Raising a docile rooster?

[Bantumhatching]

Hi, about 8 weeks ago, I got 6 chicks from tractor supply, and one of them, a golden laced sebright bantam, is most definitely a rooster. He really is a sweetie and is very friendly to hold, but I am worried he will get aggressive with age and cause distress to the hens, as other roosters have in the past. Is there anything I could do to make him for friendly to the hens and people now?

 

[JaeG]

Cockerels can be hard on pullets as their hormones are raging and the pullets won't put them in their place like older hens will (they don't put up with any nonsense from little upstarts). By the time they are about a year old they tend to calm down. If you already have older hens that will help him to be a good boy. If not then you may have to separate him temporarily if he becomes too abusive, just until he's past the raging hormones phase.

Between 3-4 months old is when you might start to see some bullish behaviour from him. He may start to distance himself from you as he starts to take on the role of flock leader so you'll need to respect that and give him his space. But our bantam rooster still puts up with being caught and picked up by our kids. We like to give him the food so that he gets all the glory of calling the girls over and providing for them too. I feel like that's one way of showing respect for his role in the flock.

I haven't had any issues with our bantam cockerels and roosters in relation to them attacking people, but it's very much a wait and see situation, and it can't be predicted as to whether they will be good, or little monsters. I have had more issues with larger breed cockerels with some going after our 10 year old son (he's the youngest so they must view him as the weakest link). All of ours are well handled so I don't think the amount of handling has much of an impact - it's more to do with genetics and hormones.

Our little bantam rooster is the sweetest little guy and has always been a perfect gentleman to the girls (he grew up with older hens in the flock) and to us. We love him and his son, who was raised by a hen, so isn't overly friendly, is just as sweet and funny. I sure hope your boy works out and you can keep him.

 

[Folly's place]

Human aggression is both due to genetics, and then to management. Often 'friendly' cockerels are actually the very bold ones, and as their hormones hit, that boldness becomes aggression.
Having space, multiple feeders and waterers, and especially mature hens, at least, helps cockerels develop better social skills in the flock. Humility is a good thing! Cockerels raised with hatchmates only can be more of a problem, as they mature before the pullets, and don't get squelched often enough, as they would with mature hens and a rooster.
Cockerels who want to be human aggressive are very rarely able to be 'reformed', as most of us have learned the hard way.
Here we want our cockerels to stay out of our way and pay attention to their flockmates, and definitely not follow us around. Once in a while a mature rooster will decide to become human aggressive, and they don't get to live long once that happens.
Mary

 

[Bantumhatching]

Cockerels can be hard on pullets as their hormones are raging and the pullets won't put them in their place like older hens will (they don't put up with any nonsense from little upstarts). By the time they are about a year old they tend to calm down. If you already have older hens that will help him to be a good boy. If not then you may have to separate him temporarily if he becomes too abusive, just until he's past the raging hormones phase.

Between 3-4 months old is when you might start to see some bullish behaviour from him. He may start to distance himself from you as he starts to take on the role of flock leader so you'll need to respect that and give him his space. But our bantam rooster still puts up with being caught and picked up by our kids. We like to give him the food so that he gets all the glory of calling the girls over and providing for them too. I feel like that's one way of showing respect for his role in the flock.

I haven't had any issues with our bantam cockerels and roosters in relation to them attacking people, but it's very much a wait and see situation, and it can't be predicted as to whether they will be good, or little monsters. I have had more issues with larger breed cockerels with some going after our 10 year old son (he's the youngest so they must view him as the weakest link). All of ours are well handled so I don't think the amount of handling has much of an impact - it's more to do with genetics and hormones.

Our little bantam rooster is the sweetest little guy and has always been a perfect gentleman to the girls (he grew up with older hens in the flock) and to us. We love him and his son, who was raised by a hen, so isn't overly friendly, is just as sweet and funny. I sure hope your boy works out and you can keep him.

Thank you! I actually do have a couple older hens, and a hen with a chick which she is currently raising. We had a bantam rooster last year that was quite mean and would attack both the hens and people, but he wasn’t raised with older hens around. Fingers crossed that this one will be a good boy.

 

[Folly's place]

Also breed matters; Salmon Favorelles tend to be very nice, hatchery RIRs, not so much. Each cockerel is an individual, so there's no guarantee based on breed, but having polite roosters in their pedigree, rather than jerks, is a big help.
And our first rooster, a tiny Belgian d'Uccle, was a horrible beast, who would fly up to my eye level to attack! He stayed too long, and was a good learning experience, never to be repeated. Also, no small children were here at that time.
Only nice boys stay here, no excuses allowed.
Mary