Rooster Likes or Dislikes the color Pink?

[TheJadeChicken]

Just thought I would share in the "strange" behaviors.

So my Roo, a broiler/cornish rock mix from TSC last year. He did the oddest thing one day. He tried to "ride" my niece, he grabbed her as he would a hen. She was gathering eggs with my mother and was wearing a pink shirt. Well, it seemed odd to me and my mother. Since he came up to me all the time and never "jumped" me. I raised him myself and he was the runt. Being the runt of his group, I gave him EXTRA care. I thought about testing the pink theory.

So one day, I wore a pink shirt, myself. I went out there to collect eggs, feed, check water, and check on them. They were running loose at the time. Sure enough he tried to jump me. So being me a person that doesn't tolerate that kind of behavior, I grabbed him and held him for a little bit. I put him down and he ran to the chicken house. So I waited a couple of days to try the theory again.

After testing my theory again, my sister came over to do something, I don't remember what for. Well she was wearing a pink and black shirt. I told her to go and see about Roo's thing with pink. She went to the door of the chicken house, cracked the door open, and squatted down. Roo came up to her and jumped at her. She jumped up and slammed the door shut.

Anyone else have a explanation for this? Or have a situation where a poultry doesn't like or does like a certain color? Could it be that his favorite hen, another broiler/cornish rock, has a pink butt, and back?



I have been meaning to separate him from the others, so they can rest from him. I need to get a pen from my sister's house to put him, though. I would get rid of him, but I love him to much. I have also been carefully choosing hens to accommodate to his large size.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I have heard of roosters attacking red. My rooster does not like my red work gloves and he is more likely to bite them. He also goes after the red bottomed feeder when I am carrying it around. There was also another post about red flannel pants that riled up a roo.

I guess any color related to red could trigger such a response. Maybe someone can test the rooster's response to tangerine orange next.

 

[ClareScifi]

Very interesting, Jade Chicken! I also have a rooster I raised indoors by hand, and hot pink has been his very favorite color since he was tiny. I attributed this to the fact that after his StepMama hen nearly pecked him to death, I observed he was having trouble swallowing like a normal chicken when he drank. He wouldn't lift his neck up the way the others do. So I fed him drops of water from a hot pink children's paint brush handle. He would come running when he saw the hot pink of it, and he loved to chew on the bristles and fetch it for me.

I also got him a feather duster and he gravitated to the hot pink feathers in it, snuggling under them, so in his case it didn't have anything to do with mating issues. He was so young.

I have read a lot of posts about how roosters who were hand-raised and given lots of TLC as chicks turn into horrible monsters when they get older. The neglected and ignored roosters are usually sedate, but the runty, hand-raised ones often turn super aggressive like your boy sounds he is becoming. It is something about their boundaries having been messed with by being raised by hand, and they think humans, who were their early caregivers, are subservient to their dominance as they mature. Or they think of us as roosters, like them, and challenge us.

My boy does not like the color red or orange. I bought a water gun to try to tame his feistiness, but it as orange and he hated it. So I've traded it for a hot pink one and will test it today. I am wearing a hot pink sweater at present. I've heard roosters generally get calmer as they get older, but the teenage years can be trying for those parents who have a teenaged rooster whose hormones are in full gear.

 

[ClareScifi]

Jade Chicken, I meant to ask how old your rooster is? In my Avatar is a picture of my rooster when he was little.

 

[RedDrgn]

I don't know about the color pink, specifically, but I do know that bird's eyes (like ours) are more attuned to notice shades of red. As others have said, red has been known to elicit aggressive responses from roos and pink is just a shade of red.

I know that one of our neighbors wore bright red crocs into the yard once and our roo (who was in the run at the time, thankfully) went rather nuts crowing and strutting and watching her feet like a hawk. He also pecked a friend's red crocs over the weekend (they were not on anyone's feet). So either my roo doesn't care for large quantities of red either or he has some good fashion sense and hates crocs.

 

[ClareScifi]

My rooster started pecking me when I was wearing straight-legged pants that are a shade of reddish brown. He does seem to get quite riled when I accidentally wear anything red into the coop. Also fur! He hates fur with a passion. I have a reddish brown jacket (same shade of brown as the pants, now, come to think of it?!) with a fake fur collar. I think he thinks I am a grizzly bear. He gets so upset by the fur.
Probably genetic programming? Maybe thinks I'm a big bad wolf.

My boy does have a very vivid imagination. I believe in his mind I become a monster, especially if he's at knee level. When I pick him up and pet him he reverts to the cute, sweet, loving little chick I raised, before his teenaged hormones hit.

 

[TheJadeChicken]

Jade Chicken, I meant to ask how old your rooster is? In my Avatar is a picture of my rooster when he was little.

He is about a year now and very large. I keep his nails and spurs well trimmed. He didn't really "attack" my niece. her grabbed her shirt with his mouth, flapping his wings, and crawled on her back, like he would a hen.

Makes me want to test the "RED" theory. I might have to. Could it be the Red Comb and Wattle?

I have him separated from his girls. His favorite hen is glad and her feathers are coming in nice.

 

[DaniBrae]

I know this is from a while ago but I have four roos and none of them have ever tried to come at me. They are only 7 months old but I wore pink pants outside today and all of them were kind of acting like they were about to come at me lol

 

[FrostRanger]

Every roo is a bit different, some have triggers like that and others don't. That said, I would count such a quirk as a strike against them as if you have a guest and they don't know that your bird hates red they could get attacked. I wouldn't tolerate that from a roo any more than I'd tolerate that from a large dog, it's a liability