Potentially raising my first rooster! Advice needed!

[StinkyAcres]

Maybe now I can return the favor of information

I have one chick of my older 4 ones that would do the same as your rooster. I use to let her up on my shoulder or, if I was bent over in the run she'd hang out on my back. This was all cute and funny while she was a chick, but one day while she on my shoulder, I was looking her over and she nearly pecked my eye. She also got the nasty habit of pecking at my ear.

Needless to say shoulder rides weren't allowed anymore. I just wouldn't let her on them anymore. She still likes to be held and be loved on, but if she makes a move to get on my shoulder I put her down and walk away. She figured it out pretty quick and settled for being in my lap or held in my arms.

Not sure this will work for a cockerel, because they can be a stubborn, but worth a shot.

You're right, it is cute until it isn't! I will definitely not allow him to do that anymore.

 

[Folly's place]

Our worst ever was a bantam chick who started flairing and attacking me while he was in the brooder, eight weeks old! He didn't improve...
Most show who they want to be as puberty hits, maybe four to six months of age.
Twice (three times?) we've had roosters over one year of age decide to take us on. Idiots!
You will learn to interpret behaviors as they develop, so raising cockerels gets easier, because it becomes obvious before actually being attacked.
Some breeds and families produce more nice birds, or more monsters, but each bird is an individual, so it's never really a sure thing either way.
For example, hatchery RIRs are often jerks. Half the Speckled Sussex boys were nice, and half weren't.
All our Salmon Favorelles and white Chanteclers were good boys.
Helpful? Maybe not.
Mary

 

[StinkyAcres]

Our worst ever was a bantam chick who started flairing and attacking me while he was in the brooder, eight weeks old! He didn't improve...
Most show who they want to be as puberty hits, maybe four to six months of age.
Twice (three times?) we've had roosters over one year of age decide to take us on. Idiots!
You will learn to interpret behaviors as they develop, so raising cockerels gets easier, because it becomes obvious before actually being attacked.
Some breeds and families produce more nice birds, or more monsters, but each bird is an individual, so it's never really a sure thing either way.
For example, hatchery RIRs are often jerks. Half the Speckled Sussex boys were nice, and half weren't.
All our Salmon Favorelles and white Chanteclers were good boys.
Helpful? Maybe not.
Mary

That is good to know. My RIR hen was aggressive; I'm sure it would have been so much worse if it were a rooster!

Here is the cockerel in question. His breed (Swedish Flower) is known for being friendly so I'm hopeful.

 

[redinator]

You're right, it is cute until it isn't! I will definitely not allow him to do that anymore.

I don't know if this is correct or not, but the saying 'boys will be boys' seems to ring true with my two cockerels. Since there are two of them they have each other to spar with and work out their 'teenage aggression' on. Neither of them seem to care about my presence one way or another, but they're still young (16 weeks) and I'm aware that can change. I also quit hand feeding when they were about 8-9weeks old because those beaks hurt. I scatter treats on the ground.

 

[redinator]

That is good to know. My RIR hen was aggressive; I'm sure it would have been so much worse if it were a rooster!

Here is the cockerel in question. His breed (Swedish Flower) is known for being friendly so I'm hopeful.
View attachment 4138019

Handsome boy

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Every bird is an individual. I had a Jersey Giant chick that at about a week old, started chest-bumping my hand when I'd change the water and feeder in the brooder. So I'd flick him in the chest, you know, with my middle finger cocked and released against my thumb. Thwap! Not hard, just a response. Over the next few days, he'd thump me harder (the other chicks were all pullets), so I thought, okay, you want to play this game? Every time he chest-bumped my hand, I'd thwap him, just a little harder than he hit me. One day he didn't quit. Kept coming at me. So I kept on, too. I thought, I have to win. I'm not going to hurt him, he's just a baby. But if he thumps me 200 times, I'm thumping him 201. It didn't take that long, but maybe about 20. Finally he stood there looking at my hand, then turned around and joined the girls. He grew up to be a fine young rooster and I quite liked him. But he was barely a year old when a coyote came and got him and 4 of his Black Australorp sisters. I think my good little Sheltie, Gracie, was off having surgery that day.

 

[redinator]

Every bird is an individual. I had a Jersey Giant chick that at about a week old, started chest-bumping my hand when I'd change the water and feeder in the brooder. So I'd flick him in the chest, you know, with my middle finger cocked and released against my thumb. Thwap! Not hard, just a response. Over the next few days, he'd thump me harder (the other chicks were all pullets), so I thought, okay, you want to play this game? Every time he chest-bumped my hand, I'd thwap him, just a little harder than he hit me. One day he didn't quit. Kept coming at me. So I kept on, too. I thought, I have to win. I'm not going to hurt him, he's just a baby. But if he thumps me 200 times, I'm thumping him 201. It didn't take that long, but maybe about 20. Finally he stood there looking at my hand, then turned around and joined the girls. He grew up to be a fine young rooster and I quite liked him. But he was barely a year old when a coyote came and got him and 4 of his Black Australorp sisters. I think my good little Sheltie, Gracie, was off having surgery that day.

I don't know if I'd be able to keep chickens without my dogs. They patrol often and love the chickens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I don't know if I'd be able to keep chickens without my dogs. They patrol often and love the chickens.

Agreed. Same here, although I did have to chicken-proof one of them. The others cottoned on quite naturally to the idea that the chickens belong to me.

 

[Mrs. K]

You need a sharp knife to get a good rooster. The longer you keep a rotten rooster, the longer it is until you get a nice one. A flock master is magic in your flock, a good rooster is ok to have, and a rotten rooster needs to be gone.

Some are aggressive with people, some are aggressive with pullets and some are aggressive with other roosters. Really all of them are a crapshoot.

Things to help - a lot of space, more space than for a hen. I would not have multiple roosters unless I had a flock of 25 or more and the space to adequately confine them. Multi- generations flock I think creates a better chicken society.

Thing is, you have a darling cockerel. And it is this specific rooster that you want to keep. What often happens is people make excuses for them or just do not recognize the signs of aggression. This forum is filled with reports where the darling became a nightmare. A BIG thing is that this day's behavior is not a indication of his behavior next week.

If you have small children, be very aware. They tend to get attacked first. And can take an attack in the face.

Good luck, it is really mostly the luck of the draw.

Mrs K

 

[redinator]

Agreed. Same here, although I did have to chicken-proof one of them. The others cottoned on quite naturally to the idea that the chickens belong to me.

I let my two dogs watch the chicks hatch and kept them indoors for at least two weeks to get used to the dogs. It all worked so wonderfully I surprised myself with how well it went. My husky mix will just about climb a tree to get a squirrel, but never even curled a lip at the chicks.