Rooster Breed Aggression Question?

[Uriel]

Was having a discussion with my husband about this. Genetics matters - some breeds seem to have more 'male' dominance, mating and aggression. But I've had two related roosters of the same breed be night and day- one aggressive and one sweet. Hmm. The number of hens he is protecting matters -don't give him too many- 6 or so seems ideal. Personally I think that a rooster learns manners from the older roosters around, and if there isn't a good roo role model for him to follow around at a young age, he is more likely to be aggressive being the only protector around. If his women are able to be taken from him by other roosters around that he doesn't trust, it stresses him out daily trying to keep them as his. Also, my roosters only ever fight (and not too bad) when they are locked up for a couple days, otherwise one will normally run away and chill alone somewhere when provoked, and sneak his way back into the flock later, without the fight having to happen.

 

[ClareScifi]

I raised my rooster by hand indoors from the first day he hatched outside under his StepMama, who did not care for him one little bit. That's a whole new ballgame, and he's my only rooster I've ever had, and the only rooster I will ever have-- a pet. He is confined, and others can keep him in line, if they have to interact with him. My chicken sitter boots him and has no trouble with him when he takes care of him while I am traveling. I didn't choose him; his egg was dumped on me, and it hatched and turned out to be a boy. I tend to be more partial to girls and was horrified at first when I realized what I had on my hands, but then I realized he was not responsible for his gender. It was the luck of the draw. He couldn't control his genetics.

I'm sure the mothers of sociopaths at times have wanted to kill their children and eat them, but I doubt that they have ever done anything so drastic? And I'm sure they'd never give their sons away. That would be selfish-- passing along a problem child to someone else to deal with!

No, this boy is mine, and I have to make the best of it. He is actually quite a joy. His hens love him, and so do I. I want him to have a happy, long life, whatever it takes. He has personality plus.

Your attitude is common among those who view chickens as livestock.I am used to it by now. But there are the rare ones who learn to put up with their mentally challenged boys and establish a mostly peaceful co-existence. I don't think he can really help it that he's not the sharpest crayon in the box. It ttakes some work and creative thought, but it can be done, if you have the inclination, time, patience, and circumstances to do so. Love can prevail. But it's much easier to just kill or get rid of the problem. But I'm not one for the easy way out. I have no biological children of my own, so maybe that makes a difference in this, too. Life is precious to me, even if it is only a rowdy rooster's life.

I didn't choose to keep chickens. They were a present dumped on me. I don't even like eggs all that much. But chickens do make beautiful pets. And angel food cake IS pretty tasty! :>)

But I appreciate everyone's comments, no matter which way they lean I realize some folks just don't have the energy or desire to deal with a problem chicken, but I really don't mind. I like the problem-solving puzzles and challenges of it all.

 

[ClareScifi]

Bingo, Uriel, I think you have hit the nail on the head!

My rooster's StepMama was totally stressed out by the male energy of hatching 3 little cockerels. She had never been a mother before; she was a virgin hen. Their rambunctiousness on the nest really irritated her. She pecked all the boys, but none of the girl chicks.

And my rowdy rooster never had the benefit of an adult male rooster to learn manners from. That would certainly explain it.

You are brilliant, Girlfriend!

I had to give his 2 brothers away last Valentine's Day when they were almost 5 months old. Luckily, they went to a good farm together, where they had 20 hens between them, and I was promised they would never be eaten. The farmer was a pastor and thought one of the boys was just gorgeous. I hope they are both still alive and happy.

They would have beaten up my rooster. One of the two pecked him when he first hatched and nearly killed him the first day he hatched. When I gave them away, it didn't take long for the remaining girls to warm up to my rooster. His StepMama knocked him off one hen when he first started mating, to establish her authority over him, but soon she, too, fell for his charms, and now they are all best buddies.

 

[keesmom]

I agree with you, Lacey. I think it mostly has to do with genetics.

My SO and I argue about this. He says I spoiled the rooster, coddled him too much.

Well, this rooster was as sweet as could be, very gentle and tame, until his hormones hit. Even the vet I took him to when he was 4 months old commented on what a very good boy he was.

Genetics can play a part. So can over-coddling a young rooster. Don't believe me? Go look at all the "What went wrong? He was SOOO sweet" posts over in the behavior section.

I'm certainly not mean to my roosters but I do expect them to respect my space. I'm with Chris09 - a male who is aggressive without a reason absolutely needs to be dealt with (soup pot). Those genes should not be passed on. I know you don't agree, but then I guess you've never been spurred or have a rooster try to go for your face. I like my eyes. Having to watch your back while tending the birds takes the fun out of it, at least for me.

 

[ClareScifi]

All those "what went wrong posts" have to do with imprinting, and there are an equal number of other posts and stories from people who didn't coddle their roosters who still have the same rooster problems. My sisters, much older than I, for example, recall the roosters on our parents' farm as being mean. They weren't raised by hand, and they weren't coddled, so I don't buy your theory at all. Genetics, and as wise Uriel pointed out, lack of adult male role models for the rooster chicks are key. My rooster can't help it that he didn't have a father figure. He doesn't deserve to end up in a soup pot for something that wasn't his fault.

Do what you want with your own roosters, but please don't tell me what to do with mine, keesmom. You are a very different personality type from me, as is evident by your frequent posts on this topic. Perhaps you can kill roosters easily enough, but I never could, nor would I want to do so. I am not a killer personality.

No, I have never been spurred by a rooster or had one go at my face. That is because I respect my rooster and give him his space. I don't let loud children around him. Luckily, I don't have any loud children to annoy him and agitate him.

