Nice Roosters

silkies are supposed to be good roosters

 

that I'm not sure about. other good options are buff orpingtons, austrolorps, barred rocks, and black copper marans

 

Uhm, I've had some good experiences with ameuricana roosters, but my hens of the same breed were not nice. I thusly switched over to austrolops and barred rocks, and I really prefer them. Curious without the skittish behavior.

The rooster was intelligent, skittish, and cowardly. He was nice though and he treated the ladies well.

 

Good roosters are often the result of breeding from good roosters. Much of what makes up their temperament is genetic, in my view. One issue with huge flock breeding, the way most hatcheries breed, is that no one is taking temperament into account and ill tempered roosters are allowed to mate unknown number of hens and thus? It gets passed on.

Second, there is an element in which this is also conditioning. From day one, we never, ever treat the young cockerels as pets. There's an old adage, make your hens your pets and leave your cockerels alone. Some truth in that perhaps. I want to largely ignore the young cockerels. I walk by them in an nonthreatening way. I'm just the guy who brings the feed and little else. I have a very large Red rooster and he is very, very good with his harem. He is a one calm, untroubled rooster. Just the kind I like.

If you are nervous, I'd highly suggest getting your rooster from someone known to you. Someone you can interview about his bloodline and ask questions about his sire.

 

Don't make a pet of them, make them get out of your way. Don't pick them up and pet them. Don't feed them by hand. They should not be scared of you, but warry. I am on my third, and have not had a problem roo.

Be aware, they really don't become good roos to their hens, until they are nearly a year old. But then if you have a good one it is a pleasure.

Mrsk

 

I agree!! I never handle my roo.

 

I agree totally with Fred's hens. The human aggressive factor gets passed on. However I've tried both methods of never handling them and also hand feeding and handling frequently, and the main result has been none of them are human aggressive. The ones I've handled are easier to work with. I have American games and you can really only have one cock in the flock...but who with a small backyard flock needs more than one anyway? Besides being beautiful to look at, they make very good mates and constantly guard for predators. Best bet is to get a mature rooster from someone who has extra. You can even pick your color, such a wide range of beautiful birds.