Rooster behavior question

[Folly's place]

If you do rehome him, do it with full disclosure!
Mary

 

[NatJ]

I've had hens for years but last summer we decided to try a rooster to begin hatching our own for your typical egg/meat reasons.

If you want a rooster just for siring chicks, you could house him separately, and bring each hen to him once or twice a week (watch them mate, then remove her.) It would make life easier for then hens, but would be more bother for you. (No matings needed outside of hatching season, which makes it a bit easier.)

Of course, any undesireable genes the rooster has (like ones that affect temperament and behavior) will be passed to his offspring, which doesn't matter if you butcher them all young, but does matter if you want to later keep one of his sons for breeding.

If you don't want to keep a rooster full-time but do want to hatch chicks, you could plan to buy an adult rooster shortly before you want to hatch chicks, and then butcher or rehome him after you're done. You'd have limited choices for what roosters are available at a given time (might have to choose between small, bad-tempered, and expensive--possibly more than one of those for each rooster.)

 

[Folly's place]

I never get outside birds, except for chicks from good hatcheries, so would not get someone else's cockerel or rooster. You could get a real gem, or not, depending on the health of that other flock, and what his behavior is actually like. People rehome good boys, but some will also rehome idiots, and not let you know.
As long as you have the time, space, and interest, I'd recommend starting with cockerels (plural) and selecting the one or two that will stay.
Mary

 

[aart]

I had NOT heard not to put them in with the flock until they're older... shoot!

Not true...better they are raised within the flock IMO.
It's too bad your older hens didn't put him in his place....he should be hiding from them.

Hmmm, OK lessons learned. I guess I should have asked about this a lot sooner. Thanks - now I know I guess and the poor girls won't have to go through this all anymore any which way we decide on him.

Don't feel bad, assessing and managing cockerel behaviors takes some practice and experience.

Of course, any undesireable genes the rooster has (like ones that affect temperament and behavior) will be passed to his offspring,

Not sure aggression is absolutely heritable....tho it could be.
Has more to do with keeper behaviors and flock dynamics, IMO.

 

[Folly's place]

It's not that every cockerel he produces will be miserable, but there is a connection, and given a choice, he shouldn't reproduce. is he part of an endangered species or breed? Likely not, so leave him out of the gene pool.
Management does matter too, but still...
Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know how much of behaviors is hereditary and how much is environment. I suspect a bit of both. So my rule is simple, If they (hens or roosters) exhibit behaviors detrimental to the flock or me, they don't breed. They generally don't hang around long either.

There are pros and cons of raising a cockerel with the flock to eventually take over versus bringing in a mature rooster. Bringing in a mature rooster to a mature all-hen flock is often about the easiest integration there is. Not always but often. He WOW's then with his magnificence, mates a couple of hens, and it's over. Occasionally you get a rooster that doesn't have the self-confidence to WOW them or you get a dominant hen that doesn't want to give up being the dominant one, but that's not that common. To me the downside is the biosecurity issue.

I choose to raise my replacement roosters from baby chicks. The downside of doing that is you have to watch them go through puberty. I'm ruthless enough and heartless enough that I can usually watch that with no problems, but occasionally it gets so rough that even I isolate some cockerels until they reach butcher age. Most people are kinder and more tender hearted than me so watching a cockerel go through that hormonal stage can be really rough to watch.

 

[Barredhen]

Not true...better they are raised within the flock IMO.
It's too bad your older hens didn't put him in his place....he should be hiding from them.

I think thats been part of the issue, I only have the three hens his age who aren't bossing anyone around and three older hens who were submissive to him when he was very young - no bossy hens makes for a prideful young fellow!
It reminds me of when I had a colt born whos mom was the boss mare, so no horse there was ever telling him no, today, hes 14, and hes a jerk!

 

[Folly's place]

My lead mare is the daughter of a very pushy mare that I leased one year for breeding. Thankfully I bred her to a saintly stallion, so her daughter is the herd leader, but nice. She did test the rules fairly often as a youngster, but once convinced, was fine afterwards.
Mary

 

[Chickassan]

Lucky!
Iv'e been trying for a blue boy for ages but no dice.
I have a hen with the genetics "well several now lol!"
She passed it to two of three of her daughters but nothing for her boys.
I'm not surprised, for all their charms the breed does like to pull my leg more than any other iv'e ever had.
Makes them fun though, that's what it is about anyway.

And as others noted, breed does not always guarantee temperment but I will say most every Faverolles fella I have encountered have been awesome. I have one roo and am getting a blue Salmon cockerel next week as a pair, they are great personalities but can be bullied if they are too easy going.

 

[Trevorusn]

Lucky!
Iv'e been trying for a blue boy for ages but no dice.
I have a hen with the genetics "well several now lol!"
She passed it to two of three of her daughters but nothing for her boys.
I'm not surprised, for all their charms the breed does like to pull my leg more than any other iv'e ever had.
Makes them fun though, that's what it is about anyway.

Thats why I jumped on a pair! I can mate both to my current Faverolles and really get the spread going!