I discussed this with my SO, and he thinks Uriel is brilliant, too. He totally buys her theory that it is the lack of a male role model for the rooster that caused the problem. I teased him that he was too much a work-a-holic and wasn't there for our buy at the critical stage when he needed 'male bonding,' so now he is accepting the blame, and not blaming me for coddling. He has seen too many boys from single parent homes, with only a single mother raising them, who have similar behavioral issues. It really makes sense.

It's very simple. Thank you, Uriel, for being a close observer of rooster behavior. You should write up an article about this. It is fascinating!

To each his own. If you want dead roosters, fine. I want mine alive and happy.

 

[keesmom]

Do what you want with your own roosters, but please don't tell me what to do with mine, keesmom. You are a very different personality type from me, as is evident by your frequent posts on this topic. Perhaps you can kill roosters easily enough, but I never could, nor would I want to do so. I am not a killer personality.

No, I have never been spurred by a rooster or had one go at my face. That is because I respect my rooster and give him his space. I don't let loud children around him. Luckily, I don't have any loud children to annoy him and agitate him.



To each his own. If you want dead roosters, fine. I want mine alive and happy.

I did not tell you what to do with him. I told you what *I* would do with him. That is all.

I am happy you found a solution to your dilemma. I will not post to your questions in the future. I apologize for doing so now.

 

[Lacey1988]

I must say though that although my SLW is a very sweet roo, he is awful to the hens he doesn't feed them and barley even mates with them but on the other hand the more aggressive roos I've had were really good to their girls. Feeding them till they themselves were practically starved...So ones good for you the other is good for the hens in the end someone gets disappointed ha..Now I've never killed a roo for simply being aggressive because chickens are simple creatures and like I said they're not dogs you can't really train them heck it took me about 15 minutes just to get one to go through a gate...Oh and also mean roosters make gathering eggs much more interesting lol

 

[Chris09]

All those "what went wrong posts" have to do with imprinting, and there are an equal number of other posts and stories from people who didn't coddle their roosters who still have the same rooster problems. My sisters, much older than I, for example, recall the roosters on our parents' farm as being mean. They weren't raised by hand, and they weren't coddled, so I don't buy your theory at all. Genetics, and as wise Uriel pointed out, lack of adult male role models for the rooster chicks are key. My rooster can't help it that he didn't have a father figure. He doesn't deserve to end up in a soup pot for something that wasn't his fault.

Do what you want with your own roosters, but please don't tell me what to do with mine, keesmom. You are a very different personality type from me, as is evident by your frequent posts on this topic. Perhaps you can kill roosters easily enough, but I never could, nor would I want to do so. I am not a killer personality.

No, I have never been spurred by a rooster or had one go at my face. That is because I respect my rooster and give him his space. I don't let loud children around him. Luckily, I don't have any loud children to annoy him and agitate him.

I discussed this with my SO, and he thinks Uriel is brilliant, too. He totally buys her theory that it is the lack of a male role model for the rooster that caused the problem. I teased him that he was too much a work-a-holic and wasn't there for our buy at the critical stage when he needed 'male bonding,' so now he is accepting the blame, and not blaming me for coddling. He has seen too many boys from single parent homes, with only a single mother raising them, who have similar behavioral issues. It really makes sense.

It's very simple. Thank you, Uriel, for being a close observer of rooster behavior. You should write up an article about this. It is fascinating!

To each his own. If you want dead roosters, fine. I want mine alive and happy.

Quote:
I will let you know that 99.9% of my male bird have never been around there sire ("father") as they were growing up and I can remember only one (1) rooster that would attack for no reason at all and he did not last long, so the, whole not having a father figure is a very poor excuse for a mean rooster and keep in mind that they are chickens not children.. lol


g Chris g

 

[ClareScifi]

They may just be chickens to some folks, but they ARE children to ME. :>) I don't kill or eat children OR chickens.

I'm sorry your rooster did not last long. Too bad for him. I think a lot of these poor birds that end up in soup pots are seriously misunderstood and could have had nice long lives had people figured out how to work with their quirks. But I don't think most people have the inclination, patience, or caring to do so. Much easier just to chop off their heads and be done with them. After all, they are just chickens, not children-- or so the thinking goes?

I don't think being around the sire is the key to optimal rooster development. I think it is being around ANY nice adult male rooster they can learn from as a chick. It doesn't have to be the biological father, as I understood Uriel's post. My boy grew up around NO other roosters. He had very minimal interactions with his two rooster siblings, mirroring each other through a mesh fence on a couple of occasions, but that was it. And they were his same age, not adults.

Lacey, I think you are right that the more aggressive roosters are the nicest to their hens. They view all other species as potential predators. My boy is the way you describe. He'll make sure all of his girls get first choice at treats before he takes a bite himself. He's quite high-strung and anxious as to their welfare. It is a kick to watch. Once he rounded them up around a garter snake and gave them a whole college lecture about snakes. It was just fascinating to observe. They were spellbound listening to him, while staring at the poor terrified snake who got out of town as soon as they disbanded.

As I see it, my boy is an excellent rooster-- one who does his job of guarding his girls with excellence, skill, and precision. He takes his job so seriously and worries if anyone causes a girl to squawk-- myself included. He's a bit prissy and anal in his personality. He's a real FussBudget, and I love him for it!

As long as I mind my own business and don't get his very active imagination all stirred up, we get along great. When he cocks his head and looks at me with those bright, beautiful eyes, I feel all is right with the world. I know I'm a bit dippy over my chickens, but what is wrong with that?

 

[ClareScifi]

Keesmom,

Did you say you got hurt by a rooster? If so, I am sorry.. Did you both get spurred by a rooster and have one go for your eyes, as well? That would be awful.

There is no need for you to apologize. I understand that people have different opinions, and it is okay to disagree.

Peace,

Clare