I'm failing with my rooster, Abe

[Wild Trapper]

Quote:
I have been doing this too with my two new roos, petting them at least while they are on the roost. At first one of them really got panicky when I did this. Now he seems like he likes it or tolerates it anyway. The other one is not so wild and liked being petted from the start. They are both still young, so hopefully I will not end up with a mean rooster like the one we ate. That one I did not raise myself, it was one my DIL had in her flock and she wanted to eat it. I thought I would rescue him, but he ended up being too mean for my liking, so he ended up in the pot anyway.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I had a buff rock that went after my daughter (she was about 6 or 7 at the time) and I had a shovel in my hand. I bopped him on the head with the shovel and never had any more problems with him after that....

With 4 kids here, mean roos don't stand a chance. I have over a doz. roo's that free range daily and NONE of them would dare attack me or anyone else. One strike, you're out.....

 

[Luvroos]

Wow, you have over a dozen free ranging roos? You sound like me with my 17 including silkies, bbrs, cochins, sebrites and a few others of different sizes. I thought I were one of the only ones that had a few roos and glad that there are others that enjoy them also.

I personally think that she should build her confidence enough to let him know who's boss and since she is so unexperienced is she sure that it's aggressive behavior towards her? He could be trying to tell you something and you are so afraid of him that you're not giving him the chance. Allow him to get close to you and see how he reacts! When they drag their wing it's a sign that they like you and might want to mount you while not knowing how to be honest verses wanting to fight with you. They'll come head on when wanting to fight verses side ways as per my experience with them. I again have 5 big boys that I work with quite often, all together also.

I have a black sex link big boy that is in love with me and would like to mount me nearly every time he sees me, I picked him up and carried him around the yard and he bit me on the face but, not hard. It's a sign that he loves me and is curious to know how to go about his manly thing with me and since I'm a person he's just confused as all get out.

They don't always mean harm due to their reputations and others bad experiences they retreat to appreciating you for feeding them all those goodies also. Give that baby a chance and see how he actually reacts with you without showing signs that you are afraid of him!! If I were closer I'd really love to give you a hand with him, it'd be great!

Holding them at night is not a bad idea either since they are turned in for til' morning. This is when I check mine for mites, and all sorts of things! I can turn a couple that I have upside down to look them over and they'd do nothing but, trust me.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Quote:
I love my roos! And with 5 acres to free range they have it good here. Most go into the coop/run at night, but I do have a few rebels who like to sleep on top of the coop. I have been lucky and have had good luck temperament wise with my boys and have only had to get rid of a few.
Glad I am not the only crazy one here with a lot of boys

PS I also have almost NO fighting at all. They all seem to have their own little groups of hens and keep to themselves.

 

[marialane]

First, let me begin by saying thank you for all of your wisdom and knowledge; it is impressive to say the least!
Because we are new to raising chickens, we have tried to read as much as possible with the available books out there. Your information posted here is like an added bonus, the likes of which weren't found in the books, so thanks!
A lot of you seem to have a keen awareness of the 'psychology' as to what goes on in the rooster's little head. I appreciate that! If I were to tell Abe's story, it would go something like this. Abe was one of ten chicks that we received on day one. It ended up that we got six roosters. He was the least aggressive and may I say the prettiest as well. Unfortunately as his life unfolded, some bad things did happen. All of which, did, I'm sure, contribute to his being leery about the happenings in 'his' coop. For example, what may have triggered the last episode, (the reason I posted in the first place) was that I took a whole, red apple in with me thinking it would be a welcomed treat. The hens love it, but Abe never saw a red apple before, what did he know; he tried to attack it. Then I got upset. Anyway, I know that it is not acceptable for him to display aggression towards me. I realize that it sets a precedent if I don't get ahold of this. I'm going to do my best to identify the triggers. So, with all of your great and wonderful tidbits of info, I will try my best to get over my hang-ups and maybe he can get over his. The past few trips to the coop he seemed fine, staying his distance. I'm going to work on getting him to trust me because honestly, I love this rooster.

Thanks again for your posts!

 

[Luvroos]

Glad to hear this Maria, that's the way to stand up for that big boy

! Maybe you could reverse his bad occurance as a younger lad and begin from there. Place him in the same sort of situation and rest assure him that what bad things happened before will never happen again, a little reverse psycology on him. By the way would I be prying into your business if I asked what had happened to him! I sure hope that it's not due to the loss of his family ie: brothers that he grew up with from chicks! This is why I cannot part with mine. They hang together and take turns watching over the hens unless they're scattered through out around the yard and then there's normally a roo with each small group!


Gosh Ticia, it's a pleasure to know that you love these boys as well as myself

! By the way, what is your hen to roo ratio, if you don't mind my asking? I'm looking at around 4 hens to one of the 5 roos that I have for guaranteed fertility reasons and maybe a couple few stragglers, hens, here nor there! How on earth did you get them to pick a few hens to protect and go their own way? This is what I'm hoping for while my kids are only 9 months at the youngest and 3 years at the oldest! I think I need to invest in a few more hens sooner or later, I'm down to 14 at this point!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I have found that going straight to my roo when I open the coop door, picking him up and lovin' on him just a little, then putting him down and going on about my business watering, feeding ,etc. has helped. I assume he trusts that I am not there to threaten his girls.

 

[OkChickens]

I had 2 Roosters like this from this past years hatch. I put them in a make shift coop with a run for about a week just feeding them and watering them, this made them understand that I was the boss. Now a few weeks later they are much more gentle with the hens and are not aggressive anymore!

-Nate