I need rooster 101

[Chickassan]

Seriously it is over like the wind isn't it? My hens just seem mildly annoyed their eating time has been compromised and their feathers ruffled. Got to understand young roosters are like teenage boys no brains just balls the brains grow in later.

 

[Nariah01]

Seriously it is over like the wind isn't it? My hens just seem mildly annoyed their eating time has been compromised and their feathers ruffled. Got to understand young roosters are like teenage boys no brains just balls the brains grow in later.

It really is true isn't it.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I have a good amount of older hens who do not wanna mate so much,young roos,and old hens just seems to not be a good match when it comes to breeding time.If the hens wont submit,the once their other choice.

 

[SiriusChicken]

Rapist rooster ... Rapist rooster ... weird time we live in...

Judge: How do you plead?
Rooster: She said YES!
Hen: But then I said NO!

Ha ha ha! I guess that wording is harsh for a chicken. I didn't think about it, I hope I didn't offend anyone. It just looks like that to me when the hen is screeching and running instead of squatting. She said no and no means no right?

I've always empathized with animals ever since I was a little kid so I see them as I see us and I treat them like people. I forget sometimes that seems a little weird to most people.

 

[SiriusChicken]

I wanna make it clear it isn't rape,as what everybody refers it to.It is "NATURAL".Letting the young roos grow out is best IMO,because the brown roo may end up being your best,you never know.

Dear Mr TwoRoos, I respect your opinion and I hope I didn't offend you. Can I please note that we have been interfering in the chickens "natural selection" or sexual selection evolution for centuries, breeding for specific genes like color or traits, and with their short life spans and quick reproduction rates, that's a lot of generations we have altered, so the modern chicken is more "human selection" more than "natural selection".

What you see as natural in your chickens is what you, or your breeder, allowed to breed and that trait is passed on to the next generation so you see it again. What is "natural" to another person may be only polite loving roosters since that's all they allowed to breed and pass on those genetic traits, like in my experience.

I apologize if I was overly opinionated with my chicken beliefs. I didn't intend it that way at all. I'm not sure but maybe you breed for the best protectors or best egg production, whereas we aimed for protectors who were gentle with hens and people and had good survival instincts.

We all gave her some good suggestions from our experiences and she'll decide which traits she wants to pass on to her flock and choose her own way. It's so fun watching your flock mold into your ideal chicken over the generations.

 

[Abriana]

So I need some insight into good rooster behavior within a flock, especially when there is more then one rooster in the flock. I recently got two roosters, they are brothers and were raised together and are about 1 year old. It would be cool to keep both but I am thinking I am going to have to rehome one and I want to make the right choice here. One boy which seems to be the dominate one, he is the only one that crows seems nicer to the hens, if he goes to mate and the hens protest he leaves them alone. My other rooster is like mating obsessed and will chase down my hen and pin them down by grabbing there comb and head feathers and he mates whether they want to or not. He will also run over if he see's the other rooster mating and pushes his way atop of the hen to mate. Is this just young rooster hormones, or normal dynamics when two roosters are in a flock, or is this rooster just a punk? I am just trying to figure out what is normal and what is considered good rooster vs bad rooster.

I had a rooster who would do this-jump on the hen's backs to mate them. He was really mean and the hens wouldn't even come out of the coop in the mornings because they were so scared-and they were making scared noises i have never heard from them before. They started getting cuts and their back feathers were super torn up-I don't think they'll ever look the same again. I highly suggest getting rid of the rooster who does this, and think that the first one sounds like the perfect guy. You will be much happier if you keep him instead of the second one

 

[Bonniebooboo]

It seems that when a dominant rooster gets too mean they may tend to attack the human. and sometimes when the dominant rooster is removed and put in the chicken noodle pot the next in line can become mean as well. I have raised several roosters that seem to know their place until that dominate one was removed, then in turn each took their place and began to attack. Didn't make me happy or my granddaughter. Especially when they sneak attack out of no where.. Those dang spurs hurt! I have had some wonderful roosters too. They stay until they pass from old age. Most of these cases were with me raising them and seemed well mannered until they became flock leader. I don't know if one breed is actually better natured than another or what sets it off. I have had very aggressive Black Australorpe, Buff Orphington, and Rhode Island reds and some mixed breeds. I still like to have at least 2 roosters with the flock though.

 

[NickyPick]

I have 60 hens and currently 6 roosters. The oldest is 5 years old and the youngest is a year. There are no rooster fights, because Conan will put a stop to that right quick. All of them went through a stage of blitz mate attacks on the hens from about 6 months to 18 months, when they grow out of it (some sooner than others). The only line I have is that none of the roosters are allowed to attack the people - that results in a quick trip to the freezer or craigslist for someone else's freezer.

