Rooster GOOD Behavior

[LaurenRitz]

Just a weird thought. Tell me what you think.

I had a Black Jersey Giant cockerel. Highly intelligent, attentive, observant. Once he got past the randy teenager stage he was a perfect roo.

I gave him to my sister to watch her flock of RIRs, since I already had a roo. She named him HeiHei. He was killed by a dog shortly after his girls started laying.

He'd been so amazing that my sister wanted some of his babies. Using pullet eggs from girls who had been laying less than a month, we didn't expect a high survival rate, but we ended up with three.

Here's where it gets interesting.

From day 1, one of those chicks was highly protective of his sisters. He would get between them and danger, herd them into a corner and stand guard. He seems to have skipped entirely over the bratty teenager phase although he's still figuring things out.

If the girls walk away he accepts it, although he'll keep wing dancing, offering treats and so on. All of them are squatting for him.

He is currently 16 weeks old and already acting like a mature rooster.

What are the chances that this might be genetic? That he could pass it down to his sons? It seems that he got his father's intelligence, and ramped up the good behavior.

I intend to back-cross to the RIR and then use his sons as the base for a project I'm doing. I sincerely hope this trend continues.

 

[Debbie292d]

I think this is cool that you posted this because when you flip the coin, those horribly mean roosters we cull because we do NOT want to pass their genes on. So if we believe that, then we must also believe good traits such as your rooster do get passed on as well. I don't personally have the flock to prove it one way or the other, but I believe it!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Personality is both genetic and not genetic, depending on which traits pass down in generations. There can be an aggressive individual that comes from a breed who has a tendency to be friendly, or vice versa, and that personality trait might be totally random. Culling aggressive roosters is always a good idea when you are breeding so you don't hatch out cockerels that might carry their sire's undesirable personality trait. Positive personality traits are the same: they can also be passed on through generations!

 

[wrathsfarm]

I think this is cool that you posted this because when you flip the coin, those horribly mean roosters we cull because we do NOT want to pass their genes on. So if we believe that, then we must also believe good traits such as your rooster do get passed on as well. I don't personally have the flock to prove it one way or the other, but I believe it!

Flip that coin over again, and think about this. Should we only breed that good tempered Rooster with our most docile friendly Hens to re-inforce those genes?
What happens if we just breed him willy-nilly to every hen including the standoffish ones?
How does both genders temperament effect such progeny?

LIke you said, we always talk about our males temperament. But where does the females temperament play in?

I'm just learning genetics to hopefully start a breeding program and by no means an expert in any of this, but along the way I'm learning there's always correlation between the Hens genes passed to the Cockerels and vice versa. The Rooster passes a lot to his Pullets.

I'm eager to being schooled on any of this if I'm wrong. Just a thought.

 

[LaurenRitz]

It is an interesting thought. Do any aggression genes correlate with flighyness in hens, or with standoffishness, or with some other trait? There are aggressive hens, but how does that correlate?

I know that because of my goals I won't be breeding any hens that are aggressive toward chicks.

I lean more toward intelligence in this instance. I saw his father actually learn from experience, watch the old rooster and copy his behavior. He learned where I herded them away from and kept the girls away after. He learned to get what he wanted and actually changed his behavior to get it.

In hindsight I should have kept him, but two roos, one an inexperienced cockerel, was too much for five girls.

 

[wrathsfarm]

It is an interesting thought. Do any aggression genes correlate with flighyness in hens, or with standoffishness, or with some other trait? There are aggressive hens, but how does that correlate?

I know that because of my goals I won't be breeding any hens that are aggressive toward chicks.

I lean more toward intelligence in this instance. I saw his father actually learn from experience, watch the old rooster and copy his behavior. He learned where I herded them away from and kept the girls away after. He learned to get what he wanted and actually changed his behavior to get it.

In hindsight I should have kept him, but two roos, one an inexperienced cockerel, was too much for five girls.

I have a SLW in my mix flock that's no part of breeding for me. Just an original when I just had the mixed flock only.... Anyhoo, I've threatened to cull her countless times to the point I'll never own another SLW. I know it's just the individual but leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Makes me wonder how her Karen attitude would effect her progeny and if there would be any difference between her raising her chicks to be just like her or incubating/hand raising and if there would be a noticable difference?

Also firmly believe Cockerels learn from their Sires. I re-homed 1 this summer who was a spitting image and temperament of his Dad. Wished I could have kept him also, but too much white and squirrel tail. I've since put King (Dad) in the mixed flock for
Olive Eggers and Marans hybrids.
King

Prince

 

[LaurenRitz]

The interesting thing here is that HeiJ never saw his dad. HeiHei had a senior roo to learn from, but his son has never seen another adult rooster. Considering how well his son acts, I can't help wondering if some of HeiHei's teenage behavior was a response to the senior roo.

 

[Debbie292d]

Flip that coin over again, and think about this. Should we only breed that good tempered Rooster with our most docile friendly Hens to re-inforce those genes?
What happens if we just breed him willy-nilly to every hen including the standoffish ones?
How does both genders temperament effect such progeny?

LIke you said, we always talk about our males temperament. But where does the females temperament play in?

I'm just learning genetics to hopefully start a breeding program and by no means an expert in any of this, but along the way I'm learning there's always correlation between the Hens genes passed to the Cockerels and vice versa. The Rooster passes a lot to his Pullets.

I'm eager to being schooled on any of this if I'm wrong. Just a thought.

I've never had a hen be so mean I wouldn't want to breed her but I have heard of it. I don't know what a person would do as most wouldn't think of culling a hen as they may be over on roosters as it is.

I am starting color genetics breeding next month with a few fancier silkies I have that will produce certain colors. In these more controlled situations, it might be more evident. For instance, Marsha is a beautiful splash silkie, but dumber than a box of rocks. There's a trait I'd wonder if that goes to the next generation in some of her chicks.

I don't think most of us are in a position though to keep all of the best and nicest chickens and roosters together to hatch eggs from them, and just eat the eggs of the other ones.

 

[Tonyroo]

It does help the line, if you breed to calm hens. You would be perpetuating that characteristic behavior and response with both generational cockerels and pullets.