"Nice" Roos?

[rooster-red]

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Not to hurt your feelings but that is too much rainbows and sunshine.

You can't teach that to a rooster. He is preprogrammed by centuries of instinct to do a job. He will do it no matter what you think or do. If he thinks you are invading his territory or are a threat to HIS hens he will get you. Roosters will fight to the death to protect their hens if they feel they need to. it doesn't matter what you think or how safe you make a coop.

Sadly, you will never understand until you have been flogged severely.

Perhaps you shouldn't have a rooster at all.

I have to agree, if you want a truly cuddly lap pet, a rooster is just not the right animal.

They are a creature that relies heavily on inborn insticts that can not be trained out of them.

You can modify their behavior to accept you as the Alpha (most roo's, not all) but their instincts boil down to just 2 things:
(a) procreate
(b) protect the flock

Dogs & cats have the brain capacity to be cuddly, a roosters brain is a lot smaller.

 

[Dill]

Quote:
Not to hurt your feelings but that is too much rainbows and sunshine.

You can't teach that to a rooster. He is preprogrammed by centuries of instinct to do a job. He will do it no matter what you think or do. If he thinks you are invading his territory or are a threat to HIS hens he will get you. Roosters will fight to the death to protect their hens if they feel they need to. it doesn't matter what you think or how safe you make a coop.

Sadly, you will never understand until you have been flogged severely.

Perhaps you shouldn't have a rooster at all.

I didn't mean I was going to tell the roos "You don't need to protect your hens, you're completly safe" , as if they'd understand. I just meant that some people say they want their roos to be aggressive and protective because they need them to protect the hens (I guess they let them free range?) and I won't need them to so I would rather they be cuddly. Even if they aren't though, they won't attack me. I'll make sure at the first sign that they are going to to hold them under my arm and all that stuff.

And all this is hypothetical because i don't even know when I'll be able to get chickens, whether they'll all be hens, how many I'll get, I might not even have a choice of males or females, etc

 

[gritsar]

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Dill, I used to feel exactly like you do when I first got into chickens, honest. I was sure I could love my little roo so much that as he got older he would still be my cuddly lap pet. As a baby it worked fine. I carried him everywhere, he'd climb into my lap for pettings, even purred for me. Then his roo hormones kicked in and he realized what he was put on this earth for.
Given the choice now I'll take my rooster that is there with my hens 24/7 to help protect and guide them over a cuddly lap rooster any day. Can you be with them 24/7? Never say never (or nothing).

 

[seriousbill]

It is true that roosters are not "mean" like people, but it's a good shorthand for "aggressive." Some roosters are much, much more aggressive toward people than others; this varies on an individual basis, although breeding can be a factor. You could go your whole life without encountering a truly aggressive bird, or you could go your whole life without encountering a really mellow one, but if you stick with chickens long enough, you probably will meet both.

Aggressive roosters differ from other chickens in this one simple fact: they will attack you, painfully, from out of the blue, and they cannot be convinced to stop. This is the definition of an aggressive rooster. All other definitions describe something else, such as natural protective behavior, which is not the same thing as genuine aggression. Many roosters are fiesty and full of themselves, but not all of them have a crazy, single-minded need to flog humans. Some are rationally well-mannered toward people even if they are tough toward other perceived threats. The key, to me, seems to be in the roo's ability to differentiate people from threats, and I would say, also from chickens. Some can do so; others seem to have more trouble.

I've never pretended to be a chicken with my birds. I have a tendency to roll my eyes when people talk of this. My policy, like that of my parents and grandparents before me, has always been practical: to cull the aggro roosters and keep the ones that are more reasonable (and, no, I don't mean I cull all birds that exhibit normal chicken behavior. See definition of aggro rooster above). This program has always worked well for me.

Really aggressive behavior seems to run more in some breeds and lines than others, but it does seem to be hardwired into the bird. If you encounter a genuinely "aggressive" rooster, there is very little in the way of training that can be done; and please note this one simple fact: early petting and handling will make a truly aggressive rooster worse. YES, that's right; it will make him worse. I've seen it on several different occasions.

