How To Raise Roosters Right

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Anyone have experience with Buff orpington roos?

I have a Splash Orp rooster. I got him when he was about 16 weeks old. He was very shy of me. It took me 3 weeks of daily treats for him to see me as the food guy. Another few weeks for him to eat out of my hand. He is nice and docile, but is by no means a pet. He has 2 purposes in my flock, fertilizer of eggs and protector of the flock. My hens are very tame. I can pick them up and he does not see me as a threat. The only time he gets handled is for weekly inspection. If I feel he is trying to show any form of challenge(wing flap, lower wing and dance, flare hackles) I immediately hold him firmly to the ground until he stops resisting, then I pick him up and carry him around the yard for several minutes, until he lowers his head down in submission. Also I don't let him mount the girls in my immediate vicinity, I push him off just like a dominant rooster would do. He and I have a good working relationship. I have a zero tolerance for human aggression. First attack will be the last.

 

[missnu01]

I have a large rooster that sometimes will crow a lot when I come up there...not everyday, but every once in awhile. If I walk towards him he walks away, he has never flown at me. He never tries to rescue a hen I am getting, sometimes I feel like he has it in for me, but so far so good. He also comes to me when I go up there,because he knows that whoever is closer will get the first food. Perhaps once a month me coming up causes a crowing binge, but I have a small silkie roo that dances for me sometimes, but that's it for him as well. I am not sure either of them mean me any harm, they are nice enough so far.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I cuddle all my roosters and have not had a problem, though my roosters aren't to happy with other people.or one isnt.Honestly if I didnt have a connection with a mean rooster if it jumped at me I would ring it's neck.I know thats a bit mean but you gotta think of your own safety first.I guess I have friendly and mostly small nreeds but I do have a 8 pounfand a 13 pound ee roosters.I dealt with a mean rooster when I was 6 yrs old which is the one I said I caught with a net.I was tired of him chasing me so tje next time I saw him I ran after him and he ran into a corner and sat there then I caught him with the net and not knowing any better I sat on him.Me and him where the best of friends and he died in my arms after falling of the roost on to a cement block and cracking his spine.He was the best rooster I had ever had even after getting off to a rough start.I will always miss him.But the way I see it is that like with dogs its most likely the humans fault.

Being scooped up in a fishing net is a great attitude adjustor for most roosters. Just scoop them up and carry them around in the net - they hate it.

Quote: Roosters seem a lot like dogs!

Oh boy, me, (who is already classified as a crazy chicken girl) Will seem even more odd walking around with a rooster in a fishing net....Whatever works! Also, is there anything that has to do with food? I saw something somewhere about either not letting the rooster eat before the hens or something or other....

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! I have "raised" roos both ways and here were the results. Our first roo I was sure would be nice if we babied him and made him a pet. Well, about the time he started crowing, he also started to think about being dominate over the people. So we would catch him and hold him each time we went into the coop or run. We tried all the tricks in the book, but he only got more and more aggressive as he got older. By the time her was 1 year old, we knew that the transformation from rooster to roaster was the only thing that was going to teach him. DD was sad as he was hers, so since we happened to have a broody at the time, we put 3 eggs under her. I have to admit that I was sure that his offspring would be much of the same temperament as he, but decided to give it a try. This was the first time we let a broody raise the chicks as we had hand raised them every other time, and for hens, this works VERY well. Anyway, of the 3 eggs, we got 2 roos and 1 hen. They all come running when we feed treats, but move away when we approach. The hen is not easy to catch, but I do think this sort of "hands off" raising worked well for the roos. However, they won't be a year old until the middle of April and a lot can happen between now and then. But for now, they show no signs of aggression which their Daddy had by this time. Hope this helps some. I'll get back in touch if the roos change in the near future. Usually by 1 year they don't change a whole lot.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Hi! I have "raised" roos both ways and here were the results. Our first roo I was sure would be nice if we babied him and made him a pet. Well, about the time he started crowing, he also started to think about being dominate over the people. So we would catch him and hold him each time we went into the coop or run. We tried all the tricks in the book, but he only got more and more aggressive as he got older. By the time her was 1 year old, we knew that the transformation from rooster to roaster was the only thing that was going to teach him. DD was sad as he was hers, so since we happened to have a broody at the time, we put 3 eggs under her. I have to admit that I was sure that his offspring would be much of the same temperament as he, but decided to give it a try. This was the first time we let a broody raise the chicks as we had hand raised them every other time, and for hens, this works VERY well. Anyway, of the 3 eggs, we got 2 roos and 1 hen. They all come running when we feed treats, but move away when we approach. The hen is not easy to catch, but I do think this sort of "hands off" raising worked well for the roos. However, they won't be a year old until the middle of April and a lot can happen between now and then. But for now, they show no signs of aggression which their Daddy had by this time. Hope this helps some. I'll get back in touch if the roos change in the near future. Usually by 1 year they don't change a whole lot.

