Preventing Cockerel From Going Full Caveman?

[HetherHenCommuntiy]

I have found myself with a light Brahma cockerel also!! Mine is 10 weeks old now and has quite a number of the traits you’ve mentioned. His size is ominous compared to all of the others! I find that the more time you spend with your birds the more comfortable they will be with you! Enjoying the outdoors is something that my family does daily and of course...we include our chickens and they’ve come to look forward that part of the day just as much as we do!

 

[Pickled Plaid]

I'm very amused to report that tonight, when it was time to return to the coops, and Ramen found the corn crumbs I used as sprinkles to lure everyone home - I heard the softest 'tut-tut' from him. He wasn't sure why in the world he was doing it, and the confusion was written all over his little face. But he'd burble a little and another quiet 'tut-tut' would escape. If I'd had my phone, I'd have gotten a video. Incidentally, where he was tutting was in full view of the girls' run. I think the instinct was there, but he doesn't understand why yet.

His journey has begun.

I have found myself with a light Brahma cockerel also!! Mine is 10 weeks old now and has quite a number of the traits you’ve mentioned. His size is ominous compared to all of the others! I find that the more time you spend with your birds the more comfortable they will be with you! Enjoying the outdoors is something that my family does daily and of course...we include our chickens and they’ve come to look forward that part of the day just as much as we do!

Your boy is very handsome HetherHenCommunity!

 

[Mrs. K]

This is my opinion base on limited observation over several years:

• space is crucial for successful roosters and hens. Tiny set ups have way more problems.
• multi-generational flock, of all ages an truer chicken society emerges, older birds raise up better roosters
• experienced people with roosters tend to have better roosters, but anyone can have a rotten one or a good one
• Roosters are a crap shoot, some work out, and some don't. If you are being terrorized by a rooster, cull him.

Mrs K

 

[Pickled Plaid]

I'm pleased you enjoyed the article. Other than being aware of what may trigger aggressive behavior towards humans, it's a question of how much effort one can put into behavior modification.
For many, they just don't have the time, or often, even the right circumstances.
I hope both for your sake and his he doesn't become like hard work.

Now that is an interesting question.
If someone asks me that question I reply. no they don't. Understandably if I or you write that on this forum you will get besieged with people telling you they do, you're wrong and possibly providing a picture of a rooster having a dust bath.
It seems that roosters ideally require/prefer a different composition in their baths. It's something I've done some experimenting with and a great deal of conversing about at my local chicken club.
Roosters have not so obvious biological differences to hens. One that gets overlooked is roosters do not moult the same way as hens. A couple of the club game fowl keepers believe it's this difference in moulting that necessitates a different kind of bath.
All the roosters here and those belonging to the club members here prefer to bath in slightly damp soil. Hens on the other hand will bath in damp soil along with their roosters but they also take dust baths which the roosters don't.
From here on it gets complicated because you have to define your dust.
Anyway, it's one of my projects so I'm afraid I've bored you.
If you are interested I wrote an article about dust bathing which is a commonly misunderstood chicken activity.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/why-chickens-bath-in-dust-and-not-in-water.74441/

The dust bathing article was also very informative, thank you so much!

Could the difference in soil preferences possibly be related to feather shape difference? The big round fluffy hen feathers seem like they trap small soil particulate very efficiently. Narrow, angular feathers might need soil with a bit more oomph to properly swab oil and skin debris. Maybe? Does moist soil offer any scent advantages for a rooster? Though now that I think about it, many chicken predators are visual hunters - so scratch that (no pun intended).

You mentioned ants in your article briefly. I've noticed ants on my girls a few times after they've been dust bathing. I thought they were incidental as I'd only see one or two...from now on I'll be more attentive to this.

Ramen added another herding move to his resume this afternoon. He tilted his head, fluffed his feathers, dropped his wings and "drove" three of the Muscovy ducks to move faster through the open yard. (Massive uptick in hawk activity today) The Muscovy treated the behavior like an annoyance from a big brother- reluctant, but they moved. He's much more relaxed when he gets them under cover (not that they stay put!).

