My First Rooster.... I am starting to hate him sadly.....

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He's so beautiful! Looks similar to the Easter egg roosters that I've had. I am super busy so I don't have time to read all the posts. I just wanted to say that I currently have a rooster and four of his cockerel sons with three in an adjacent run. Aside from the usual chicken "rape," there are no major problems. Daddy rooster tries to hurt me often while his sons do sometimes. So, with five current roosters (and four in the past), I'm sort of a rooster expert if you want to PM me with specific questions. And no, you can't make him nicer. Separation will work while separated but reintroduction can be a problem. My roosters have been great with their chicks. Also, two of my past roosters gave up their lives defending their girls, one to a hawk and one to a fox. The hawk was because my mother was secretly "letting them out to play" while I was at work. The fox dug in. Since then, I've rebuilt Chickentopia, and a fox is not getting in unless he has wire cutters.
 
I too have a roo I raised from day 1 of life, and he can be a pistol. The one thing I encourage you to do is give him every opportunity before you re-home him (a lot of those people just throw them in a pot or use them for other horrible things). Mine was a perfect gentleman until he reached around 20 weeks, then he started jumping on every hen possible, rough and pulling feathers. It was kind of awful to watch but I gave it some time as no one was getting injured other than being p.o.'ed at the loss of their dignity- lol Now the hens just squat when he comes near and he is less interested in bothering every single female every minute of every day. He was more successful with an older hen who treated him as just another bothersome male who she had to ignore except when she was caught for a minute. He comes after me whenever I go into his home zone, because he doesn't want me to hurt his hens. If they aren't around, he doesn't bother me at all- he will even eat out of my hand at times.

Most rooster experts will tell you that they calm down mating-wise, considerably, as they get older. He is now only doing what he is hard-wired to do so I have to think about how he interprets my actions to avoid any issues with aggression- that works almost all of the time. For the rare moments he does see me as an invading monster, I usually wear very thick overalls and boots so I don't even feel him if he pecks or jumps at me. A blow to his ego but it makes me feel very comfortable. I know what you mean about those moments of "hate" when you first experience roo aggression but calming down, ignoring them if they come after you, staying away from their hens if they are feeling territorial which is usually outside, and remembering his behaviors are absolutely nothing personal against you or the hens- it is what being a true flock protector and umpteen years of biology to mate that keeps him going.

People who tell you to separate are absolutely right. These guys can start to get attacked by the hens if they are crossing a line and they can really damage him. I spent much time talking to a life-long owner and researcher of roos; he said roosters do not NEED hens any more than hens need roosters. Putting them in a different coop or area can make everyone's life more bearable (caveat- if you plan on putting them together again as he calms down, do not leave him so far away that the hens don't see him every day). As previously said by someone else, there can be some real reintroduction problems.

My roo is a large Black Copper Marans. He dwarfs everyone else but he has been torn apart more than once by the hens. I am now giving him one more chance with the older hen who ignores him but, if that isn't successful, he will be a confirmed bachelor for the rest of his life! :smack
 
minaayindra said:
I too have a roo I raised from day 1 of life, and he can be a pistol. The one thing I encourage you to do is give him every opportunity before you re-home him (a lot of those people just throw them in a pot or use them for other horrible things). Mine was a perfect gentleman until he reached around 20 weeks, then he started jumping on every hen possible, rough and pulling feathers. It was kind of awful to watch but I gave it some time as no one was getting injured other than being p.o.'ed at the loss of their dignity- lol Now the hens just squat when he comes near and he is less interested in bothering every single female every minute of every day. He was more successful with an older hen who treated him as just another bothersome male who she had to ignore except when she was caught for a minute. He comes after me whenever I go into his home zone, because he doesn't want me to hurt his hens. If they aren't around, he doesn't bother me at all- he will even eat out of my hand at times.

