Is 'nastiness' in Roosters truly heritable?

[jmc]

I have heard it said that it is, but is there any real data?

As far as I know, alot of people cull nasty roos and never breed them. So how do we know?

Is there any hard evidence available say, from repeated breeding trials with such birds?

 

[Debbi]

Like you say, I've never hatched anything from my nasty boys, but I will say that the chicks produced from my sweet boys do have their sweet temperaments. So if it works in one direction, I would think it could work the other way too. If my nasty boys were almost perfect specimens, you bet your butt I would breed them and take my chances, but they are not, so why chance it? Freezer Camp is calling them, and I would hate to think of a yard full of nasties!

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Games are proof that birds with a particular temperament can indeed pass it on to other generations.

A good Game is human friendly (not a manfighter) but a murderer at heart toward others of his own kind.

 

[speckledhen]

You bet. There are plenty of examples BYC folks can give you. Many want sons from my Suede because 99.9% of the time, they inherit his calm, easygoing temperament. There are other lines that folks can tell you they'd sell in a heartbeat because the progeny are mean as snakes.

 

[jmc]

very very appreciated, Sal and Cyn.

I love good data--and from knowledgable folks like you

it is also very interesting. I had never even considered Games. (Does that = Game cocks?)

It would be interesting to see the gene's (or genes') nature. Like is it autosomal or SL (gotta be nasty girls, too, eh?!), dominant or recessive, incompletely dom..............?

I do tend to ask rather academic--maybe too rarified--questions sometimes.

 

[jmmre31]

My first rooster russel crow was a mean bird. I kept hoping he would improve but didn't. We processed him. Soon after one of my BO's went broody and hatched out 6 babies. Two were roosters. One was killed by a dog. The other Russel Junior (RJ) was a wonderful rooster. My two boys carried him around all the time and was very friendly. I would recommend using friendly roosters as breeders, but the mean ones can have good offspring too.

 

[speckledhen]

Nothing is 100%, naturally, but you are more likely to produce good tempered sons from a good tempered sire. Better stack the deck, eh?

 

[Chris09]

Hens will pass aggression to her off spring also.
I have a Black Game hen that every one of her offspring [both males and females] are straight up mean, (not a man fighter) but will take on anything else.

Chris

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Temperament is one of those characteristics which is hereditable but involves a variety of genes and can be modified by handling and environment. However, any human-aggressive animal big enough to do real harm (and I have scar tissue and nerve damage in my right thigh caused by being spurred by a RIR roo thirty years ago) is not worth having around, let alone breeding. That a human aggressive rooster will father a greater number of more-than-acceptably human aggressive offspring is of secondary consideration when compared to the greater work/alertness/general hassle of keeping a nasty roo.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

When I was younger, the only birds I seemed to get my hands on had bad temperaments. I only hatched from these birds as they were the only ones I could get. None of the offspring ever showed the same temperaments as the parents.