Looking for a nice rooster...

[AJ666]

This Spring I will be getting chickens for the first time. I am VERY excited and I think I have figured out what kind I want and how many. My only problem is roosters. I have heard it's reccomended to get one even if you aren't hatching chicks and I do want a rooster. I wanted a domonique because I raised one this past Summer and he was very sweet and laid back. But towards the end he went through a phase where he attacked us repeatedly and things like that. We ended up getting rid of him. Our neighbors who we got him from also had another Domonique who did the same at a certain point and they got rid of him too.
I am looking for a kind of rooster who stays sweet and laid back all his life, and takes good care of his hens (they dont end up bald)
What kind of rooster do you have? Is he nice?

 

[ace6175]

I have a New Hampshire Red, he is nice, has never attacked anyone. But some of my hens are bald, and I'm thinking of getting rid of him. My neighbor has a RIR rooster, he isn't aggressive & her hens aren't bald.

 

[digitS']

I haven't had a rooster for years. And, things are going all right!

Well, that's not what you asked about. I never had a rooster who was mean to me. More than that, I had some that were very nice to have around.

Really, I suggest that if you get a rooster and you aren't concerned about raising chicks, and maybe even if you are, get one that is smaller than the hens. If they are the same breed, a rooster may be 2 pounds heavier than a hen. That's a lot!

My favorite rooster may have been Gabe. He was a Silver Spangled Hamburg. That means he was kind of a light-weight. My brother gave him to me and he had others of this breed and they flew around like crazy. I've even had Hamburg owners (or, ex-owners) tell me that their Hamburgs, flew away! Gabe wouldn't go anywhere.

You see, I've always gone for the frumpy, dumpy hens: Australorps, Orpingtons, Barred Rocks. They weren't going anywhere

, so Gabe had to stay around with them.

Yeah, you're right; Gabe probably only weighed about 2/3rds of what the hens weighed. He was still the "cock of the walk." And, he had a wonderful crow and was just a gorgeous bird

! Still, he was a gentleman in all ways. And, he didn't look odd with the frumpy, dumpy hens. Gabe carried himself well - very upright. He didn't really seem smaller than they were.

I miss him.

. . . just my 2¢.

Steve

 

[SC_Hugh]

We just recently re-homed our Little Ricky (10 month Black Cochin Rooster).

He was very sweet for about 8 months and then he got more cocky. I held him, petted him, hand fed him from a few days old, still...he wanted to be head rooster over all of us. Once Ricky drew blood on my wife's hand, that was the beginning of the end.

Overall, Ricky wasn't always difficult, but once he started to act up, he was always strutting and crowing and stomping around looking for something to prove. Life has been sooooooooooo peaceful without Ricky, hens are so easy in comparison.

I gave Ricky to a co-worker to give to his uncle (he owns other hens and roosters). His uncle said "Ricky is too scrawny to eat, so we need to fatten him up" and his aunt said "Ricky is too beautiful to eat, so lets keep him and get some Cochin hens for him to breed with..." They really like Ricky...so he lives on,

--Hughster

 

[Happy Chooks]

You can get a bad rooster of any breed. But the breeds I've heard of that are generally docile are:

Orpingtons
Brahmas
Welsummers
Delawares
Marans
Australorps

 

[Kittymomma]

I think the biggest thing with the roos is to not try to make them your friends. I have SLW, RIR, and EE roosters. They are all around a year old and I don't have any problems with them and my kids don't either. I'm not mean to them, but I don't love on them like the hens either. When I'm walking around the barnyard I walk "thru" the roos, never around them. If they try to mount a hen when I'm out there I push them off, and when I'm giving out treats I make them wait until the hens are all eating before they get anything. They do tend to want to challenge you when they reach puberty, but the few times one of them would get puffy with me I'd just walk towards him until he gave way and it never went any further.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I do the same thing. It only took once of me knocking him off a hen, he wasn't a happy camper. But he hasn't mounted another one in my presence. So far, he's being a good boy.

 

[Shifty Joe]

The best advice I ever got regarding Rooster care is to view yourself as part of the flock. By that I mean you view yourself as the Alpha Rooster. If you've ever seen two roosters in a flock, the Alpha rooster does the following: Beta does not get to mate around Alpha, Beta eats second, Beta get's chased around the yard every so often, and challenges to Alpha end with the Beta running away. When you are in with the Hens, think of them as your hens. Do not allow the Rooster to take advantage of the hens around you, instead you should. Pick the hens up, give them treats, etc but if the Rooster goes to stop you... well I invented Rooster boxing. Basically when he get's his "These are my girls" attitude I get in a boxing stance and flick his comb (wow, he hates that). After one to five flicks then he is in full retreat mode and I give him brief chase for good measure. While this seems mean, it's how they would naturally handle their pecking order.

As an example of my success with this, last time I went to get that last stubborn girl into the fenced yard after their walk around, when she let out her cackle I saw Big Daddy (my Rooster) go into full run... into the chicken coop.

 

[Keara]

I've had a number of roosters who turned "mean", or rather agressive to people at about a year. Right now I have a silver hamberg roo who is sooo flighty that he is not interested in being mean to me. He is just too skittish around people! Yesterday I was disturbing one of the broody girls and she was making a ruckus, the roo was worried but did not dare come near. If you are not looking for a pet bird, you might try one of the flightier breeds, they seem less likely to attack people.

 

[SC_Hugh]

Quote:
I do the same thing. It only took once of me knocking him off a hen, he wasn't a happy camper. But he hasn't mounted another one in my presence. So far, he's being a good boy.

Good advice, I admit that I was the one that was intimidated when I picked up one of his hens and Ricky got mad.

Knocking him off his hen while he was "doing it" would have never crossed my mind in a hundred years

I am thankful for my peace and quiet. There might be another roo in my future (distant future),

--Hugh