Rooster behavior

[crisempe]

So I got two roosters from when i purchased my laying hens one rooster is a yellow buff Orpington and a Nh red rooster. The buff roo is 4 months old and I don’t know much about rooster behavior I have notice he is a little aggressive but only towards me female owner lol he is nice to my boys and husband. Every time a go outside he follows me and starts dancing in circles around me and gets all puffy then I try to pick him up to stop and he tries to peck me. I was putting him away yesterday and he tried to dance around me and then he pecked my legs of course I stop him and scolded him. I’m the one who is in charge of them I do all there things. I’m giving him away bc I don’t know why he is behaving like that towards me, I don’t know if my Nh red roo is going to be sad they grew up together and the buff was in charged so I don’t know if the Nh red will take the responsibility that the other had over the chickens I’m at a loss bc I love both my roo but scared the buff aggression towards me can later hurt my kids. Thank you any advise would be great

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

I had the same issue, and you'll get a lot of opinions I'm sure. I was told to pick the bird up, and force submission. I was also told not to do that because it would only increase it's aggression and that it's best to just let them do their own thing. I was also told that once a roo begins to attack a human, it's time to put them in freezer camp. Ultimately, I gave him away and my other birds were a little skittish for a few days, but have since moved on. No matter what you do, ultimately you can't have a bird that attacks you because they actually can do some serious damage.

 

[Shadrach]

So I got two roosters from when i purchased my laying hens one rooster is a yellow buff Orpington and a Nh red rooster. The buff roo is 4 months old and I don’t know much about rooster behavior I have notice he is a little aggressive but only towards me female owner lol he is nice to my boys and husband. Every time a go outside he follows me and starts dancing in circles around me and gets all puffy then I try to pick him up to stop and he tries to peck me. I was putting him away yesterday and he tried to dance around me and then he pecked my legs of course I stop him and scolded him. I’m the one who is in charge of them I do all there things. I’m giving him away bc I don’t know why he is behaving like that towards me, I don’t know if my Nh red roo is going to be sad they grew up together and the buff was in charged so I don’t know if the Nh red will take the responsibility that the other had over the chickens I’m at a loss bc I love both my roo but scared the buff aggression towards me can later hurt my kids. Thank you any advise would be great

You can train them. It can be a lot of work. The dance around you is ‘your one of my hen’ dances. Some people don’t like it; I’ve had it a lot and I’m male. It doesn’t bother me.
It is in reality very simple. If you are scared of the rooster and you have children then don’t keep roosters. They are not like hens. You need a completely different set of rules for any rooster, even the nice ones ime.
I’ve never seen anything that states hens can’t live together without a rooster and be as perfectly content as humans are able to judge.
I find roosters fascinating but I’ve had quite a lot of experience in dealing with them. When you no longer have children to worry about and have the time and interest to get to know how your rooster sees the world then that is the time to get one.

 

[DobieLover]

@Hobbits Mommie is correct. You will get opinions on how to deal with roosters that vary considerably.
I will give you mine!
I had 2 cockerels. One never showed any aggressive behavior, one showed mild issues. The non-aggressive one was a bit of a dolt. The more assertive (we'll call him assertive, not aggressive) showed early on all the traits you want a rooster for.
I rehomed the nice guy. He was also the dominant cockerel.
The day after nice boy left, Mr. Assertive crowed for the first time. He never made a peep before that.
He has flogged me twice. For his own misguided reasons. He does not do this to DH. Like you, I do all the work with the flock.
Young cockerels with a body full of raging hormones and all those lovely pullets enticing him sometimes misbehave. Your boy dancing around you is trying to dominate you. That needs to stop. I have chased my boy around when he gets any attitude and have goosed him pretty good in his fluff. The second flogging earned him a boot up his butt. Not hard enough to hurt him as I don't feel that is fair to the boy but certainly hard enough to make my point clear. Incidentally, he has been a model citizen since that episode.
I do not pick up my cockerel (unless he's getting treated for an injury or a health check). He has hated being handled from day one.
I walk very assertively through the flock and will march right through him. He always gets the heck out of the way.
I keep my eye on him so I know where he is at all times. He does the same with me.
He is not human aggressive as I've had strangers in the pen with him and he just watches.
Your remaining cockerel will come into his new position as flock leader soon enough. He will certainly not miss the boy you rehomed. You absolutely cannot have a cockerel that shows too much dominance around your children.

