Looking for advice on how to respond to cockerel's "dance?"

[GreenHaven]

Did you raise them yourself or with a broody?

This above mentioned behaviour can stem from letting the little chicks perch and sleep on your when raising them without a mother hen. They will then see you as their mother and perch and jump on you as they would on their mother hen. And when bringing a dish with their food this can lead to them flying up to your shoulder to be the first to get to see what yummy stuff you bring.

But some cockerels get early hormonal overdrive and even try to mate with their mother hens and hatch mates, the earliest I saw with mine was a BCM at 3,5-4 weeks old.

I have a few roosters (3 months) who are doing this. They also are towards the bottom of the flock pecking order, and will fly to me if they are being battered, or if I have food. They want to be hand fed. I have to make some serious decisions regarding my excess roos, and send the more aggressive roos to freezer camp. I am being so indecisive. Is this a bad thing then - to let them hand feed? Is it adding to them being picked on, or perhaps they are just not getting the same level of hormones. It seems like the ones who are most attached to me are the most battered. But they don’t peck me or dance at me. All the roos at the top of the pecking order seem a bit human aggressive (among the BCM and EE’s) My Buckeyes, have not shown any however. Yet the roo (EE) who dances and puffs up at me can be picked up without biting. He flew out of the coop one day and marched to my back door because he couldn’t fly back in and it was dusk. He knew he was in trouble. I carried him back - no problem. I have others who bite hard if I try to pick them up. Aggression or fear?

 

[EliseH]

New to Chickens. I built a run for my flock yesterday. I sat down in there because no poop yet and my handsome 3 month old Roo, Simon came over to me. I petted him a bit and he started doing what I would consider to be a happy dance. He danced a bit then walked away to check out the run. When he came back, he came up talking (he talks almost non-stop). I petted him some more and some more happy dancing. Then went on his way again. This morning, I let the flock out into their run and Simon came out into the run, after a few minutes he looked a me (I was outside the run) and did his happy dance again. Is this the type of dancing that's being described as aggressive?

 

[LaFleche]

I have a few roosters (3 months) who are doing this. They also are towards the bottom of the flock pecking order, and will fly to me if they are being battered, or if I have food. They want to be hand fed. I have to make some serious decisions regarding my excess roos, and send the more aggressive roos to freezer camp. I am being so indecisive. Is this a bad thing then - to let them hand feed? Is it adding to them being picked on, or perhaps they are just not getting the same level of hormones. It seems like the ones who are most attached to me are the most battered. But they don’t peck me or dance at me. All the roos at the top of the pecking order seem a bit human aggressive (among the BCM and EE’s) My Buckeyes, have not shown any however. Yet the roo (EE) who dances and puffs up at me can be picked up without biting. He flew out of the coop one day and marched to my back door because he couldn’t fly back in and it was dusk. He knew he was in trouble. I carried him back - no problem. I have others who bite hard if I try to pick them up. Aggression or fear?

I don't pick my chicken up unless for health checks at night when I pick them from the roosting bar.

As prey animals they naturally get scared when you bend down over them to grab them like a predator would.
So biting or pecking when being grabbed comes as instinct, not malice.

Do you want to select and keep certain cockerels for breeding purposes?

 

[Chicken poppy]

I've read lots of threads and articles on here about the rooster dance, and about what kinds of behaviors should and should not be tolerated. My question is- how to respond to these behaviors. This is only my 2nd time raising roosters so I'm very much a novice.

In particular, one my three-month old cockerels has started dancing for me. I don't know if he's flirting with or threatening me, but all-in-all I think both of those behaviors could lead to aggression. He's never shown aggression, but he's just coming in to his own, and I think it's entirely possible. What should I do when he dances for me? Ignore him? Move into his space and make him back down? Show dominance by picking him up or smooshing him?

I also read in one of the articles about not letting him eat with the hens when you're around and/or feeding him his treats last. How do you react if he's barging in and trying to take the treats/feed?

Edited to add this question- this same cockerel comes into the coop while I'm in there, and goes into nesting behavior. I think he's encouraging me to lay an egg, which I also think is a sign he sees himself as dominant over me. Should I deter this beahvior as well?

Lastly, how much insubordination do you put up with before you determine a rooster isn't going to work out? I've heard some people say the first time the rooster attacks, it's done. Other people seem more dedicated to training. I'm happy to put in some time and effort, but I can also afford to be selective since I have several young roos at this moment. This particular cockerel, who is the more dominant one, is staying only because he's the most handsome- but I'll take personality over looks any day!

Ok, i’ll tell you what i do! @triciayoung has some really good methods with hers and she did help me with how to work with mine!

My bantam i just leave him be. I really don’t care if he’s “aggressive“ towards me. He’s never hurt me, he’s tried nipping and mating but i just shake him off my hand and get on with my day. Bigger roosters i would probably go a little bit of a different route because they could inflict some pain depending on the size.