 

[bobbi-j]

I think your boy is off to a good start. It sounds like he respects you. I only have my experience to go by, and what I have found works for me is a hands off approach. No picking up and cuddling, just being around the flock, doing my thing, and not putting up with any nonsense. Not even an inkling of it. I walk where I want to walk, and if a cockerel is in my way, he'd better move. If one even gives me a sidways glance, I'm walking right at him, backing him up and making him move. I don't necessarily chase them, and I don't care if they mate in front of me - I'm not another rooster, so I don't care. Since I started raising my cockerels this way, I have not had an aggressive rooster. I go about my business and they go about theirs.

I think you did the right thing in getting rid of the demon cockerel. It's not worth it to take a chance with kids around. So not worth it.

 

[Pickled Plaid]

This is my opinion base on limited observation over several years:

• space is crucial for successful roosters and hens. Tiny set ups have way more problems.
• multi-generational flock, of all ages an truer chicken society emerges, older birds raise up better roosters
• experienced people with roosters tend to have better roosters, but anyone can have a rotten one or a good one
• Roosters are a crap shoot, some work out, and some don't. If you are being terrorized by a rooster, cull him.

Mrs K

Thank you for sharing!

Space is definitely something I have tried to be mindful about. I know territory area can fluctuate with weather, bug population, even how long I go between mowing.

I agree that our demon cockerel was severely disadvantaged by brooding with the females, no older birds to put him straight, our ignorance in believing he was a pullet until he started crowing, and our initial attempts to "give him a chance" without really knowing how bonkers he was.

It wasn't a light decision to cull the demon, but it was necessary, and judging by the drastic change in everyone's behavior since - it was absolutely the right thing to do for our son, for us, and for the other birds.

 

[Pickled Plaid]

I think your boy is off to a good start. It sounds like he respects you. I only have my experience to go by, and what I have found works for me is a hands off approach. No picking up and cuddling, just being around the flock, doing my thing, and not putting up with any nonsense. Not even an inkling of it. I walk where I want to walk, and if a cockerel is in my way, he'd better move. If one even gives me a sidways glance, I'm walking right at him, backing him up and making him move. I don't necessarily chase them, and I don't care if they mate in front of me - I'm not another rooster, so I don't care. Since I started raising my cockerels this way, I have not had an aggressive rooster. I go about my business and they go about theirs.

I think you did the right thing in getting rid of the demon cockerel. It's not worth it to take a chance with kids around. So not worth it.

This guy has been a very different sort right from the beginning (in a good way). He's very respectful, and I've been impressed by how he handles himself and the ducks as well.

After such an appalling failure with our first cockerel, I felt like I needed to consult the collective BYC wisdom in order to prevent raising another hellspawn, and I'm very glad I did!

 

[bobbi-j]

I’ve never had a mean Brahma. They’re one of my favorite breeds.

 

[Pickled Plaid]

I'm glad to hear it. My gut feeling is that he's a really good guy who is only now beginning to realize that he might not be a duck, lol. I want to educate myself better so I don't inadvertently set him up for failure.

 

[Chicken Heel]

I think your boy is off to a good start. It sounds like he respects you. I only have my experience to go by, and what I have found works for me is a hands off approach. No picking up and cuddling, just being around the flock, doing my thing, and not putting up with any nonsense. Not even an inkling of it. I walk where I want to walk, and if a cockerel is in my way, he'd better move. If one even gives me a sideways glance, I'm walking right at him, backing him up and making him move. I don't necessarily chase them, and I don't care if they mate in front of me - I'm not another rooster, so I don't care. Since I started raising my cockerels this way, I have not had an aggressive rooster. I go about my business and they go about theirs.

I think you did the right thing in getting rid of the demon cockerel. It's not worth it to take a chance with kids around. So not worth it.

This has been my approach through 50+ years of raising various chicken breeds and has worked pretty well for me regarding roosters with only three being aggressive towards humans in all that time.