 

[Caesar The Rooster]

YOU MAY WANT TO READ THIS.

ROOSTERS can live very well together, particularly if brought up together as yours were. But the term "Pecking Order" is not without merit. There will always be a big boss. When the big boss gets older and less virile, then a younger tough guy will de-throne him, and usually not without some intense scuffles. Once one of my boys lost an eye. These things sometimes happen. Others will try to mate and big boss will or will not chase them away. Chickens are extremely social creatures and in time you will see some pair off with their own little harem, and the females definitely establish a choice of males. The only big problem can come if you bring a previous big boy from some other place and make him fit into a situation where the pecking order is already established. If you are breeding and don't mind mutts (I love creating "mutts" because some can be quite exotic, for sure), keep a larger rooster and make sure the others are bantams. The bantams will fall in-line quickly and mister big Shot will enjoy their sycophantic servitude. Often smaller roosters will follow Mister Big Shot around like a Big Brother, more devoted than the hens. In my opinion the reason some people get scared of having more than one rooster is because they hear exaggerated horror stories and then freak out at the first scuffle between two boys. Think of them as tough guy kids on a playground and the hens as admiring but long-suffering schoolgirls and everything will fall right into place. We have had chickens for 10 years and started with a male barred rocked, two female br's, a male silver spangled hamburg and two female sph and have had boys and girls of all varieties ever since. The boys can be very handy. Besides providing fertility for more chicks, they can sometimes be fearsome protectors and my biggest boy literally managed to fight off a small hawk, and wore the huge scar on his comb proudly for the rest of his life, which was an extremely respectable 8 years.

I WOULD NOT LET THEM "LEARN THROUGH A FENCE". THIS ONLY INGRAINS HOSTILITY WHICH MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE TO UNTRAIN. Let them find their "pecking order". Sometimes a smaller extremely aggressive male will boss around a larger rooster. The best thing we have found is to introduce them as quickly as possible and only get between them if things look extremely bad. You'll know if fighting has been going on if they have bloody combs. The one thing you have to watch out for is that if a bird gets a cut in the comb which is very bloody, that will not be life-threatening in the conventional sense, but it will trigger an attack response in some birds who just flip out when they see a lot of blood. So if a rooster or hen gets a bit like a Sam PECKinpaw movie, separate him or her for a day or two and make sure to clean off any signs of blood. re-introduce them and while he or she might get chased, once again, the pecking order will be established.

If you don't know, they can be extremely devoted to each other, including girl BFF. Males can likewise be devoted. When our first and biggest Mister Big Shot, for whom this account is named, became very old and was muscled off the center of the playground, he took to standing by and protecting the also-very-old silver spangled hamburg hen for a good few years. They became inseparable. When she finally died, he was inconsolable - would not eat (maybe a little), lost his crow, his fight, the spark in his eye, everything, and died a few weeks later - we feel - from a broken heart.

It turns out that larger birds, like chickens and crows, have an extremely complex albeit miniaturized cerebral cortex which qualifies scientifically what many of us have seemed to witness: these birds are many times more complex as thinkers than the human race has previously given credit to them. They are not dumb beasts. they sure aren't Einsteins, but they are smarter and more savvy than most people understand; they can play games, trick you, quickly learn to avoid situation they do not like and do so in sometimes astoundingly clever ways . They are also keenly aware of your behavior, and if you extremely kind to them, they will surprise you with all manner of affection. How'd you like a bird that would fly to you when called and land and sit on your arm like a falcon? i had one. A male, which supposedly hate people. Find someone who is urban or otherwise did not grow up on a farm and let them raise chickens without the preconceived notions of what they are or should be and those of us from the 'burbs who have taken it up all agree - they can be pretty darn smart.

Your boys will work things out. Do not separate your brothers unless they are really going for blood. For all you know it will negatively effect the complex personalities most people don't believe that they have. They will work out their pecking order. They always do.

 

[chippy99th]

Our first rooster kind of adopted us (he was feral) and we've had many of his sons since then. Right now we have him, two of his sons, and a silkie boy, but we've had eight roosters at a time! As long as they're raised together, they seem to do quite well, although the younger ones do squabble. It helps that our original rooster is a peacemaker and breaks up any fights he sees.

Eventually, their behavior towards each other settles down, but some roosters are definitely rougher with the ladies. Those ones are the ones that are sent elsewhere, around here. My neighbors had a rooster that started out kind of rough and ended up nearly killing one of their hens from over-mating. No thanks!

I'd keep the polite one if I were you. It's true, you'll end up with plenty of roosters without keeping the rude ones. And if your first rooster is polite, the odds are greater that his offspring will learn that behavior. That's been my experience, anyway.