Raising a rooster

[chickengr]

Must just be me then.
I may have misunderstood the OP but I got the impression that the males are likely to be cockerels still. You are absolutely right in writing that a rooster will see you as competition in most circumstances. You feed his hens and that means (given you can supply better treats and more regular food than he can) that you are competition.
Most of the cockerels I've had a high level of involvement with may have a very brief period when they compete with me and I deal with that in a different way. Usually, after a year of being part of a flock/tribe they seem to accept that I'm not trying to entice their hens away. I've had a couple go wrong but I spend a lot of time with the various tribes and the tribes rooster accepts me so the cockerels learn from him as well.
Maybe I have that hen smell.

my experience is like yours. I don't have aggressive roosters and some of them from time to time try to feed me, lol. some of them did dance around me but I think they didn't find my shoes sexy enough so they didn't try to mate them

 

[centrarchid]

I have yes and it's something I try very hard to discourage.
Simply, I am not reliable, nor am I a chicken. Protection of chicks on the rare occasions a hen leaves them, say to lay an egg for example, becomes the job of her rooster, or more often the junior rooster of her tribe.
I try very hard to not have chicks imprint on me. I'm not a chicken.
On those rare occasions when I am left with no alternative to having excessive contact with chicks, below shows the result. Sure it looks super cute for forum pictures and thankfully, so far at least, maturity means such youngsters eventually learn how to adapt to their position in their tribes.

View attachment 1627863
This young cockerel will follow me about for a few more weeks until he learns how to attract a hen (he's recently started on this by taking up escort duties for a couple of the junior hens of his tribe)
The problem is, all the time he spend with me is chicken learning time missed. If he's going to survive here he needs to learn as much as he can from other chickens. I can't teach him much. I don't know what he needs to know.
The reason he is like this is because his mother got attacked by a gos hawk when he was very young and naturally I didn't separate them while mum was recovering and they both lived with me until mum felt fit enough to rejoin her tribe.
View attachment 1627864
So yes, I receive an enormous amount of trust from the chickens here but I'm just not as reliable, or as quick, or as alert, or as smart as a chicken so it's better if they stick to their best option, chickens.

Shadrach, you are exhibiting a level of contrarianism I have never seen before. It has taken you on path distracting from the OP's original intent. Please relate what you take contrarianism to mean.

 

[HeiHeisMom]

What do you mean about "indoor roosters"? Who would have a rooster without hens?

Not sure what was sent by indoor roster either, but I currently have an indoor Cockerel.
He was severely injured a month ago (half his head and face pecked off), but he's healing well and is close to reintroduction to his flock now.
Definitely imprinted on me at the moment. He's been in house in his own room at night and allowed to socialize with people in living room during the day.
He's a Sweety, at 9 weeks old... I'll be interested in seeing how the bonding changes as he returns to flock.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So much of it depends on the Rooster

This is the only post I'm gonna quote. First off I've tried many different breeds of rooster, I haven't found one more aggressive than another. I actually haven't seen any aggression since I stopped handling my roosters so much. That being said I think from all these post that it's the keeper that's the biggest determining factor on whether a rooster will be aggressive or not. I'm personally never afraid of my birds. I'm a dominant owner. Others who may be a bit wary of them may be influencing behaviors because chickens are good at reading body language.

I will continue my hands off approach because it works well for me. My roosters grow up respectful but still friendly. Mine do not fear me but they stay out of my personal space. I say find what works best for you. There's no one right way with chickens. What works for one person may not work for others because there's so many factors. No one person has all the answers, or the right techniques.

My best advice is if you are fearful of roosters, don't keep them. A rooster that has turned aggressive for any reason and is serious cannot be changed usually, so you must decide if that's something you want to live with or not.

 

[MissChick@dee]

This is the only post I'm gonna quote. First off I've tried many different breeds of rooster, I haven't found one more aggressive than another. I actually haven't seen any aggression since I stopped handling my roosters so much. That being said I think from all these post that it's the keeper that's the biggest determining factor on whether a rooster will be aggressive or not. I'm personally never afraid of my birds. I'm a dominant owner. Others who may be a bit wary of them may be influencing behaviors because chickens are good at reading body language.

I will continue my hands off approach because it works well for me. My roosters grow up respectful but still friendly. Mine do not fear me but they stay out of my personal space. I say find what works best for you. There's no one right way with chickens. What works for one person may not work for others because there's so many factors. No one person has all the answers, or the right techniques.

My best advice is if you are fearful of roosters, don't keep them. A rooster that has turned aggressive for any reason and is serious cannot be changed usually, so you must decide if that's something you want to live with or not.

I wish I would of listened to advice like this. I did everything wrong.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Everyone has a different idea what works and what doesn’t. I’ve handled hundreds of roosters with very few problem. Hands on works just fine.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I wish I would of listened to advice like this. I did everything wrong.

Actually I wouldn't say you did anything wrong. You tried a way and it didn't work. The next time try a different way until you get it figured out.

I used to have a pair of frizzle bantam Cochin brothers. Both I handled and pet because, well, they were soft and cute. One was fine, the other turned into the spawn of Satan, and eventually we butchered him because he wouldn't change his ways no matter how much I carried him around or penned him, or wacked him. To me that showed me some roosters can handle that type of interaction and some can't. I personally prefer to not run the risk anymore, but others obviously have a different outcome. My way works best for me. I always say there's no one right way with chickens. Just different ways.

 

[Amer]

Really? I've never had a rooster that thought I was a hen, or one that strutted around me. Even when I was a little kid, this never happened. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but from my perspective, aggressive roosters see flock keepers as competition and a threat to their dominance, not as potential mating partners, in most cases.

I agree. Mine think I'm a rooster. (And I'm definitely female.)
I found my roosters are most affected by genetics.
I can love on this one and all he does is seek attention, and then the little d'Anvers I ignore and they attack every time I see them.
Then I only kept friendly d'Anvers around to breed, and all of their sons are absolute sweethearts.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Well just rub it in Roooster! ...(hands on hips-tappin foot)...
And while you’re at it hold up a beautiful rooster!!!

 

[roosterhavoc]

Piss poor roosters imo has to do with breeding and the keeper. It’s not difficult to select good roosters but for most it’s quite difficult to actually cull/kill the birds that don’t make the cut. Many end up breeding them by accident or on purpose furthering less than outstanding genes. Same goes for weak sickly birds too. Most don’t do their flock any favors by keeping birds they have to constantly baby.
Thankfully there are still quite a few people actually breeding birds and not just hatching chicks.