 

[The chicken whisperer 5]

So I got two roosters from when i purchased my laying hens one rooster is a yellow buff Orpington and a Nh red rooster. The buff roo is 4 months old and I don’t know much about rooster behavior I have notice he is a little aggressive but only towards me female owner lol he is nice to my boys and husband. Every time a go outside he follows me and starts dancing in circles around me and gets all puffy then I try to pick him up to stop and he tries to peck me. I was putting him away yesterday and he tried to dance around me and then he pecked my legs of course I stop him and scolded him. I’m the one who is in charge of them I do all there things. I’m giving him away bc I don’t know why he is behaving like that towards me, I don’t know if my Nh red roo is going to be sad they grew up together and the buff was in charged so I don’t know if the Nh red will take the responsibility that the other had over the chickens I’m at a loss bc I love both my roo but scared the buff aggression towards me can later hurt my kids. Thank you any advise would be great

Hi So I have a roo and he is sweet and tamed to everyone, it helps if yours gets to know you the reason he is doing this to you is because he is chellanging you he wants to see who is the head “rooster” or it is because he thinks you are a threat to his flock. He can be tamed with a lot of time and effort. The other one he is tamed now because he isn’t the main protector of the flock so if he become the main protector he might do the same thing as the Orpington unless you get him to trust you and you need to be the main protector of the flock. You can do this by holding him for a few times a day or if you don’t have time you can do it for ten minutes a day. With treats just you and him. If he try’s to attack you then stand your ground because he needs to know that you are the head rooster mine try’s to attack me very rarely but you have to stand your ground he takes one step you take two steps forward.
Hope this helps,

 

[crisempe]

Thanks everyone for the help I think he sees me like rooster bc i think he is trying to dominate me in a certain way I’m not scared of him the times he has tried to attack me I push him away and stand my ground. the chickens always listen to me and come when they are called I just don’t have the time with 2 kids to tame him, my other roo is much more tamer and he even looks for my 5 yr old to pick him up and be petted I was just concerned that after I give away the leader he will pick up on protecting the chickens bc he always wonders off without the chickens were we are to be with us.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You can man... well in your case woman a rooster and it is best done in a separate place or building where you can confine that bad boy to a 2x2 foot stall. This makes it easy for you to catch him and you don't need to chase him around to get your hands on him. The younger he is the easier it will be to man him.

When he dances around you he is flirting with you and if you refuse to be dominated by him then he may well go to the next level which is out and out violence towards you. I would think that your rooster was raised in a brooder and not by a hen. Therefor he views humans just like he views his fellow chickens.

 

[crisempe]

Hi everyone so here is an update, I did rehome my dominate rooster, and this morning I notice my hens are challenging my Nh red roo that I kept and the hens are pecking each other, so I don’t know if the hens are establishing again the pecking order due that I gave away my other roo and I notice my Nh red looks overwhelmed keeping them in order, I hope I did the right choice, is he goin to get over it.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi everyone so here is an update, I did rehome my dominate rooster, and this morning I notice my hens are challenging my Nh red roo that I kept and the hens are pecking each other, so I don’t know if the hens are establishing again the pecking order due that I gave away my other roo and I notice my Nh red looks overwhelmed keeping them in order, I hope I did the right choice, is he goin to get over it.

It will certainly take time for order to be restored. They will be sorting out the new pecking order for sure.
Give them lots of space and extra feed and water stations to minimize the drama.
As your cockerel matures, he should start coming around. Some are not born leaders though. At least you don't have one that is coming after you.

 

[The chicken whisperer 5]

Hi everyone so here is an update, I did rehome my dominate rooster, and this morning I notice my hens are challenging my Nh red roo that I kept and the hens are pecking each other, so I don’t know if the hens are establishing again the pecking order due that I gave away my other roo and I notice my Nh red looks overwhelmed keeping them in order, I hope I did the right choice, is he goin to get over it.

Hi, Your chickens are gonna fight among each other for a little to figure out the new alpha of the flock. Your roo needs to figure out if he is gonna be alpha or not. My roo is alpha although he is afraid of one of my hens because she’s twice his size but he tells her who is boss so everyone should be fine hopefully maybe just watch them for a while to make sure there not hurting each other to badly.
Hope everything works out for your flock.