Rooster in my "flock" of five?

[GorhamFarm2011]

I recently acquired 5 chickens which I was told were all hens. Lately, the "runt" of the 5 has become larger than the others, aggressive, jumping on the chickens and pecking the back of their heads, and making sounds like a rooster. All but this chicken has gotten used to me, I can pick them up with no issues except this one! I cannot get within 3 feet of it.

I have attached a link to a short video showing the chicken making a rooster sound.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lZl5Mea6lJghckV6CwaIiwnyFBhDi8h7

 

[Ridgerunner]

No doubt, that is a cockerel.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! He's a cockerel, starting to crow. They sound really weird at first, it's kinda cute. Having him avoid you is a good thing; he needs to respect your space at all times. Often, the 'friendly' cockerels turn out to be human aggressive as they mature, so keep him out of your space, walk 'through' him, don't handfeed, and be glad he's being polite.
I don't handle my roosters unless necessary, and then generally only off the roost at night, with minimum fuss.
Cockerels usually mature before the pullets, and haven't yet learned how to behave, so it can look a little rough at times. As long as nobody is injured, it should work out in another month or so.
if you can have a rooster where you live, he may be a real asset, or at least, entertainment out there.
Mary

 

[sourland]

It's a cockerel.

 

[GorhamFarm2011]

Wow, thank you everyone for the prompt replies! Now what do I do about the eggs? I don't want fertilized eggs, I wanted all hens. I may call the farm I got them from, hoping they might take it back?

 

[Folly's place]

Why not fertilized eggs? They only develop if incubated!
Moving him on would be fine, if that's what you need to do. Don't ask what will become of him though.
Mary

 

[chickendreams24]

Unless you incubate the eggs or allow a broody hen to you won't find a chick and a fertile egg doesn't increase the blood or meat spot possibility as these occur within the hen.

Pick up you eggs once or twice a day and you'll be fine. Even if you forgot for a couple days unless it's like 80*F+ there's no way you'd see development and it takes approximately 3-4 days for an unfamiliar eye to see any development at all anyway. You can always learn to candle the eggs if you're nervous about it.

It's something we heard often when we first got chickens and kept cockerals and roosters, from non-chicken people who "knew" or thought they knew their stuff. You can't eat fertile eggs you'll find a baby chick etc. Bologna.

 

[GorhamFarm2011]

Why not fertilized eggs? They only develop if incubated!
Moving him on would be fine, if that's what you need to do. Don't ask what will become of him though.
Mary

Sorry for my ignorance! The egg will be unaffected unless incubated?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sorry for my ignorance! The egg will be unaffected unless incubated?

Correct. It will not develop unless incubated. It will cook the same and will be the same nutritionally.

I still think it s a good idea to crack one of our eggs into a separate bowl before using it. It is not unusual for a hen to put something strange inside the egg like meat spots or blood spots. Commercial operations electronically candle their eggs before packaging so they can eliminate those eggs and not surprise their customers. Those eggs are OK to eat but there is a Yuk! factor involved. They usually sell them at a reduced price to someone like a bakery or pet food manufacturer that opens the eggs before they are used. It has nothing to do with a rooster because those commercial operations don't have roosters.

It is a good question, don't apologize for not knowing. We all have to start somewhere.

 

[GorhamFarm2011]

Correct. It will not develop unless incubated. It will cook the same and will be the same nutritionally.

I still think it s a good idea to crack one of our eggs into a separate bowl before using it. It is not unusual for a hen to put something strange inside the egg like meat spots or blood spots. Commercial operations electronically candle their eggs before packaging so they can eliminate those eggs and not surprise their customers. Those eggs are OK to eat but there is a Yuk! factor involved. They usually sell them at a reduced price to someone like a bakery or pet food manufacturer that opens the eggs before they are used. It has nothing to do with a rooster because those commercial operations don't have roosters.

It is a good question, don't apologize for not knowing. We all have to start somewhere.

Nice!!! Now i want to keep him to protect the flock as long as he doesn't get aggressive with people. He's been with the same hens since he was born, and he has not yet become aggressive.