Roosters are very very smart, i have mine trained with lots of tricks and i feel like it strengthens our bond, he rarely ever tries nipping me now.



My other one isn’t mean to me, just the other chickens. I just grab him and lower his head to my other chicken (Same breed) and let her peck him. Shes a gentle little girl, she acts tough but when she bites she only grabs a few feather, growls, and lets go. I doubt he feels a thing. Its mostly for a scare so he knows not to pick on her and it works. He doesn’t mess with me and same with her. I still love them all, though. I hope you have good luck correcting the behavior.


Keep in mind this is what i do, it might not work for others but it works for us because my roosters are extremely tiny fellows! I have had big ones in the past and its much scarier.

 

[GreenHaven]

I don't pick my chicken up unless for health checks at night when I pick them from the roosting bar.

As prey animals they naturally get scared when you bend down over them to grab them like a predator would.
So biting or pecking when being grabbed comes as instinct, not malice.

Do you want to select and keep certain cockerels for breeding purposes?

Yes - I’d like to have roosters in my flock and am Hoping to have some broody hens next year. I have to pare down the number of roos I have, and it’s a bit hard to select. I’ve dispatched two who were very aggressive towards the other roosters. Seems like I keep removing the dominants - but theres too much stress in the flock. I’m leaning towards removing two who I find chasing other birds around the pen in hot pursuit.

 

[LaFleche]

Yes - I’d like to have roosters in my flock and am Hoping to have some broody hens next year. I have to pare down the number of roos I have, and it’s a bit hard to select. I’ve dispatched two who were very aggressive towards the other roosters. Seems like I keep removing the dominants - but theres too much stress in the flock. I’m leaning towards removing two who I find chasing other birds around the pen in hot pursuit.

How many hens in total will you have and how much space, how many coops etc.?

 

[GreenHaven]

At this moment I have 14 females (6 weeks) and 12 males (16 weeks) - separate for now. Girls just went outside. (Mistake number one - splitting my order up like that.) I have 400 feet of electrified netting currently and will be fencing in a field - probably 1 to 1.5 acres - when I have a sense of how this is going). I don’t think I can safely free range them - too many predators and my land is very open. l am trying to give myself some flexibility with the netting since I new and making many mistakes. I have a standard coop for laying and a roosting house (both about 4x8). I have a Hoophouse for shade and rain protection. We will be building again soon - I am thinking smaller moveable pens so the birds can separate more easily) Except for the laying coop - we have everything on skids. The climate here is mild, so everything is pretty open.

 

[fluffycrow]

I'll leave my two cents here. I've had a few males over the years. Both males that have attacked me were what most would consider the perfect cockerel. Considerate of me, kept their distance and weren't friendly or clingy with me. Some of the friendly cockerels I've raised, just became more distant as they became roosters, but none ever attacked me. As for the mating "dance", I'm not convinced it's for mating. Just like Shadrach, my observations lead me to believe its a herding move. My experienced males do it when moving hens from the prime dust bath position, and as for the more inexperienced ones, they use it during feeding time as well. My aggressive males have never tried the herding shuffle on me. My friendly ones have. I do have the privilege of being able to free range my birds, so that does change things a little

 

[LaFleche]

I'll leave my two cents here. I've had a few males over the years. Both males that have attacked me were what most would consider the perfect cockerel. Considerate of me, kept their distance and weren't friendly or clingy with me. Some of the friendly cockerels I've raised, just became more distant as they became roosters, but none ever attacked me. As for the mating "dance", I'm not convinced it's for mating. Just like Shadrach, my observations lead me to believe its a herding move. My experienced males do it when moving hens from the prime dust bath position, and as for the more inexperienced ones, they use it during feeding time as well. My aggressive males have never tried the herding shuffle on me. My friendly ones have. I do have the privilege of being able to free range my birds, so that does change things a little

I have also seen higher ranking birds do the shuffle/dance as threatening behaviour to intimidate. Sometimes it works and the one that has been shuffled/danced at turns its back towards the aggressor and leaves while flapping its wings to show submission, other times a fight will start. This happens between hens also.

 

[fluffycrow]

I have also seen higher ranking birds do the shuffle/dance as threatening behaviour to intimidate. Sometimes it works and the one that has been shuffled/danced at turns its back towards the aggressor and leaves while flapping its wings to show submission, other times a fight will start. This happens between hens also.

Granted, I've only ever kept two males in the same coop once, and that was for a short time, so my experience there is very limited, but not a single hen of mine has ever done that. In the case that one male does it to the other, one could argue that one male was asking from the other to move, and the request was denied, hence a fight ensued. I have seen this behavior with really young cockerels, and every time it happened the behavior was simply ignored