I LIKE my Rooster

[Abriana]

My rooster can be mean, and he is to everyone who goes in his 'domain' but me, and even then I have to wear a certain pair of boots or else he goes nuts. I finally (after a year and a half) i learned how to handle him in a very kind way. I love my rooster and did love him even when he was being mean!

 

[igorsMistress]

Your funny cause then where do baby chicks come from? Just teasing it's the way you worded it.

Even adding emoticons just don't help enough sometimes to convey meaning

Oh I agree it was bad wording.

 

[nikkers390]

Here is my experience with roosters. I only had one who overstayed his welcome. After being spurred in the shin to the bone, he had to go. He went to live with a friend with many hens. I then got a young cockerel who was the sweetest ever. I never worried when I turned my back on him. He used to run to meet me at the gate and followed me like a dog. He was good to his hens and I loved him.
I then started with a new flock of chicks and some were roosters. I had 45 hens and 6 roosters. They all lived in tolerant harmony. I had a main man, one second in command who was able to breed hens and the 4 who sort of hung out with the girls. If any of those tried to mate, he was stopped in his tracks by one of the other two roosters. At no time was I challenged by any of these roosters.
None of my chickens are snugglers, it's their choice to make the move if they want to be friendly some do and some don't, and none have been forced to be my friend. None of my roosters was handled to make them "tame", they just were.
My chickens are pets with benefits. I particularly love the roosters for their beauty and as flock guardians. Even if I don't see them, I know which one is crowing. They all sound different.

 

[black_dove2]

That is a good call. A squalling or otherwise riled hen I expect to elicit unpleasantness from a rooster. That is one of the reasons my handling is not so stressful on the hens and immature birds. It pays not to be rough on them, otherwise they will see you as a threat to attack or flee from. It will not be about dominance.

My Danish Brown will get protective of the RIR when I start handling her. She's like a tiny big sister. She tries to get her head close to me. So I have to calm her down.

I laugh at the thought what life would be like if I tried to add a rooster

 

[Crooked Chicken]

I love my boys too, I have 3. I have handled them all since bringing them home as chicks. Pecking order: Red Rider (RIR), Cocoa (EE) and Pearl (EE). Red Rider definitely is the king. He rarely ever goes after Cocoa, but does go after Pearl occasionally, but Pearl is getting all the girls too. I do pick them all up and give them some lovin', but Pearl is especially snuggly.

Here is a pic of all 3 cockerels on top of the trashcans (about a month ago)

and Pearl having a snuggle on my lap today -- he kept following me up the steps as I brought in groceries.

 

[GardenTillers44]

This thread has been invaluable to my wife and I as we watch our first roos come of age. Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.
Our update: We merged two flocks 3 weeks ago. Our older flock of 6-2 yr old hens pushed around the 12 pullets and 2 roos (all 21 weeks at the time) for a day or two as expected, but they fell into a pecking order soon enough. They have plenty of coop, run and a 4000 sq. ft. yard space. The roos, a Jubilee Orpington and a Coronation Sussex started crowing about the time we mixed the flocks. The Orpington appeared to be assuming the dominant role but came down with a case of bumblefoot that rained on his parade for a couple weeks. In the meantime the Sussex has been establishing his position in the flock. We call him King George, but so far he has been Rico Suave with the girls, cool, watchful, gentle and attentive. He seems to have a few favorites that he pays the most attention to and they seem receptive for the most part. He pays no attention to us as we work around their domain. The Orpington has made a full recovery and is now trying to establish his role. He is certainly second place at this point and doesn't seem real thrilled about it, so we are watching him closely. He pays me no mind at all, but he stood up tall and eyeballed my wife today while taking a step or two toward her as she was checking one of the hens. We always talk calmly to the chickens the whole time we are near them and she smooth-talked him down this time. We'll see if that continues to work now that he's 6 months and the hormones are flowing. I find chicken behavior fascinating and am enjoying watching and learning from the changes taking place in the flock.

 

[RAsChickens]

I had a sweet barred rock named Seamus. He let me pick him up, never mated, and loved his girls. He killed himself protecting the girls from a fox. I cried for days when I found out, all my chickens are pets.

 

[Elyrian1]

I love chickens that cuddle! Crooked Chicken, you've got a real nice EE there, so cute. We've got a couple of 6" diameter posts about chest high to me in the run that only Junior jumps up on. He was sitting on one last night and somewhat patiently putting up with me petting him. When I hugged him he closed his eyes and started to drift off, so adorable. He and the five Buff Orps are the only ones I could really consider to be pets. The others don't like being handled.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

I love chickens that cuddle! Crooked Chicken, you've got a real nice EE there, so cute. We've got a couple of 6" diameter posts about chest high to me in the run that only Junior jumps up on. He was sitting on one last night and somewhat patiently putting up with me petting him. When I hugged him he closed his eyes and started to drift off, so adorable. He and the five Buff Orps are the only ones I could really consider to be pets. The others don't like being handled.

Thank you so much! I just love him. He is always gentle. Red Rider has pinched me good a couple of times, but once I have hold of him he is fine -- stays calmest if I keep his feet dangling (football style). None of my chickens climb into your lap anymore, but will perch on the chair your sitting in. I make a point of picking them up fairly often.

 

[Chickassan]

I'm terrible, this hormonal stage is the most I've ever held Negan. I had to handle him alot when he was a chick because he always had a funky butt when his rear got straight I stopped handling him.I honestly thought that would nip any tidbitting or unsavory behavior in the bud...wrong! Now I'm having to handle him and it just feels like I'm squashing his manliness. I do try not to snatch him up in front of the hens, save him a bit of indignity.