New Member - Chickens on the mountain

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SteveSwims said:
Good afternoon chicken friends,
My name is Stephen. I am a homeschool dad living in Haymarket VA, on the top of a mountain. I have five Cinnamon Queens, five dominique hens, and on rooster who I think is a dominique or barred rock. The ten girls are about 8 weeks old, my rooster is about 12 weeks old. They are definitely still separate, and will have to be so until the girls are older. We just moved into the home two months ago, and finally have room for chickens. I have wanted birds since I was a wee lad, and could not be happier with my little flock. Am now a fully obsessed chicken dad, and am enjoying introducing my three kids (ages 5, 3, and 1) to the life of taking care of chickens. Right now, the flock is looking super healthy, have miraculously had no issues. I keep waiting for my first problem, as this is our starter flock, and nothing so far. Got them as chicks from TSC, and have been so fun. Rooster was found on the side of the road, in need of a good home. My first question would be: How do I soften my big man and get him used to me and the kids? Any ideas on how to help a rooster be more human friendly? Thanks in advance!

Stephen
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Hey Stephen!

I'll tell you right now...roosters kinda suck. They are beautiful and pretty funny on their own but every rooster we've ever had would pick on the hens, chase my kids and straight attack any little kids we had visit, even when they were nowhere near the hens. Until you and kids are more comfortable around the hens, I'd leave roosters out of the mix just for the fact you want your kids to have a pleasant and fun experience with them at first. Later, a rooster can be very handy in teaching them to also be respectful of these little creatures. Sometimes your food bites back! 😋
 
leslielass said:
Hey Stephen!

I'll tell you right now...roosters kinda suck. They are beautiful and pretty funny on their own but every rooster we've ever had would pick on the hens, chase my kids and straight attack any little kids we had visit, even when they were nowhere near the hens. Until you and kids are more comfortable around the hens, I'd leave roosters out of the mix just for the fact you want your kids to have a pleasant and fun experience with them at first. Later, a rooster can be very handy in teaching them to also be respectful of these little creatures. Sometimes your food bites back! 😋
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Sounds like you have had a bad time with roosters!
We have never had this issue before. @SteveSwims, please do not be scared to have a rooster because of people's own bad experiences. Roosters will protect their flock but they can be nicer than hens if you don't ignore them (feed them, let them out, put them up, and nothing else)
and they have good genetics.

There are many other members on BYC that would agree with me that there aren't that many bad roosters, it all depends on you (your actions) and genetics (some roosters are mean because it's just in their blood). Don't be scared away and if you have a bad experience with one, look at getting a different breed of rooster that comes from a local breeder so you can see how their roosters act in person. I can tell you right now, the people that visit our farm come in scared of roosters (or chickens in general) and leave with a different perspective. Roosters get a bad rap because YES, they can be aggressive if you choose one with bad genes and do not interact with them good enough. You can't be lazy and expect the rooster to be nice. You may run into a few that you tried everything on but they are still mean, that doesn't mean give up on a rooster and say "they're mean" just from a bad experience or 2. Once again, pick one with good genes and raise them the best you can, almost like a pet, or at least let them know you're there every day and not a threat to his hens. And BTW, I've never had a rooster beat my hens up or tear out feathers. I guess I must just have a good ratio, or possibly good luck, but I also take the time to choose my roosters out of the eggs I hatch. I have 15 over 80 hens, all live in peace.
 
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