How To Raise A Rooster

[MelissaZeno]

Thank you and I will teach her what to look out for. The only reason I got the rooster was because he is a Lavender Orpington and I got 3 Lav hens with him so I can breed them later.

 

[chickieladies]

I just found out that one of my chicks is a rooster. How do I work with it to have a calm rooster, if that's possible. I have never had a rooster before.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Just treat him with respect like you would your ladies. Don't let him bully you if he tries. Just be assertive if he puffs but he shouldn't in reality. I had one who attacked me every chance he got and he ended up on the grill. My next one is sweet as can be. Treats his ladies good and just moves out of the way while I'm working. He has never made an aggressive move towards me. I have his son now too who thankfully took the good traits if you don't want a rooster then I'd suggest re homing him or eating him. Then you can just add some girls

 

[MelissaZeno]

I recently heard my roo chatting with the ladies while they were checking the snow and cracked corn out. He almost sounded like the hens when they talk but it was lower and they seemed to ignore him. I have noticed it the ladies don't want to breed with him he just lets them go.

 

[carikermoon]

I had to laugh as I read this thread. Last year we bought 6 straight run silkie chicks of which FOUR turned out to be Roos--the neighbors started calling our house the Rooster Ranch.
Because of predators, everyone was kept in the garage at night, allowed to free range while their day pen was prepared and then carried to an outdoor day pen that moved around the yard so that they had fresh weeds/hugs for foraging every day.
One roo was obvious at a very early age. Didn't want anything to do with us and bossed the other chicks. Another roo--a gorgeous one that we hoped was a hen but was the second to start crowing--was standoffish but stayed nearby. My young sons became horribly distressed when Boss started after the hens and would yell and chase him away from the girls. A wiser person told me that it was too many roosters for the number of hens and that we needed to protect the hens, so as we saw the cockerels try to mount the hens, we switched them to a separate bachelor cage/pen. When transferring the chickens to the pens I would always start with Boss first because he was the hardest to catch. If he made me run too much, I would tuck him under my arm and carry him around as I did chores as his 'punishment" while chastising him all the while. Then one day I put his favorite hen in the pen first and Boss raced to his enclosure (which was next to hers). Duh. After that we had a pact: if he went willingly to the cage/pen so that I didn't have to waste time chasing him, then I wouldn't embarrass him in front of everyone by lugging him around like a doll.
The number two roo would follow Boss and they would typically have a chest-bumping contest but then settle down. The other Roos never challenged either Boss or Princess (remember we thought he was a girl because he was so pretty) and simply followed Boss. The bachelor pad was pretty quiet except for all the crowing.
Because I thought Princess was a hen, I had tried really hard to tame him but he always preferred to stand a little ways off and just listen to me--never chattered back like the hens did (which should have been a clue). After he started crowing and filled out nicely into a big beautiful roo, he seemed to still prefer to be at arms length away from me. Then one day I realized that he was scratching the ground and showing ME the best bugs! Like I was his favorite hen!
Unfortunately I never got a chance to see if the Roos were going to become meanies or stay relatively nice. A raccoon got all 4 of the Roos over the past year in a series of daytime raids (I thought I only had to worry about hawks during the day).
Never thought I'd say this but I do miss those roosters. What distinct personalities they had!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I really enjoyed reading that except the end. I'm sorry you lost them. We too had a daytime racoon raid. My SO saw a scrawny one yesterday which worries me he'll try to find a quick meal by us. He got one last spring and I won't tolerate his shenanigans a second time.

 

[carikermoon]

I've ordered 4 female chicks from a hatchery due here next week...but I'm really wavering about calling and adding one male chick. Since I have two sets of pens/cages, I ordered 3 large fowl chicks and 1 bantam (to go in with the silky hens) because if the LF and banties don't get along then I can separate them by putting the LF in the old bachelor pad.

But I'm considering a LF roo...

 

[BayBay Peepers]

It can be done where did you order from?

Another nice thing about deciding to get a rooster...lots of people end up with them and try to get rid of them very inexpensively or even free

 

[carikermoon]

Good point! Maybe I'll just wait and see

I ordered from My Pet Chicken. Didn't realize at the time that they were Meyer's--which was the other hatchery I was considering!

 

[Heathmanfarm]

I don't agree at all. We have two Blue Andulsian roosters. They are a breed that was actually used for fighting cocks. We snuggled and held them at every moment so that we had a good relationship. Mostly this is done in the coop at night when they are calmed down. They free range so they have a big job. The dominant rooster watches constantly, and if he spots anything airborne he hollers immediately. The other rooster then runs and corrals all of the hens and pushes them under cover. It's amazing. They are polite and friendly to this day, and they don't show aggression EVER.

THANKS AND GOOD LUCK