long time chicken owners. Is there any truth to this?....

[Tigertrea]

Roos get more aggressive in the spring "breeding" season?

I have a neighbour who has had chickens for a long time. We were telling him that our roo started attacking us this spring and he said "Oh, he'll calm down in a few weeks when breeding season is over".

I'm not sure I believe this.

 

[Johnn]

I have a aggressive cockerel, he never once attempted to attack me until mating season. I showed him who is boss and he has calmed down now and doesn't attack. My friend has a roster which he has had for 3 years and it attacks every mating season but isn't interested through winter. I guess it will depend on your roosters personality.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know if there is any truth to it or not. I’ve had very few people-aggressive roosters. Some just seem to start out that way regardless of season.

One older one I specifically remember becoming people-aggressive was not during breeding season but when I had a bunch of adolescent males in the flock, maybe around 4 month’s old. He was run to a frazzle breaking up fights and knocking them off the hens. I think the pressure just got to him.

I think it is probable that the hormone level in the rooster kicks up in the spring with nicer weather so one may be a little more likely to become human aggressive then. I can’t say that I’ve noticed that. I have trained some roosters to not be human aggressive toward me but they were still a danger to other people.

I don’t know if that rooster will calm down later in the season or not. I’ve never given an aggressive rooster much of an opportunity to do that.

I don’t know how long “breeding season” is supposed to last. I don’t think it is going to be a short time in the spring. I’d expect it to last well into the summer at least.

Probably not much help, I know.

 

[tcmstalcup]

I believe its true. I am also not patient with a mean roo. Off to freezer camp if you are aggressive ANY time. I won't tolerate it at all. there are wayyy to many sweet roos to put up with a bad one. Children come to visit me with some frequency and I have bad legs so I can't get away. It is my responsibility to keep it safe. I want the kids that come to have fun and get educated about food supply and chickens. Being terrorized is not on the menu.

 

[Tigertrea]

Thanks for the input. I'll likely cull him anyway. My 9yr old son is afraid to go outside because of this roo. Not cool with me!

 

[donrae]

Thanks for the input. I'll likely cull him anyway. My 9yr old son is afraid to go outside because of this roo. Not cool with me!

Good for you. No kid should live in fear of an animal.

 

[kcallaway34]

We had a rooster that had attacked our son 4 different times...leaving horrible scratches on him. This last time he got way too close to his eye so we had to rehome him to my grandmas farm. I don't what caused this, it was at different times in the year. But my son became scared of all our roosters even though it was always this same one.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Roos get more aggressive in the spring "breeding" season?... I'm not sure I believe this.

Believe it, it's true.

The spring is the time of increased egg production and increased egg production is intended for the continuation of the species. This increase in the number of eggs is not designed to coinside with Easter or any other human event or activity, your chickens could care less about what humans want or desire.

As some of you may have noticed most of the mating by males is preformed by a comparitively few roosters, all are at or near the top of the pecking order.

Any rooster with an attitude has a better chance of passing on his DNA. The roos without an attitude have to sneak around and try to mate on the sly or when the Alpha roo is not looking.

Therefore roosters are more agressive or more likely to cop an attitude during the Spring.

 

[Tigertrea]

Believe it, it's true.

The spring is the time of increased egg production and increased egg production is intended for the continuation of the species. This increase in the number of eggs is not designed to coinside with Easter or any other human event or activity, your chickens could care less about what humans want or desire.

As some of you may have noticed most of the mating by males is preformed by a comparitively few roosters, all are at or near the top of the pecking order.

Any rooster with an attitude has a better chance of passing on his DNA. The roos without an attitude have to sneak around and try to mate on the sly or when the Alpha roo is not looking.

Therefore roosters are more agressive or more likely to cop an attitude during the Spring.

Thanks. do you have any idea how long this lasts in the spring though.

since I'm not planning on hatching any eggs I'm not concerned about keeping roos at all and still will likely cull him.

I'm interested for academic sake only lol. Also, I know in dogs we like to breed for better behaviour. Even a dog who is only aggressive around females in season is generally not bred because his temperament is considered "unacceptable" to pass on. Is this the same with Chickens? Do we breed for "natural" tendencies that propagate the species or do we select specimens that have a better chance of living with us humans? Again...purely academic curiosity here lol.

 

[donrae]

I absolutely cull for temperament. It's my number one trait I look for in a keeper rooster. Then again, I'm simply breeding backyard birds for layers and pretty colors, so I'm not breeding to a standard of perfection. But even if I were, I'd not breed to a human aggressive rooster, or a roo that was mean to his hens. Gentleman roosters do well on my little acre.