Rooster behaviors

[Duckydos]

Sooo I ordered 4 hens from a hatchery and to my surprise the black australorp turned out to be a rooster. He is 15 weeks old and has started being a typical rooster, bitting at my feet and dancing all around me. We have a stand off every morning and it seems like hes trying to get me to stay put until he says so (obviously I'm not doing this) but I'm wondering if he's being a bully to the females. He doesn't let come out of the coop until he says so and keeps them for a good part of the day hidden under my duck coop. He's under there with them but aren't chickens supposed to be roaming all day? I'm currently looking to rehome him since I can't have roosters in my neighborhood, but I'm fascinated by his behavior and want to understand more. Is this typical behavior or is a big bully?

 

[lagrange chicks]

I have seen about the same from my easter egger roo, he tells the hens / pullets when to come out and when its bed time. What I have a problem with is he has been mating the barred rocks for a month now but the 2 easter egger pullets want nothing to do with him and because of that he runs the easter eggers off when treats are offered, kinda saying you don't get none if i don't get to mate you. So when I offer treats I have to spread them around the run and some in the coop where the easter eggers get chased to so they get some treats also.

 

[azygous]

Now is the time to address your cockerel's aggression. Read this article https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/i-think-i-have-a-cockerel-now-what-do-i-do.76274/ I whipped up about dealing with a naughty boy first and then we'll talk about it.

If you do not attempt to mitigate his behavior, he could end up being dangerous to you and your family.

 

[Duckydos]

Now is the time to address your cockerel's aggression. Read this article https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/i-think-i-have-a-cockerel-now-what-do-i-do.76274/ I whipped up about dealing with a naughty boy first and then we'll talk about it.

If you do not attempt to mitigate his behavior, he could end up being dangerous to you and your family.

Wow great article. Thank you so much for sharing. I will try this tomorrow on him. Are you wearing gloves when you are grabbing him and holding him down? I would imagine you're getting bitten during this process.

 

[azygous]

No gloves. I've only had biting issues with one rooster. That was his only aggressive trait. I trained it out of him, but it took a year to do it.

Remember that your own behavior is what most affects how a cockerel will behave.

 

[Duckydos]

No gloves. I've only had biting issues with one rooster. That was his only aggressive trait. I trained it out of him, but it took a year to do it.

Remember that your own behavior is what most affects how a cockerel will behave.

Good morning! I'm hoping maybe you can give me some ideas as to how to best handle him in the morning since this is my biggest issue right now. I'm trying to keep in mind that my behavior is affecting him most, so maybe you can see another way I should be doing this in the morning that will help him.

I have their coop inside a big run area, so I have to go inside the run to open the door on the coop to let them out. I stand back out of the way of the door to give him as much space as possible but he comes out so fired up and runs over to me and starts bitting my boots or above my boots trying to get at me. At this point I'm assuming this is when I need to hold him down until he calms down right? I tell him no and he backs off and then when I move he starts all over again. This is when he's most aggressive, otherwise if I have a stick in my hand he completely leaves me alone. Why that works I have no idea. He's never been hit with anything nor would I ever hit him with it. I tried having the stick in my hand this morning and that didn't work at all.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Since I can't have him in my neighborhood I'm trying to rehome him but I would love to get his aggression under control before doing so since this is a very important age to do so.

 

[azygous]

First and foremost you need to understand roosters are intelligent. They are not just a tiny brained chicken. They are more like dogs in their perceptions of threats, and they easily pick up human words to associate with our interactions with them. Use consistent words such as you have when brandishing the stick, "back!" in the appropriate forceful tone, and like a dog they will quickly program it into their brain.

Why he is respectful of the stick and not you, is that (1) he understands the stick is an object separate from you. (2) the stick isn't acting afraid of him, but he easily picks up on the fact that you are. You see? Your fear is showing up in your outward behavior, so you need to work on conquering your fear. Continue to use the stick as you have. Just don't hit him with it. It does help to think about dog behavior when trying to understand rooster behavior. I've even found strong comparisons to human male behavior, also. It's no accident we have the word "cocky" in our language, and, ah-hem, other similar ones.

When you go out in the morning and enter the run, and he comes charging at you, hold the stick up, as chickens easily associate objects with commands, and say "back!" in a forceful tone. Then proceed into the run with slow, calm, confident body movements. If he comes charging at you again, do not stop, but keep moving slowly and confidently directly toward him, and if he attempts any aggressive actions, just keep moving right "through" him, forcing him to step aside. This is a sign to him that you have just made a dominant gesture and forced him to back down. This whittles away at his cocky self confidence, and it begins to force him to reconsider his relationship with you.

Keep that up as consistently as possible and it usually doesn't take long to see some improvement. Pop back in if you run into any difficulties and we'll give you more tips.

But be aware, there are roosters with genes for excessive aggression, and they may never respond to training. It's one reason I've stayed away from the aggressive breeds to decrease my chances of getting such a rooster.

 

[azygous]

Just to clarify why I haven't suggested you try the grab and hold or the immobilization technique in your case, it is because your fear is too strong right now for such close interaction. The "walk toward and through" technique will accomplish almost the same thing and allow you more space to conquer your fear. And, if this rooster is a quick study, as many are, it may not be necessary to get hands on with him, although eventually you may wish to get him accustomed to being handled. We can explain later how that can be done.

 

[Duckydos]

First and foremost you need to understand roosters are intelligent. They are not just a tiny brained chicken. They are more like dogs in their perceptions of threats, and they easily pick up human words to associate with our interactions with them. Use consistent words such as you have when brandishing the stick, "back!" in the appropriate forceful tone, and like a dog they will quickly program it into their brain.

Why he is respectful of the stick and not you, is that (1) he understands the stick is an object separate from you. (2) the stick isn't acting afraid of him, but he easily picks up on the fact that you are. You see? Your fear is showing up in your outward behavior, so you need to work on conquering your fear. Continue to use the stick as you have. Just don't hit him with it. It does help to think about dog behavior when trying to understand rooster behavior. I've even found strong comparisons to human male behavior, also. It's no accident we have the word "cocky" in our language, and, ah-hem, other similar ones.

When you go out in the morning and enter the run, and he comes charging at you, hold the stick up, as chickens easily associate objects with commands, and say "back!" in a forceful tone. Then proceed into the run with slow, calm, confident body movements. If he comes charging at you again, do not stop, but keep moving slowly and confidently directly toward him, and if he attempts any aggressive actions, just keep moving right "through" him, forcing him to step aside. This is a sign to him that you have just made a dominant gesture and forced him to back down. This whittles away at his cocky self confidence, and it begins to force him to reconsider his relationship with you.

Keep that up as consistently as possible and it usually doesn't take long to see some improvement. Pop back in if you run into any difficulties and we'll give you more tips.

But be aware, there are roosters with genes for excessive aggression, and they may never respond to training. It's one reason I've stayed away from the aggressive breeds to decrease my chances of getting such a rooster.

We had a VERY successful morning! Thank you for all your suggestions. Fingers crossed we keep moving in the right direction.