Thank you!!! I will try the hands off approach. (That will be hard, I love to pamper my chickens!)

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote: Roosters seem a lot like dogs!

Oh boy, me, (who is already classified as a crazy chicken girl) Will seem even more odd walking around with a rooster in a fishing net....Whatever works! Also, is there anything that has to do with food? I saw something somewhere about either not letting the rooster eat before the hens or something or other....
If you have a good rooster, he should let the girls eat first. Mine even beak feeds them sometimes.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Quote: Roosters seem a lot like dogs!

Oh boy, me, (who is already classified as a crazy chicken girl) Will seem even more odd walking around with a rooster in a fishing net....Whatever works! Also, is there anything that has to do with food? I saw something somewhere about either not letting the rooster eat before the hens or something or other....
If you have a good rooster, he should let the girls eat first. Mine even beak feeds them sometimes.
Ok, my brain must me wacky. (Which is very possible)

 

[GoChick]

I've pampered all my roosters and they all turned out great. The breed matters a lot. I've had Brahmas, Delawares, Splash Ameraucanas, Blue Copper Marans and several mixes.
I have two right now - a dark brahma and his son, dark brahma with buff orpington.

they are both great - the father catches food in the air like a dog - and then gives to his hens. the son is great at protecting the flock - he dashed after a red fox once, growling and flapping his wings, the fox must be running to this day!

They both let me handle them and the hens... I treat them as "managers" of the flock, give them the treats so they can then pass them around to the hens. I let them mate in front of me, let them be roosters... so far, it has worked really well, so I'll continue to do what I'm doing!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I've pampered all my roosters and they all turned out great. The breed matters a lot. I've had Brahmas, Delawares, Splash Ameraucanas, Blue Copper Marans and several mixes.
I have two right now - a dark brahma and his son, dark brahma with buff orpington.

they are both great - the father catches food in the air like a dog - and then gives to his hens. the son is great at protecting the flock - he dashed after a red fox once, growling and flapping his wings, the fox must be running to this day!

They both let me handle them and the hens... I treat them as "managers" of the flock, give them the treats so they can then pass them around to the hens. I let them mate in front of me, let them be roosters... so far, it has worked really well, so I'll continue to do what I'm doing!

mkay, I'll probably do a mix of both.

 

[bbsnooks]

thats just an act of curiosity my chickens do that all the time.how old are they?over the age of 1 yr the chicken probably wont get aggressive to you.If he gives you eye contact stare him down,if you walk away they might think they are the one in charge.There is a certain look that you should really pay attention to he will cock his head and may scootvover to you in a sideways fashion and stare up at you without moving.flapping his wings and crowing when he sees you could be a sure sign of dominance towards you.

These boys are 5 & 6 mo old. not yet crowing. I wanted to be careful - i found my self making sounds ( not the "crow" i think that would be a challange? ) when introducing new foods to them. I'm thinking that no sounds may be the best bet.
However I've read that they make certain sounds in different situations. I didnt want to unknowingly .. make what i thought was a calming sound, or " hey come look at this green hen bit .... and them think some thing else.. silly question maybe.. but I tend to be a "Pet" chicken raiser. and have interacted with the hens with out fear.. but I'm wondering if there is a behaviorist out there that can shed some light. I want to be able to show them where to go on the property to look for food ( they've been pretty timid )

i've seen behavior that with puppies looks fun ( that friend that comes over and rough's them all up) but may contribute to unwanted adult behavior..
other words... operator error.. Can you tell us examples where " i may not know it but i'm causing the behavior."

None of that side way's walk so far .. and i think the peck was just out of curiosity, and i'm ok with that, i can handle a little peck -

I picked the Jersey Giants because of the "chicken chart" said they were calm. and there big. I'm hoping that bigger is better in Hawk and Owl country.
thanks for your input here.