How To Raise Roosters Right

[Chicks Galore3]

Quote: Very good question! I've heard the bigger breeds tend to be calmer/tamer/less aggressive.

 

[themenagerie]

I have 2 Orpington Roos (one black, one blue) The black one can be a bit untrustworthy, for every 10 times you go in/out of the general area he'll try to flog you once. You can usually see it coming and head him off with a kick or a bucket. I don't like it..but I deal with it, he's separated from the hens now which seems to help. The blue, on the other hand has never once shown an ounce of aggression. If it makes a difference, I got the black one from someone when he was around 14 weeks old and he'd been held and petted often prior to then, the blue has never been held. The black will let me pick him and carry him, the blue is tough work to catch. I also have 2 Welsummer roo's and an EE roo that were raised like the blue, they're both very skittish and wouldn't dream of coming close enough to me for any of that nastiness.

 

[missnu01]

I have a Silkie rooster that attacked me today...it was my first rooster attack since keeping chickens...My big rooster came and saved me though. I love that big rooster. The big guy will eat out of my hand, but won't let me pet him and such...the silkie would prefer I leave him alone, and he has always left me alone...except today. I was just trying to pick the hay out of their feeder and he kept attacking my hand.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Hmm...Interesting!

 

[azygous]

I've read through the whole thread, and didn't see any mention by the OP that they have roosters already, or if they will be getting roosters in the future.

If you have the choice, pick a heavy breed, as they're more likely to be calm. Even so, you need to raise them to trust you, and that means calm behavior around them from the time they're babies. Don't do anything to scare them, such as snatch them up from above. Always approach any chick from the side, slowly.

As a rooster gets his hormones, between five and six months, he's at his touchiest. It's especially important not to make sudden or loud movements or startle him. Approach all the hens in a like manner, and avoid making any hen upset in front of the rooster. Whether you handle the roo or not, isn't as important as not doing anything to make him fear you or distrust you. Any discipline needs to be done in a firm, slow, deliberate and calm manner, such as holding him down with his head on the ground when he makes an aggressive move. But then you need to examine what it was YOU did that caused him not to trust you.

A lot of people insist that you need to establish yourself as the alpha roo, but it's more a two-way street, I believe, and you have to behave in a manner that can't be misconstrued as threatening to him. If he trusts you, he'll also respect you. If he doesn't fear you, he probably won't be aggressive, and if he sees you treat the hens well, he won't be worried for their safety when you are around them.

 

[missnu01]

My big roo is awesome...my little roo is hateful. Good thing I like big roos.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've two roosters now. Same breed and from same hatch (Plymouth Rock). One is tolerant of me and everyone. Unless the kids run by the pen or some such thing he stands aside and watches as your doing the pen duties. The other has gone out of his way to go after kids on a swing and now that he's penned all the time will still come at me now and then as I turn to leave. So it just goes to show you that the same breed and brothers can behave very differently. I've kept them both just to have a second rooster in case the dominant roo, though not aggressive one, ever fell to predator or illness. Now that I'm nearing spring breeding the second is going.

 

[nothingbutbirds]

I have almost twenty roosters(half are chicks) none of my older roosters are aggressive to me.I raise them all the same.I constently am picking them up and carying them around.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I've read through the whole thread, and didn't see any mention by the OP that they have roosters already, or if they will be getting roosters in the future.

If you have the choice, pick a heavy breed, as they're more likely to be calm. Even so, you need to raise them to trust you, and that means calm behavior around them from the time they're babies. Don't do anything to scare them, such as snatch them up from above. Always approach any chick from the side, slowly.

As a rooster gets his hormones, between five and six months, he's at his touchiest. It's especially important not to make sudden or loud movements or startle him. Approach all the hens in a like manner, and avoid making any hen upset in front of the rooster. Whether you handle the roo or not, isn't as important as not doing anything to make him fear you or distrust you. Any discipline needs to be done in a firm, slow, deliberate and calm manner, such as holding him down with his head on the ground when he makes an aggressive move. But then you need to examine what it was YOU did that caused him not to trust you.

A lot of people insist that you need to establish yourself as the alpha roo, but it's more a two-way street, I believe, and you have to behave in a manner that can't be misconstrued as threatening to him. If he trusts you, he'll also respect you. If he doesn't fear you, he probably won't be aggressive, and if he sees you treat the hens well, he won't be worried for their safety when you are around them.

I am getting a Buff orpington Roo in april. So-
I need to not swoop in from above-from the side
Calm gentle behavior
No sudden movements
At 5-6 months, he will be more touchy
If he attacks me it is most likely my fault for doing something that looks challenging?
No harsh sudden punishment-calmly and firmly.
Treat the hens well.


What about little kids around him as a chick?

 

[phalenbeck]

We had a Buffy roo that just showed up, and almost never crowed, and gradually got more frindly both here, and at the neighbors where he spent the nights. He was adopted to be a pet. Of course this was a individual. He had nothing to do with me as I tried to send him to freezer camp once, but warmed up to others around here.