Rooster Characteristics? Agressive vs. non agressive

[IdahoPrepper]

A garden hose will tame any aggressive rooster. If he crows, hose him down until he learns NOT to crow. If he is aggressive, hose him down. Same goes for chickens. I have retrained 2 birds now to "behave"!
They learn real quick who the alpha leader is when you have a hose nozzle in your hand.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I finally thought of how to word what I'm trying to say.
Roosters are like people.
You've got the guy who constantly needs assurance and won't try anything new unless you're there assuring him it's fine. I've had two roosters like this. Rare, but it does happen. This is usu.ally the rooster who is fine with you but will get defensive around strangers
You've got mister Super Chill who is super chill with anything.
Then you've got your regular guy- he's nice, he's friendly, but if he feels threaten he will defend himself. And if you or another chickens hurts him, he will hurt you/them back.
Then there's the guy who's mean because everyone was mean to him. I had a rooster like this. Everyone picked on him, everyone beat up on him, and when he finally got a bit older, he started fighting back.
And last but not least, you've got your classic jerk. There's no reason he's the way he is, and he most certainly should NOT be trusted. But it's not fair to assume every rooster is a jerk just because he's a rooster. But I think most of us know our roosters well enough to know if they should be locked up if company's coming, if they shouldn't be trusted around kids/friends/or even yourself, or if they're fine no matter who's there.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Roos will jump up and kick with their hind legs. They will also strike out with their forelimbs. Roosters on the other hand behave in a decidedly different fashion.

I didn't know there was a difference between a rooster and a roo...I know the rooster / stag difference, and the rooster / cockerel difference. Is it an age thing? I thought it was just an abbreviation...

 

[sourland]

I didn't know there was a difference between a rooster and a roo...I know the rooster / stag difference, and the rooster / cockerel difference. Is it an age thing? I thought it was just an abbreviation...

My misunderstanding. 'Roo' is an abbreviation for kangaroo - I thought that somehow the direction of this thread had shifted.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Lol yeah your right it is. I'm just a lazy typer and shorten rooster all the time funny how roosters and kangaroos both jump and attack with their legs. I wonder if the pre/suffix roo means something that has something to do with that?

 

[Cynthia 085]

Lol you guys are funny

 

[Cynthia 085]

Thanks for the info. This has helped me understand more about roos oh roosters.

 

[ellend]

Hi everyone.

I thought to ask this question although it is a silly question. I am fairly new to chicken keeping and would like to learn more.

I have a rooster he is almost a year old. He is a smutty buff silkie. He has 7 hens to hang around with.

Here I have read many stories of agressive roosters.

My question is why are roosters agressive or not agressive? What is the deciding factor? Is it the breed type? The way the chick was raised? Or is it because eventhough they are all chickens each has their own personality?

I would like to know more information about this topic. Thanks
My roo is way too nice and docile. He is so clumsy and lazy, but never has he shown any agression towards me.

Trim the feathers from around his eyes, and his I.Q. will jump 40 points. He probably is half blind. Those that we rescued could barely find food on the ground until we trimmed their eye area feathers~then they could forage!

 

[ellend]

A garden hose will tame any aggressive rooster. If he crows, hose him down until he learns NOT to crow. If he is aggressive, hose him down. Same goes for chickens. I have retrained 2 birds now to "behave"!
They learn real quick who the alpha leader is when you have a hose nozzle in your hand.

I have a hen who crows--loudly and often. She's an OEGB, so she weighs nearly nothing. I hit her with full force of the hose, and after a few minutes she just gets indignant about being knocked off her high spot. Doesn't seem to mind the hose at all, LOL! We have to let her out of the run the second we get home, or she wakes up my (city) neighbor.

 

[dogmom]

We have only actively had chickens for about four years. Our original flock was a rescue of three roosters (all adult) and four adult hens. Eric was the Head Roo (and still is). He had two sons - Joseph and Prince. All was well for about a year. Then Joseph tried to kill Prince. We put them apart for a for few days. Upon integrating the flock, Joseph then turned on Eric. Eric defeated Joseph and we found a wonderful home for Joseph where he had 23 girls all to himself. He has turned out to be the perfect rooster - just not for us!

Currently Eric is still King. Prince has stepped up a bit and we now have Corey, a Porcelain Bearded Belgium D'Uccle Bantam and Rusty, one of this years cockerels. So far everyone is getting along. We have 36 ladies and eleven chicks of various ages. Since Joseph was re-homed, we have had absolutely no problems with aggression from the boys. In fact, our dogs interact with them and there are no problems.

Eric is the only rooster I've ever heard of who babysits chicks. When the moms are stressed, Eric will take over their care for hours at a time. At night if one of the little ones is scared or cold, Eric will get down from the roost and put the chick either under his wing or under his bulk (and he is a big boy - about twelve pounds). Eric NEVER eats before the girls and makes sure the babies eat before he does. We rarely see Eric sleep or dust bathe as he is ever vigilant. My husband or I will go out to give Eric his "breaks" so he can nap or sunbathe. If we go back in the house, Eric instantly go backs on hawk duty.

Cory and Rusty are tiny compared to Prince and Eric. Prince will whop the smaller roosters if they get uppity. Eric just walks away. Prince did try to take over a couple months ago but Eric wouldn't allow it. Eric simply stood up to Prince and that was that. The girls all prefer Eric and follow him all over our acreage.

Eric is now about eight years old and we see he is starting to age a bit. We hope that the new youngsters learn his gentlemanly ways and his wisdom. He will be irreplaceable!