Best of luck to all.

 

[Pinky]

The first roo I had was nice to start with,then come spring,no one could go near him.He also favored one hen and the other hen stayed with me,I even had to stand by the nest box before she would lay her eggs.
My current roosters were raised by me,not hen raised.They were nice then and have never attempted anything with me(thank god).I am still close to them as they are me,and I never have to worry about turning my back when I am around them.I guess it not only depends on the breed and individual temperament of the roo,but also how well accepted you are in your flock and where you stand.

 

[Dill]

I've never pretended to be a chicken with my birds. I have a tendency to roll my eyes when people talk of this. My policy, like that of my parents and grandparents before me, has always been practical: to cull the aggro roosters and keep the ones that are more reasonable (and, no, I don't mean I cull all birds that exhibit normal chicken behavior. See definition of aggro rooster above). This program has always worked well for me.

Not everyone wants to kill their roosters though, especially if they're pets like mine will be. If they turn out to be aggressive, fine, I'll still love them all the same. I wouldn't pretend to be a chicken to mine either. People do that with dogs too, actual professional trainers will pretend to be a dog to make them behave and that's just stupid.​

 

[kstaven]

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Not everyone wants to kill their roosters though, especially if they're pets like mine will be. If they turn out to be aggressive, fine, I'll still love them all the same. I wouldn't pretend to be a chicken to mine either. People do that with dogs too, actual professional trainers will pretend to be a dog to make them behave and that's just stupid.

The first time a truly aggressive rooster tears 6 inch gashes in your back with their spurs you may think differently about loving them all the same.

 

[Dill]

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Not everyone wants to kill their roosters though, especially if they're pets like mine will be. If they turn out to be aggressive, fine, I'll still love them all the same. I wouldn't pretend to be a chicken to mine either. People do that with dogs too, actual professional trainers will pretend to be a dog to make them behave and that's just stupid.

The first time a truly aggressive rooster tears 6 inch gashes in your back with their spurs you may think differently about loving them all the same.

But its not their fault so why would I like them any less? They don't do something like that because they hate you. Its naural instincts.

I don't hate my rabbits when they get mad about having to be put up during playtime so they struggle while I'm carryng them to their cages and scratch 6 inch or longer scratches down my arms with their back claws. And they probably know what they're doing, that that hurts me. A rooster is just trying to protect.

ANother roo question: i've heard that 1 roo per every 10 hens is ideal. if i have more than 1 roo for 10 hens will they fight? Will they fight even if they have enough hens? Or does it just depend? My chickens will all be bantam breeds probably.

 

[MissPrissy]

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Most roosters will fight if in the same pen. They will fight and it will be a bloody and grewsome mess to clean up. They will often fight until one is dead and the other is left as "King".

The submissive roosters that don't fight to the death live their lives on the fringes stealing scraps and attention. It really can be a very pathetic situation.

 

[Bec]

I have 2 roos. One , the cochin, is very sweet and layed back. Has NEVER tried anything nasty with anyone. He just pecks the ground and loves his girls. He is very nice to them. But he isn't the best protector of the 2 roos. The other one is a little more of a handful. He is in the Rooster-Red bootcamp right now. He is the one that may have to be penned up if I can't get his tude under control. The only reason he will stay around is for breeding purposes. On the other hand he is an awesome protector and warns the flock at the slightest sign.

I think you should get a roo, just don't expect too much pet wise. I think it all has to do with the individual rooster. Leghorns are known to be nasty, but there are people who have friendly ones....cochins are known to be layed back and gentle, but some have nasty ones.

You can have a rooster that is nice and sweet, but as I was told...they have bad days just like we do. One day he may have a wild feather up his butt and decide to try something..

My 2 have had minor scuffles, but nothing ever serious. But that is not to say that it isn't going to happen, but they kind of established who was the boss and they have lived with that peacefully so far.