Raising a rooster

[Shadrach]

Showbirds are a whole different ballgame. For one thing, they've been raised and trained that way from early on, and often part of the criteria in choosing a showbird is a calm disposition. But even so, it is no guarantee that a show rooster won't turn on and attack an owner when it is in its own environment and it feels its dominance is being threatened. It happens all the time. It has happened to me. And judging by the number of posts seen on here of tamed roosters attacking their owners, I'd say it is a very real problem.

I guess it all boils down to what you want, in the end. I definitely do not want most of my cockerels acting like pets and going limp if I touch them. They need to be tough and ready to deal with constant competition and the threat of predators. So not taming them makes sense for me as a way to avoid aggression. But if the original poster wants her cockerel to become a tame pet, then yes, with a lot of time and training it is possible. But it is still no more of a guarantee than any other way of dealing with cockerels that this bird won't turn aggressive. There really are no guarantees, only things to avoid to make aggression less likely to appear.

Ah, you have pointed out one of the problems I get with the over friendly roosters.
Much like you write, I really need fairly aggressive roosters if they are going to be flock protectors given the chickens here free range. I struggled with this a number of years ago with the first orphan rooster I had.
When this rooster grew up he was great to handle, would come when I called him, was very polite to the hens, but as a protector he was a pile of ****.
It wasn't until he had to fight the bully rooster here that he grew a set. so to speak.
He's not great at protecting now, but he's a lot better than he was.

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters are animals, and not all alike. Techniques and treatments that work with one rooster, may or may not work in another situation.

One of the things I notice, is that if you are talking a large operation, with multiple pens, multiple flocks, multiple ways to set up your birds, if you free range on ACREs not just a backyard, (which is really just a larger run) your birds are going to act very different to a flock that there are less than 10 hens, maybe not even 5.

So the advice you give, the experience that you have, often times does depend on your experience as a chicken keeper and your set up.

Roosters can be a crap shoot. I like to have my roosters give me space. I do not recommend keeping a rooster if this is your first year with chickens or if you have very small children, especially if they share a play space with the chickens.

My first flock, I did tame to the point they would jump on my knee and found I really didn't like it. I would just rather watch them.

Mrs K

 

[Peeps61]

Roosters are animals, and not all alike. Techniques and treatments that work with one rooster, may or may not work in another situation.

One of the things I notice, is that if you are talking a large operation, with multiple pens, multiple flocks, multiple ways to set up your birds, if you free range on ACREs not just a backyard, (which is really just a larger run) your birds are going to act very different to a flock that there are less than 10 hens, maybe not even 5.

So the advice you give, the experience that you have, often times does depend on your experience as a chicken keeper and your set up.

Roosters can be a crap shoot. I like to have my roosters give me space. I do not recommend keeping a rooster if this is your first year with chickens or if you have very small children, especially if they share a play space with the chickens.

My first flock, I did tame to the point they would jump on my knee and found I really didn't like it. I would just rather watch them.

Mrs K

I'm with you Mrs. K. I'd rather just watch them. I am on my 6th and 7th roosters as I write this post. I had a clutch of egg hatch and 4 of the 10 ended up being roosters with the two older roosters I had, that made 6. We recently culled four out, including my oldest rooster, and the two remaining are his chicks. None of these roosters have been human aggressive. I raised them with a hands off approach, meaning that I went around them, but did not pick them up or pet them. They keep a respectful distance from me and I don't do things to upset the hens and we all get along just fine. Of course, when we have visitors, especially those with small children, I supervise very closely or lock them up to be on the safe side. No problems so far!

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

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

some people keep bachelor flocks or only rooster flocks I think , Apparently the roosters aren’t agressive to each other when they have no hens to fight over. And I guess it’s just as unnatural as having an all hen flock.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Some good posts here about roosters. The idea of a rooster being aggressive and in charge is how they are programmed. If “you” want to be in charge don’t get a rooster. Otherwise let the rooster be the boss. Some of these old articles about “going on the offensive” should be taken down. Such terrible advice just creates roosters that are afraid and unpredictable.