Most rooster experts will tell you that they calm down mating-wise, considerably, as they get older. He is now only doing what he is hard-wired to do so I have to think about how he interprets my actions to avoid any issues with aggression- that works almost all of the time. For the rare moments he does see me as an invading monster, I usually wear very thick overalls and boots so I don't even feel him if he pecks or jumps at me. A blow to his ego but it makes me feel very comfortable. I know what you mean about those moments of "hate" when you first experience roo aggression but calming down, ignoring them if they come after you, staying away from their hens if they are feeling territorial which is usually outside, and remembering his behaviors are absolutely nothing personal against you or the hens- it is what being a true flock protector and umpteen years of biology to mate that keeps him going.

People who tell you to separate are absolutely right. These guys can start to get attacked by the hens if they are crossing a line and they can really damage him. I spent much time talking to a life-long owner and researcher of roos; he said roosters do not NEED hens any more than hens need roosters. Putting them in a different coop or area can make everyone's life more bearable (caveat- if you plan on putting them together again as he calms down, do not leave him so far away that the hens don't see him every day). As previously said by someone else, there can be some real reintroduction problems.

My roo is a large Black Copper Marans. He dwarfs everyone else but he has been torn apart more than once by the hens. I am now giving him one more chance with the older hen who ignores him but, if that isn't successful, he will be a confirmed bachelor for the rest of his life! :smack
Click to expand...
This article may interest you.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/
 
3baymares said:
One of the chicks that we ordered through the mail turned out to be a roo. This is (amazingly) the first time this has happened to us out of 14 chicks throughout the years of buying day-old sexed chicks. He is 6 months old and "breeding" everyone.... "___" because it is chicken rape to some of them. Our little game hen doesn't want anything to do with him but he chases her down and then she yells and yells ... he pecks her head a lot..... she flies away. I am worried that I will take a nice (to humans) rooster and make him aggressive because I really want to punt him and protect our little hen. Is this raping behavior going to subside? Advice, please. A photo below of the perp. View attachment 1983434
Click to expand...
In my experience roosters don’t mellow out unless they have someone make them. If you had an old rooster or an old and giant hen they might set him straight. If you don’t, bye bye birdy. There is no reason to keep a rooster that will make you hate all roosters. People give away free ones all the time that are great quality and have the best temperament, some people even give away the sweeter Roos because they can’t keep up with a harsh flock.
 
I would separate him for a while and give him a chance. If it were me. It's not always easy to do depending on the set up you have. But if it's possible I would do that because when they're young their hormones go a little wild Sometimes they can calm down and be great roosters after that. It's so tough to tell with roosters. I will say he is gorgeous though
 
The last rooster I had was a sexing mistake too, and he too was very aggressive, not only to the hens he was raised with but to me as well. I don't have room for a separate place just for him and since I wasn't planning to raise my own chicks anyway (I love doing it, but you always wind up with too many roosters), I re-homed him. In the flock I had before this one I had two blue Andalusian roosters, one of whom became such a bully to the other that I had to re-home him as well (and I had around 30 hens, pasture ranging). I had a neighbor whom my flock inspired to start his own flock, so this was the perfect place for him! Honestly, I just don't have the desire to mess with keeping (feeding, managing, etc.) an aggressive rooster or extra rooster in a separate pen (or to construct such a separate pen).
 
Fishychick said:
He's so beautiful! Looks similar to the Easter egg roosters that I've had. I am super busy so I don't have time to read all the posts. I just wanted to say that I currently have a rooster and four of his cockerel sons with three in an adjacent run. Aside from the usual chicken "rape," there are no major problems. Daddy rooster tries to hurt me often while his sons do sometimes. So, with five current roosters (and four in the past), I'm sort of a rooster expert if you want to PM me with specific questions. And no, you can't make him nicer. Separation will work while separated but reintroduction can be a problem. My roosters have been great with their chicks. Also, two of my past roosters gave up their lives defending their girls, one to a hawk and one to a fox. The hawk was because my mother was secretly "letting them out to play" while I was at work. The fox dug in. Since then, I've rebuilt Chickentopia, and a fox is not getting in unless he has wire cutters.
Click to expand...
Those darn mothers!
 

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