Let's Talk Nice About Our Roosters!

[banjoellen]

he is just so lovely! is he a Plymouth rock?

Yes, a Plymouth barred rock

 

[janiedoe]

He is beautiful! What breed is he?

Thank you! Doris is an Easter egger. He is a cross of a black orp rooster (not mine, I bought the eggs) and an ameraucana spash hen. He is big for an Easter egger.

 

[Roo5]

The Easter egger Doris is the most beautiful looking bird I’ve ever seen.Can we see the oarents

 

[janiedoe]

@BeccaDoe I love your post. It is so nice to hear people talking nice about their roosters.
Here is my other success. Magpie, he is Doris's hatch brother (sadly, they don't like each other anymore and have to be kept in separate coops, runs, and yards)
He is not friendly but he is respectful. We had a little spat when he was around 9 months. X2. He didn't like me entering the coop. He pecked me on the back of the leg, so I held him down for a few minutes. This happened twice. We worked it out. He is now a model citizen of the chicken yard. He comes running for mealworms now.
I admire him for his parenting skills.
He is a very attentive papa rooster and I'm glad that I gave him another chance.

I wish you much luck with your rooster.

 

[BeccaDoe]

@janiedoe I'm really happy that so many people have responded! It's filled me with hope for my Dorothy. And it's so interesting to see all of these stories ❤ Did Magpie get his name from anything in particular?

 

[janiedoe]

@janiedoe I'm really happy that so many people have responded! It's filled me with hope for my Dorothy. And it's so interesting to see all of these stories ❤ Did Magpie get his name from anything in particular?

He looked like a crow when he was a chick.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Hi all! I'm relatively new here and I just was told by a few of y'all that my Dorothy is a cockerel, not a pullet. This has, quite frankly, put me in a highly anxious state as I have read here and there on this forum all about roosters. The general idea is that they are mean, mean, mean. ESPECIALLY if you raise them with pettings and love.

So I want to hear about experiences with happy, friendly roosters! I want stories about how they came to be that way. And I'd rather not hear about the "hard truth" about "coddling them into dominating" because I need to hear that that doesn't always happen. Please be kind. Tough love isn't always welcome.

I love my Dot and don't want to see that side of her-er, him, so after reading them mean stories, I'm terrified and depressed. So let's hear some happy things about your boys!

Here's my Dorothy, who will remain Dorothy

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I've only had 2 roosters and they were so wonderful that I'd gladly adopt every unwanted Roo on the planet...even if they weren't as wonderful as my 2 boys!

#1 was a super handsome Plymouth Barred Rock fella named Rocket Man (that fella could run sooo fast when motivated!). He was kind to his ladies, did his best to try & woo the girls that didn't want any part of his antics, watched out for everyone & never so much as gave either of us the stink eye! He was not cuddly by any means, but if he hadn't gotten up on the perch before lights out (usually because some straggling, lolly-gagging hen took her sweet time hitting the roosting pole) he would chirp softly & brush against my legs. I would talk to him, telling him that I was going to pick him up and make sure that he got to bed. I'd bend down, gently put my fingers under just feet until he clamped onto my hands, he's stand straight & stiff as a board, I'd slowly & gently lift him up, balance him against me & put him to bed between his two favorite hens. Once he was up on his perch, he'd settle in, lie down & let me pet him. I had many happy good night snuggles with him & I loved every minute! I believe that he understood just how important, loved & appreciated he was. He was from our first attempt at raising pullets and while everyone else was a roo, too, there could only be one: we kept him because he was fantastic. The others, thru no fault of their own or ours, just had scrappier personalities & (sadly) we agreed that they had to go to camp.

My 2nd roo was a stunner of a White Leghorn, Mr Peanut, pictured in my avatar. We got him from some friends who'd accidentally had a roo included in their TSC pullets. They couldn't have a roo in their neighborhood, said he was mean & aggressive and he had to go. We decided, well, we can "take care of that for them." Except that he was kind, sweet as could be and decided that I was his person. He rode home in a box on my lap with my hand resting on his back petting him & when we got home, after a short foray into his new yard with the hens (& Rocket Man) doing their best to keep him away from them, he decided that riding around on my shoulder was preferable & up he'd climb at every opportunity from then on out! When I thought it was time to clean up & turn over dirt in the chicken run, Mr P would let me know that he'd rather I hurry thru it by waiting until I'd bent over with a pitchfork full of dirt, then jump on my back, climb up to my shoulder & stand there chit chatting until I stood upright & put one hand over his feet & circled my arm over him. If I didn't stand up, he'd plop down in the middle of my back & refuse to move. I was forced to do my best hunchback of Notre Dame impression as I tried grab my shirt & pull him up onto my shoulder. Standing straight upright (for all of you who think 'oh I'd fix that') yielded a lot of frantic scratching & clawing as he tried to gain a foothold and he'd get scared. Once was enough of that nonsense. Who wants to upset their cuddly baby? That's right, not me. (Go ahead, recoil in horror if you want to. Don't mind & don't wanna hear about it. It worked for us!)
He was wonderful & never lost that loving bond with me. He did have some rough patches thru puberty, sure, but we worked thru it. When it was the end of the day, e during his raging hormones, I'd put everyone else in for the night & we'd go up on the porch for a shoulder perch & a long cuddle before his time for bed. It also helped him not to be picked on by the Rocket Man if Mr P snuck into bed after lights out!

So yes, you CAN have a nice rooster. It is possible. But if his temperament changes a bit & it's not the same as it was when he was a cockrel or a juvenile, that's ok. He will grow up & probably still like you. Just so long as he respects you & doesn't get aggressive.

I found that when "that veil" or "glazed expression" would come over Mr P, I stopped whatever we were doing, talked him out of it, tried to give him treats. When he snapped out if it, he was chirpy, happy & seemed downright apologetic then went back to being my sweet Mr P. (Maybe I am anthropomorphizing, maybe you had to be there to know.)

 

[Ebony Rose]

I had a bantam rooster about a decade ago named Yahoo (because that was his crow... every other rooster around here goes Cock-a-dooooooo-dell-oooo, but not him... Ya-hooooooo!) He was an excellent rooster with his girls and with us humans too. He danced for his girls and gladly tid-bitted them with whatever treats were on offer, seldom taking the choice bits for himself. We had a tiny hen that loved to brood, and we let her... but she always weened them at about three weeks. Yahoo took it upon himself to mother the chicks for another week or two after their momma threw in the towel, going so far as to tuck them under his wings on the roost at night, and tid-bitting for the babies in the day and sometimes giving the chicks piggy-back rides in the daytime. Never met a more patient rooster.

 

[drumstick diva]

Love these good rooster stories, if word gets out, everyone will want a rooster.

So great to hear good examples for a change.

 

[Duck_life]

Here's a pic of my new chickies, if anyone is wondering why I only have 2 guineas, it is because the other died from stress, I am getting new guineas once there coop is made. I am just so suprised at how beautiful I got them!