Roo or pullet?

I am not familiar with rooster behavior
If just one bird out of the bunch is much more aggressive than the others (walking up to you is aggression, in this instance), it's often a cockerel. And, the cockerel that is showing signs of aggression at this age would worry me a bit.

We have to remember that chicken society is not human society. For example, we would never, ever tolerate a man who ran around, grabbed women by the back of the head, held them down, and mated them. That's rape. It's also very common rooster behavior, especially for young cockerels or roosters that feel like their chickens aren't behaving properly. In chickens, it's not rape, although I do not find it easy to watch and I cull older birds that do this too often.

In chicken society, the alpha bird (always a rooster in a mixed-gender flock) gets the highest perch. Holding a cockerel and letting him have that high perch can go to his head, especially if he's putting his head above your eye level. And in chicken society, the hens groom the rooster. So when you hold and pet a cockerel a lot, you are telling him that you are beneath him in the flock pecking order. Then, he grows to sexual maturity and decides to make sure you know that he's #1 and shows signs of aggression towards you, by snaking his head and fluffing his neck feathers and moving towards you. And if you don't squash this behavior immediately and in fact move away from him, then you've basically told him plainly in chicken language that he's the boss. After that, he may give you a cue that you miss, because you don't speak chicken. And he decides to punish you and put you in your place, and attacks you and flogs you. At that point you've got an aggressive rooster on your hands that probably can't ever be trusted not to hurt people and has to be killed.

Not every rooster that is cuddled turns out to be a beast. BOs are known to be among the most laid-back roosters. If it were my bird, however, I would stop cuddling it until I could see for sure whether it was a cockerel or a pullet. IMO, cockerels are better off left alone, but watched. IF/when they show those first signs of testing you, long before they attack you, you make sure that they know you're the alpha rooster and waaaay too big and mean to challenge. I do that by stomping and squawking and flapping my arms and chasing him all over the pasture. Then, if he challenges me a second time, he's culled that day. Some BYCers cull after the first display of aggression.
 
It's not aggressive, they all act the same and run away when I first walk into the run. The buffs are especially skiddish because they are the newest in the flock. There is no challenging going on and I haven't seen any of my BOs peck any others. If its a rooster though I will send it to the country to a friend of mine. I have to chase it down to pick it up, it doesn't walk up to me or really act any different than the others I just think its a pretty one so I am more likely to pick it up.
 
It's not aggressive, they all act the same and run away when I first walk into the run. The buffs are especially skiddish because they are the newest in the flock. There is no challenging going on and I haven't seen any of my BOs peck any others. If its a rooster though I will send it to the country to a friend of mine. I have to chase it down to pick it up, it doesn't walk up to me or really act any different than the others I just think its a pretty one so I am more likely to pick it up.
Ah, that's not how I read it the first time. I understood you to be saying that most of the BOs were skittish, but one was friendly.
 
Ah, that's not how I read it the first time. I understood you to be saying that most of the BOs were skittish, but one was friendly.
Sorry I didn't mean to confuse. All the BOs are skittish but the one that is growing faster and had me thinking it was a rooster lets me hold it just a little bit longer than the rest. They only come up to me if I have feed or mealworms lol
 
This is too familiar. I got 4 buff Orpingtons in my first batch. They are in week 5 now I believe-maybe 6th week idk. Anyways, they look the same as yours, one is darker and bigger and friendlier than the others. I pegged it for a roo right away and called it roo. I am not sure yet but now I suspect I might even have more than one roo. I will try to post pics tomorrow if I can so you can see the similarities.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom