and some grew up friendly, some mean, but most were just regular chickens.
I've raised batches that I've babied, played with, feed from my hand, and let sit on my head & scratch in my hair and some grew up friendly, some mean, but most were just regular chickens.

A friend gave me a large RIR/Game mix years ago and didn't bother to tell me the reason he rehomed was because the rooster had been attacking everybody on his property and they were scared of him. My wife & kid didn't know this and carried him around like a baby and hand feed him treats. He never showed a bit of aggression toward anybody on my property.

 

[Mrs. K]

Personally I think the worst roosters are raised with flock mates. They tend to get bigger than the other pullets more quickly, they become bullies because they are bigger than the pullets, and become aggressive to pullets and then people.

I think the best roosters you get are roosters that are raised within a multi -generational flock. The mature hens and roosters do not put up with juvenile behavior, manners are thumped into the young rooster, he learns his pecking order in the flock, and he learns how to behave in a chicken society.

If you are new to chickens, I strongly advise no rooster for a year or too. Roosters can be tricky. If you really want a rooster, then contact an experienced person with chickens, ten to one, they have a mature fellow that is just a sweetheart, and because he is, has escaped the hatchet so far. A mature rooster will be known as aggressive or human submissive, and that is what you want.

Mrs K

 

[blucoondawg]

Ignore them don't baby them and whenever necessary walk at/through them and make them move from your path, they will realize you are the boss, done run from them or throw feed to lure them away from you, never let them think they are in charge or they will be. If you do these things and still have a man rooster that won't change his ways then eat him and get a different one. Keeping a rooster isn't a big deal and honestly I have never raised a mean rooster since getting back into chickens, we did have one mean rir when I was a kid but we got that flock as adults and something ended up killing him, good riddance.