 

[Shadrach]

Many of the posts on this forum regarding roosters stem from a few basic misconceptions/misunderstandings in my opinion.
1) roosters are male hens.
Looks silly written down but it seems many people expect the same behavior from roosters that they do from their hens. Roosters are male chickens and have a different set of behavior patterns to hens and consequently need a different approach.
2) roosters are a crap shoot.
Roosters are no more of a crap shoot than any other animal. Far more relevant is the human that keeps chickens has a far wider behavior variation than a rooster. If there is luck involved it’s with the human and not with the rooster.
3) the environment in which a rooster is kept determines to a greater extent it’s behavior.
The same basic drives motivate all roosters no matter what their environment. The wild card once again is the interaction with the human.

I agree with @roosterhavoc. Many of the how to deal with a badly behaved rooster are reactionary and reactive where the rooster is making the human behave in a certain manner rather than the human understanding why a rooster behaves the way he does and avoiding the point of confrontation.

The primary drive of the rooster is to further his genes. Everything he does and all the behavioral refinements and complexities are driven by this. If you understand this and then look at his behavior with this in mind, it becomes easier to avoid the confrontations that imo regrettably often lead to the death of the rooster by human hand.
If you have hens as well as a rooster then as far as the rooster is concerned they are his hens. You can wave your proof of purchase at him, steal them from him, lock him away from them but you will never convince him that the hens are yours.
Once you accept this then it is easier to understand what actions are likely to to provoke defensive, or aggressive behavior from the rooster.
If you study how a rooster acquires his hens then you can see what actions you may make which he may find threatening.

Many posters here at BYC will just dismiss the above and insist on being the boss and many will end up killing their roosters, or having a less satisfactory relationship with their rooster because the relationship is based on fear.

 

[Mosey2003]

A point about show roosters too though is that if you're raising and training birds for show, they aren't going to be out in a big mating flock. You'll have separately gendered pens, and then you'll have cages for doing training too. That is very different from having one rooster kept with a batch of hens he calls his own. If he's with males or by himself, he has nobody to protect.

 

[olayak]

Most of all, you have to realise that roosters are not like hens. It seems obvious but............
I’ve picked up and carried and been particularly friendly to a number of cockerels. There are always problems later but once you understand a bit about what drives the cockerel and how the cockerel is likely to see you as it matures how to handle the problems later becomes more straightforward.
If you feed and pet a cockerel he’s going to imprint on you. What’s more, he’s going to see you as a strange mix between top hen and something else he doesn’t quite understand. As soon as the cockerel is able to mate, particularly if you have a more senior rooster who mates with the hens, the cockerel is going to see you as the only mating opportunity he has.
He may well do the ‘you’re my hen’ dance around you. He may drop food for you. He’s likely to peck you to both boss you about and in part as a sign of affection. Most of all, he’s likely to try and mate with you, probably your feet. This really upsets some people and they seem to think this is either aggressive behavior, or find it distasteful. Frankly it doesn’t bother me. I’ve got a young cockerel here now in love with my boots. It takes time, but eventually they grow out of this stage and dump you and turn their charm on for the hens.
If you drive a cockerel that behaves like this away from you, this can make him aggressive and want to dominated you. This seems often to be where things go wrong for many people.
You need to remember it’s not his fault. You, by trying to be his mum, feeding him and grooming him etc, have made the situation. Most cockerels try to mate with their mothers first and later learn how to attract their own hens.
My advice is wear boots. Let him do what he needs to with the boots and if you don’t already have hens get some.

Very well said!!! I absolutely agree.

 

[olayak]

I

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

I have roosters witnout hens. A "bachelor flock". Many people do. There are several posters on here with only Roos. Because they are so much fun! I know several people with indoor pet Roosters. It's not uncommon.

 

[Wendy Case]

I have 4 roosters total that a raised from chicks. Lavender orpington, silkie, showgirl, and a mystery chick. I held them everyday and was with them a lot but not a single one completely tamed down like a few of my hens did. Only the lavender orpington is aggressive and its not all the the time. Only to little kids, animals, and strangers but sometimes he goes after me. The other three have never once showed even a slight bit of aggression other then the silkie roo bites sometimes when you try to catch him. They just run when you try to pick them up.

I have one roo and he's the reason I only have one!!!
I got him when he was six months old and a pretty sad lad. I held him a lot, but then I started on the the chicken road and got him his first lady... Both are cream legbars. Oh boy did he change! Flying ninja is an understatement. That had to stop.... Well it hasn't, but he has calmed down some with the introduction of three more ladies. He still challenges me at times. I always carry something into the run and coop.... Just in case! And I never know what mood he'll be in when I open the coop!!