Pullet or Cockerel?

[nuthatched]

That wouldn't be much fun. It's such a sweet animal. Maybe that'll change later and I'll have to treat it differently, but I'm really enjoying bonding with it for the time being.

I don't think I made myself clear, I'm sorry. You start treating him different right now, to help keep him from being aggressive to you later. You're not bonding with him, you're telling him that he doesn't have to respect you, that you're a push over. In the chicken world, top chickens take, bottom chickens give. You're acting like a bottom chicken and when he starts feeling his oats, he'll want to make sure you know it. Once a cockerel goes mean, there's no going back and how you raise them can help or hinder genetic predisposition for aggression.
Cuddle the pullets, not the cockerels.

 

[MyChicksDigMe]

I don't think I made myself clear, I'm sorry. You start treating him different right now, to help keep him from being aggressive to you later. You're not bonding with him, you're telling him that he doesn't have to respect you, that you're a push over. In the chicken world, top chickens take, bottom chickens give. You're acting like a bottom chicken and when he starts feeling his oats, he'll want to make sure you know it. Once a cockerel goes mean, there's no going back and how you raise them can help or hinder genetic predisposition for aggression.
Cuddle the pullets, not the cockerels.

When he starts turning on us I'll just reestablish myself in the pecking order by eating him in front of the others.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

That wouldn't be much fun. It's such a sweet animal. Maybe that'll change later and I'll have to treat it differently, but I'm really enjoying bonding with it for the time being.

Males chickens are unpredictable, you never know what is going to effect them negatively and what is going to effect them positively. All you can do is hope that you are doing something positive for them that will help them in being friendly as they grow. I do agree that cuddling a cockerel will most likely make him aggressive because you are showing you are less dominant, but I have seen plenty of cockerels grow up to be sweet just because their owner continually worked with them every day. You are not doing anything wrong, just be careful.

 

[MyChicksDigMe]

Males chickens are unpredictable, you never know what is going to effect them negatively and what is going to effect them positively. All you can do is hope that you are doing something positive for them that will help them in being friendly as they grow. I do agree that cuddling a cockerel will most likely make him aggressive because you are showing you are less dominant, but I have seen plenty of cockerels grow up to be sweet just because their owner continually worked with them every day. You are not doing anything wrong, just be caref'll definitely be researching roosters and how to raise them properly. I've got children who will need to go into the run daily, so we can't have an aggressive rooster.

Males chickens are unpredictable, you never know what is going to effect them negatively and what is going to effect them positively. All you can do is hope that you are doing something positive for them that will help them in being friendly as they grow. I do agree that cuddling a cockerel will most likely make him aggressive because you are showing you are less dominant, but I have seen plenty of cockerels grow up to be sweet just because their owner continually worked with them every day. You are not doing anything wrong, just be careful.

I'll definitely be researching roosters and how to raise them properly. I've got children who will need to go into the run daily, so we can't have an aggressive rooster. Thank you for the information!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I'll definitely be researching roosters and how to raise them properly. I've got children who will need to go into the run daily, so we can't have an aggressive rooster. Thank you for the information!

You're welcome! Keep doing whatever makes him happy (as long as that does not include any attacking humans) and see if it works.

 

[MyChicksDigMe]

It's undoubtedly a boy because he just crowed!

I started treating him differently after the advise from this post. I haven't sit down in the run and let him jump on me at all. No more holding or petting him aside from one time but it was fully on my terms. I searched the forums here and read the recommended threads, read articles, watched YouTube videos. I also shared all the information with the kids and the new rules for the rooster, also had them watch and read stuff. There was a LOT of conflicting information though.

I think it might be too little too late. He's always been fearless and protective of the others even in the first couple wobbly leg days. I can tell by the way he's started acting the past couple days that he's going to be aggressive. He'll stand up to us, follow us when we have our backs turned, and today he bit my finger when I was putting his poor scissor beak sister back down after she excitedly flew into my hands (she does that most times I enter the run since she loves her mushy food). So there was no reason to be protecting her, although maybe he looks at the situation differently. Little shit bit me hard though. I scooped him up and separated him from me and the girls while I did what I needed to in the run, just cleaning stuff up witch took about 10 minutes. When I let him out he was following behind me in what seemed like could have been an aggressive manner.

I'm thinking about just finding him a new home now since we don't need a rooster anyway. The kids are very attached to it though and they do not like that idea.