New roo for my flock - Now the stupid Roo Question?

[Chickpeep]

We just received a new rooster from a friend. We both ordered our first flock of chickens together this year and we ordered together to save money on shipping. We got on extra bird. Yeah we thought. Since we lost two in shipping, and he didn't want as many birds are he ordered, he took the extra chick. Guess what the extra chick turned out to be? Anyway, He couldn't handle the rooster and has two 8year old twins that the rooster was chasing and pecking. I have 15 RIR chooks, and now one RIR Roo and I am new to having a rooster around and a few questions came to mind. They are all the same age, about 19 to 20 weeks old.

1. Will he get all the girls in the broody hen way or does nature provide an off switch for him once he has completed his job? I don't want to loose all my eggs because all the girls are being mamma's.
2. He was aggressive to the previous owner. I am a bit less liberal and am trying to get him to know me and accept me before I turn him loose with my girls. I have him in a separate pen for a bit. He gets all his attention from me. Including me picking him up and carrying him around my property talking to him in a calm and gentle manner. The girls hang around him sometimes during the day but don't stay there all the time. Will I be able to get him to be less aggressive or am I just wasting my time?
Any help out there. I looked and searched for these type of questions but couldn't find anything. Lots of other stuff but not these in particular.

 

[maybejoey]

Some need a little bit more excitement and some need a little less. I have a one that needs almost none at all ( shone in my avatar)

 

[DianeS]

A hen being broody doesn't have anything to do with whether there is a rooster around. A hen that wants to be broody will sit on golf balls if that's the only egg-like thing around. A hen that does not want to be broody could have a nest full of nice, fertile eggs and she'll ignore it. All having a rooster changes is that the eggs will be fertile and could become chicks - IF a hen decides she wants to be broody and sit on them. RIR hens don't usually want to go broody, so you should be fine with that.

From what I read about rooster agressiveness, rooster personality REALLY varies on what he's naturally like and what he could be like with different types of training. What you are doing might work with some, and might not work with others. Only way to know is to try.

Hope that helps!

 

[Chickpeep]

Sorry, I should have just said pregnant or something like that. that is kinda what I meant when I put "In a broody way." I was trying not to embarrass myself. I know that a hen when she is laying fertile eggs stops laying eggs. I am just trying to find out what will happen to my girls if or when I put this guy in with them. I am new to the chooks and just learning. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[NoisyCricket]

The first response answered your question, but I think that maybe you misunderstand what a broody hen is, and what what makes a hen go broody.

Quote:
That is not true. Laying fertile eggs has no influence on when, or how often a hen lays.

Broody = sitting on eggs (or any egg shaped thing - chickens aren't so smart sometimes), in an effort to hatch them. When a hen goes broody, she stops laying eggs and just sits on them.

Laying fertile eggs in no way determines if a hen will go broody or not, like I said, they aren't necessarily so bright. They are just as happy to try to hatch unfertilized eggs, or golf balls, if their hormones tell them too.

So, laying fertilized eggs will not make your hens go broody and stop laying.

I hope this helps

 

[justafewchickens]

Even if the egg is fertile, the hens will keep on laying. Their bodies still produce eggs regardless.

 

[al6517]

If I were you his training should not include you picking him up and carrying him around talking to him. This behavior often than not will lead to him being aggressive to you, It does have alot to do with his attitude, but if as you say his last owner said he was aggressive. You need to let him know who's Boss and that's you not him, playing the super sweet loving care giver will get you into trouble with him, I can see it coming allready. Good luck.

 

[Chickpeep]

Quote:
Thank you very much. That is the kind of help I am looking for. I am not trying to show him mamby pamby. But I do want him to know who really rules the roost, and it is NOT him. What would you suggest? I have a friend who had a very aggressive rooster and a stick upside the head when he was running/pecking at the wife and kids did not teach a lesson. Funny offshoot same friend: The older son (9) went outside to collect eggs. Mom heard the son yell. Guess the son had had enough. When Mom went out to look she thought horrible things had been done to her son. What she saw upon arrival......Rooster laying upside down unconscious, Son looking down at the Rooster with steam coming out of his ears angry. After a few minutes the Rooster got up, and took two hours to walk straight again. But the next day he was right back at it. My friend did not know how to dress a bird so the .22 came out and finished off that Rooster

.

My point being is it possible to calm an aggressive bird. The girls have calmed down as we handle them more and more. That is why I figured the same thing might work with his Nibs. I am open to all suggestions before I just head this guy off to Freezer camp.

 

[rolffamily]

I raised my first rooster from just a pup with the girls. He was good until he got to be about a year old. I walked into the coop one morning and he came at me like I was a threat.

I gave him back to the place I got him and in turn got a big white Rock rooster who was good for about 4 months. Then he turned just plain nasty. Now I have to lure him out into the pen so I can shut the door and clean and gather eggs, etc. This weekend he will be turned into soup. I will never have another rooster.

 

[Chickpeep]

Well, I took the advice of al6517 and showed him who was boss. I took him out of the pen that we have had him in since we got him. I had been squirting him with water gun everytime he crowed. Not to stop him from crowing, because it didn't either, but to give him an idea of who was boss. But I had been handling him gently when I took him for a walk around the property. Well I gave that up and started showing him who rules this roost. I took him out of the pen and put him with the girls. He immediately started acting like he owned the place. When I started walking that way he puffed up and just looked like he was not liking me there. Well I had a surprise for him. My dog has a small soft plastic ball we throw for her outside. I am a very good at throwing. I hit him square in the chest with it.

He Squawked LOUDLY flapped his wings and landed a few feet from where he was.

I have been going around the girls all day. He stays away from me and just continues pecking at the ground. He stopped his aggressive behavior with the girls. He has been a model citizen since out run in. So it does work. He may get feisty and feeling his oats at a later date. But I have a solution now. NO MORE Aggressive Roo.

. Thanks for the advice it really worked.