My buff orpington roo is doing some interesting behavior, I"m sure it's normal, but what does it mean? I had 4 roos, got rid of 2 and have an ameraucana in addition to my buff. I have 7 hens. I have been trying to get rid of the ameracana. My buff was pretty gentle as far as roos go, he lets the hens know when he has a treat and he feeds them I have a 2 story coop, and when I open the back he would jump down off the perch and stick his head in the corner and "gurgle". If he's outside, or down below, he would lower his head, look at me, sometimes he would scratch the dirt or sometimes he would walk near me with a wing lowered always "gurgling". the ameraucana seems dominant, but if the ameracana roo starts 'his business' with a hen, the buff is right there chasing her too. My buff does let me pet him and hold him, but on occasion he does grab my finger...he doesn't hurt it like the other roos do, just grabs it. thx for any input! julie
Your buff is treating you like a subordinate. It's possible that his behavior will escalate. Don't allow him to "dance" in your presence. I also won't allow my rooster to mate the pullets in my presence. There are some excellent threads on how to train a rooster. How many roos do you have? When roosters gang up on a hen, it can be a brutal experience for the hen. I'd get rid of one of these roos. You'll find your flock to be much more relaxed when you have only one rooster.
yes, I have been reading other posts on here that say 1 roo per 10 hens. Why don't you allow him to mate hens in front of you?? I may have to give other roo away just to get rid of him.
Keep the polite cockrel, NOT the one who is challenging you! He will most likely push harder as time goes by; not a good thing. Mary
My silkie roo who was my favorite, started getting an attitude like you described. I figured he was trying to be my boss and that ain't cool. I seperated him from the 2 smaller boys and tried to work with him cause planed to keep him. Well he just kept scratching and scooting sideways toward me making a weird noise and the bite me. That made me mad so i'd get him and hold him down till he relaxed and let him up. The next week that stoppedd working so I held him upside down then I carried him under my arm for awhile and then let him go. Well I had to do this "I'm the bigger chicken" thing DAILY. I gave him away. Now one of my BJG roo's is starting to try to scare my 13 year old while doing chores. So I guess he'll need to go. I already did the chase the sneaky roo until I got him, held and talked to him until he relaxed. Well no more problem w/him, I thought. (You grab for a roo and he sorta taunts you, you go until you get him so he doesn't think he's your boss) sucks.