Rooster Advice Needed Please

[CoolClucker]

Hello. I have just found out that one of my girls isn't a girl but a boy! So I have a rooster, and I'm a bit nervous. He's very sweet now at 7 weeks old, but I've heard Roos can be aggressive and mean. What can I do to raise him right so that he's a mellow, sweet boy when he's grown? I don't want him to be aggressive towards me or my family, but stay friendly. This is my first time raising chickens and they were supposed to be all hens...but I'm not going to give any of them away. I'm way too attached now. Thank you!

 

[imogene08]

well you dont wanna get to attached to a rooster like dont treat him like a hen treat him like a rooster so he will grow up to show respect and not think he can do whatever

 

[CoolClucker]

well you dont wanna get to attached to a rooster like dont treat him like a hen treat him like a rooster so he will grow up to show respect and not think he can do whatever

hmm , what do you mean by that exactly?

 

[creepygothnursi]

I think she means not to baby him too much, but let him know that he needs to respect you. Many people want to pet and cuddle roosters and play with them, and it's hard not to want to when they're cute little chicks. Unfortunately, this may lead the rooster to think that he is on the same level as you, or even dominant over you, and that can get dangerous if he decides he needs to put you in your place. I'm not the greatest expert in how to do this, but if you do a search of the forum on something like "how to dominate roosters", many threads will come up. It's super important that the rooster understand that you are in charge, because a violent or mean rooster can severely injure or even kill a small enough child.

 

[JackE]

It's literally a roll of the dice, on what kind of roo you are going to end up with. He may be the nicest, treating the hens good, and respecting you and your family. Or, he may turn into a total brute, abusing the hens, and attacking you or anybody else that gets into HIS area.
There is nothing you can really do now, that will affect his future behaviour.

Now, as far as what you can do when he gets older. Don't let him mount or mate hens in your presence, knock him off and make him back away. YOU are supposed to be the dominant one, not him. So don't let him show dominance by mating the hens in front of you. If he challenges you, walk him back. Just keep forcing him back by walking right at him, and keep going at him, until he turns away. Only then, have you won the dominance game. Or you can pin him to the ground, then pick him up like a football, with him looking to the rear as you walk him around fro a bit. This will have to be repeated over and over, as some roos are really hardheaded, and they WANT to run the show. So he'll regularly challenge you.
If he does show signs of human aggression, keep an eye on him when you and the family are out there. They WILL sneak attack you when you not on guard.

If you have small kids, and you have an aggressive rooster, you may change your mind about keeping him around.
Jack

 

[donrae]

If you have children and want them to interact with the birds, please strongly consider getting rid of your rooster. Yes, you're attached now, and he's sweet and quite probably the friendliest bird you have, but that WILL change. Your children won't understand treating him as livestock (and you may not, either) vs treating him as a pet and that's a recipe for a hurt child. At the least, we see soooo many folks here who decide to keep the rooster and their kids don't get any enjoyment from the flock. You didn't want a rooster in the first place, I say stick with your original plan for some hens and don't let an "oops" deter you.

 

[Folly's place]

I've had chickens for a long time, and agree with all the above abvice, except I think it's reasonable to give this guy a chance. However, don't try to make him a pet, and don't give him too many chances to "get better" if he starts to challenge any humans. Some brees are more likely to be a problem than others, but it's really an individual thing; both inherited temperment, and handling. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I've had chickens for a long time, and agree with all the above abvice, except I think it's reasonable to give this guy a chance. However, don't try to make him a pet, and don't give him too many chances to "get better" if he starts to challenge any humans. Some brees are more likely to be a problem than others, but it's really an individual thing; both inherited temperment, and handling. Mary

 

[CaroleK]

I had three roosters from an August 2012 hatchery order--two EE's and one BA. The one EE and BA were the friendliest birds, and my friend would sit and pet them for hours snuggled in her lap. We didn't realize at the time that they were roosters, and we didn't realize that "Rusty" (the other EE) was a rooster until months later. The one EE became very aggressive to me, and to the big BA rooster. I found a man who had 5 hens who wanted to give him a chance. He said if he didn't work out, he would have him for dinner. The big, beautiful BA was fine for awhile, but then he started to challenge me and run at my back. I worked him for awhile but decided I really didn't want roosters anyway. Another man took him for his 5 hens even after I explained his temperament. So now I have Rusty who is very sweet and respectful--maybe because he was low man and not cuddled. But I still will find a home for him as almost all of my hens have bare backs.

 

[Poohb10454]

I have not read all of these replies and I am fairly new to chickens, especially roosters. However, I just wanted to share my experience of the same situation. We bought 4 chicks that were suppose to be hens, then one day my silkie began to crow. He is the one shown in my profile pic, at this time we didn't know he was a rooster. We would bring "her" in and bathe her, the kids would sit on the couch with him. He was treated like a pet. He is about a year old now and after we found out that he was a rooster I have been much more careful about the little kids being around him however, he hasn't shown any reason for concern. I still pick him up and carry him around, everyday when I am out feeding horses. The older kids hold him when I am out there from time to time. I have heard rooster horror stories and I just hope that mine continues to be this way. Just this past weekend my husband was out at the barn fixing fence and he said that Dolly came up and jumped on him when his back was turned. Not sure if it is because he is never around him, or what but he said he kicked him pretty hard, so maybe he learned.

I don't have much advice, just handling ours very often and maybe just good luck with a docile personality helped with ours.