I bought pullets. What is this rooster?!!!

[cupman]

Actually this is the one year anniversary of my BYC membership.. to this exact day. I remember a year ago I said nobody should ever get a rooster. I tried to get rid of him. He attacked me a half dozen times... I kicked him away.. established the pecking order... I just want to tell all future rooster owners that.. roosters wont always be crazy aggressive males. Mine was, and after a couple months of kicking him and making it clear who is boss... we have established our chicken-human relations. If you can have roosters in your area I strongly suggest you get one. They may be aggressive early on, but I am at one year and my aggressive roo has turned calm. Roosters are very cool, a big part of the flock mentality. Don't give up on them too early.

That's all!

 

[chicmom]

I think you're right on the button, Cupman! Same problem here....All my roosters, I mean every single one turned evil once they hit maturity.....or puberty, I guess. Anyhow, I never had the patience to keep them long enough, but last year I bought a two year old rooster from a very nice fellow, and that rooster is a total gentlemen. Makes me think that I need to have more patience and wait it out.....

Good advice, I think,
Sharon

 

[Mrs. K]

While mine never has attacked me, I did the dominance thing early, and never held him as a pet. He was raised by a broody. He really was not much good, in my mind (his, he was casanova) until he was about 14 months old. He is now approaching his second birthday, and I really like him. And I who free range nearly every day, and frequently lost a hen, have not lost one for almost a year. It has to be him.

Sooooo the next question is..... how long do they live? And how do you get the next one through the awful stage?

MrsK

 

[RedDrgn]

I agreed, and also urge patience and taking the time to research rooster behavior and then training yourself in your own behavior when you're around/interacting with one.

I'm one of the nuts who wanted a rooster just because I wanted a rooster. Of the five pullets we ordered last year, all five of them turned out to be pullets (which I was secretly bummed about

). So I eventually started broach the subject of adding a roo to my DH, who I eventually brought around to my level of interest.

Then it became a hunt for the right roo. We were looking for a 1+ year old bird, preferably one that was no longer needed/wanted by someone, but had a good disposition. We almost got there, but then circumstances beyond our control took what we thought would be the bird beyond our reach. So we went into our usual "animal find mode" for when we have the ability to introduce a new animal to the house; rescue animal!

It took a bit, but we did find a cockerel in need and to our behavioral satisfaction and brought him home. He's got a slightly angry, subject-specific streak in him, but it's minor. We can and have been working with him on it, and it has been 100% worth it. He's wonderful, and the flock is just so much more complete/better functioning (especially while free ranging) that I don't know how we did without. They're a real marvel to watch and their "talk" is so much more dynamic than the hens typically are.