Rant about people stereotyping all roosters as mean!

[FarmerGrant011]

All of my moms friends are saying I'm unreasonable for butchering a rooster for it being mean... They are like "all roosters are mean! Thats just not fair!" Can I get many voices on my side (and I do plan on showing this to them) that a rooster CAN be good. And in fact be a pet. Pictures would be awesome ( especially of ones with the rooster being nice

and yes, I know some roosters are flat out mean (example- my rooster of today), but I just want to prove.. They were like "ALL Breeds of rooster are mean..." Its just so stereotypical. But yeah. Now I am done.

Grant

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I probably have several dozen roosters, and there is not a mean one among them. I've never had a truly mean one, and quite frankly, I think that misunderstanding a rooster's motives is the reason people make them mean. A rooster's goal in life is to serve and protect his hens, from danger and from others who may be his rivals. If you fight with him, he sees you as a rival and is lively to attack; if you mess with his hens, he sees you as either a threat or a rival. You need to make him see you as an inpenetrable force of nature that it is pointless to fight: like trying to fight a falling tree limb or a lightening bolt: simply no point.

Do not fight him; CONTAIN him. Do not kick or hit him; pick him up, firming hold him, and take him with you where YOU want to go, then put him down where YOU want to, not when HE wants down, but quite a while after he stops struggling. Pet his back, offer a treat and otherwise simply do not treat his attempts to fight you as worth noticing.

All that said, if you have an aggresssive rooster, do not let your kids out when it is not contained where it cannot get to them.

 

[clairabean]

This big boy is my BO roo, Gingy. He is the sweetest, most gentle bird ever. We can go up to him and give him lovings, yet he can put the run on any dog (or neighbour!) who is bothering his ladies. And Gingy's idea of 'his ladies' include me.

I have scars on my arms from a RIR roo attacking me. He lasted about 30 seconds after he drew blood. While gentle, kind roos are far and between, there are some. I understand how there is a stereotype of roos being mean.

 

[gryeyes]

I have a ton of roosters in my flock. At one time there were at least 19 of them. I've had to "take permanent action" on ONE mean rooster, and he was a bantam Cochin, of all breeds! 8 others are destined for Freezer Camp at somebody else's house because they were RIR packing peanuts accompanying my order of 2 goslings.

My dominant roo is Carl, an EE. He's a fabulous rooster.

Here is a straight shot of Carl in all his glory.

This is Hitchcock, a Salmon Faverolle.

This is Nugget, a friendly bantam Cochin.

This is Michael, an EE. He's a sweety, too.

This is George, a Silver Sebright and he IS obnoxious but controllable. His twin brother is Alex and Alex is definitely a sweety.

This is TJ, a white Leghorn hatched from a Trader Joe's refrigerated egg (along with 3 WL pullets). He's cool, too.

This is Wilbur, a BCM mix, and HE is a sweetheart!

This is Jack, a BO mix of some sort. He's a very friendly rooster.

I don't have handy photos of Ghost, a splash Jersey Giant, very mellow fellow. Or Frick, another bantam Cochin. Or Albert, a Mille Fleur D'Uccle. Plus a tween-aged roo named Cardigan, and some other, as yet un-named boys....

 

[BusyBlonde]

I have 3 Barred Rock Roosters, and all three are NOT mean. T-Rex is my head roo; he is very protective of 'his' flock, but the only time he ever came at me, I was catching one of the hens to give to a friend. I know why he was trying to protect her, and that's the only time he's ever been less than friendly to me.

Butch and Bubba are the other 2 roo's. Butch is really sweet, he eats scratch from my hand, and is very gentle. Bubba may go to freezer camp - not because he's mean to me, but I feel he's rougher on the hens. They seem to prefer the other 2 roosters, and I don't want them stressed.

I LOVE my pretty, sweet roos!

 

[BrattishTaz]

I have 6 friendly roos and 1 that is a little bi-polar. They run around my yard like a bunch of puppies. They love attention (even without treats). The bi-polar one (a BO) went through a mean stage in his teens but has calmed down nicely. He will occasionally charge and untie my shoes.

Once he has won the shoe battle, he leans his head against my leg waiting to be petted.


This is my favorite rooster, Nugget, and my daughter. He will bite your ankle if you do not pick him up fast enough. He insists on being carried around. This rule applies to anyone that enters the yard.

Honestly, I prefer roosters to hens. I can't imagine not having them around.

 

[FarmerGrant011]

haha I can't wait until the next time I see my moms friends. Im definetely going to show all this off to them!! MUAHAHAHAHA

 

[Rosaleen]

We had a RIR rooster several years ago (we got him from a cousin). Ralphie was about 8 months old when he came to our house. We had about a dozen hens and he fit right in. He was the sweetest rooster I ever had. Anytime I sat outside, he would come over and sit on the armrest of my chair and keep me company. He would follow me around the garden and I showed him where all the Japanese beetles were...he then showed the ladies and they all kept my garden pest free. A few years before Ralphie joined our flock we had two roosters that were brothers...we had named them Bill and Hillary....both were quite nasty to our two year old so they didn't last very long with us even though we raised them from chicks.

 

[stormylady]

I'm with ya! Absolutely not all Roosters are mean! In my experience very few are actually mean!

 

[FarmerGrant011]

Quote:
THANK YOU!! I don't know why this one is so mean! I know he is just trying to protect the girls (which I hold) but he will try to spur me and everything! And don't even get me started about collecting eggs!!! UGHH