RIR Roosters

[blucoondawg]

I would like to have a RIR roo in my flock as I like the look of them and they could be used to make some good layer crossbreeds, however I am leary of them, my grandparents had one RIR roo and 10 hens when I was a kid and that roo was the meanest thing in these woods. It didn't matter if you were going to feed them collect eggs, whenever if that roo heard that coop door open he came running in with a vengence. Something meaner than him finally took care of him, we found his carcass 100 yards off in the woods.
I have also read on the hatchery sites that RIRs "males tend to be aggressive". Anyone have experience in recent years with them? How likely is one to end up with a bad RIR, I will not tolerate an aggressive roo period, he attacks 1 person he's dead.

What is the best way to go about it? Get a few of them as chicks and watch them, cull out the more aggressive ones and keep the 1 most docile? Or will this cause more hositiliy issues having more than 1 roo to begin with and make them overly aggressive?

 

[sumi]

I had a RIR rooster (not pure breed though) and he was the most amazing rooster I ever had. And I had a few over the years. The trick is to raise them yourself and teach him to respect you and the hens and to nip bad behaviour in the bud. You will get some impossible roosters, but you will also get some really amazing ones. I've seen a thread here on retraining roosters, I'll see if I can find it for you... Here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...succeeded-in-retraining-an-aggressive-rooster

 

[RWise]

I have a RIR Roo about 8 months looking for a home, where are you located?

 

[shelbydog]

I have been around a flock that had about 9 extra RIR roosters and none were human aggressive. They were taken to auction because the male to female ration was way too high and the hens were getting too much attention.

 

[blucoondawg]

I am in far northern Wisconsin, I don't need one quite yet, I am still getting my coop and everything squared away, I am going to get chickens/chicks this spring or late winter.

 

[blucoondawg]

I just assumed since my only experience with a RIR was a nasty bird and that all the hatcheries claim they "may be aggressive" where they claim almost all other birds as docile, that one is far more likely to get mean nasty RIR roosters than nice ones.

 

[bilder]

RIR's made up most of my flick when I was younger. Most of the roosters were pretty docile toward humans, but they would fight among themselves from time to time and had a couple that lived dangerously and would pick fights with dogs, cats, and pretty much any other animal bigger than themselves.

I think it mainly depends on how much time you spend with them and if you show them who is in charge early on.

Meanest rooster I ever had was a Barred Rock. That thing attacked me more times that I can remember. I would just push him away or grab him and give a good toss, but he went after my niece one day and found himself swimming with the dumplings a few hours later. Good swimmer at that.

 

[blucoondawg]

We replaced the RIR with a big Barred Rock Rooster and he wasn't mean, my mom was afraid of him because he was quite big and would come charging into the coop at feeding time but he was after the feed, not attacking the people, lol.

 

[RWise]

My RIR hens will take bones from my dogs, not any (hen or roo) other will get that close to them while they are eating, but those red girls they aint scared. Hey dog thats my bone!