Rooster poll! Let's tally opinions!

[Louieandthecrew]

My oldest roo : very sweet... He's a Cochin
Second oldest : Wellie... sweet... shy
Third oldest : EE/Delaware Cross... protective, BIG, and scared of the oldest hen

 

[snowflake]

I have an EE rooster that is about 1 and 1/2 he is as sweet as can be doesn't like to be picked up but never goes after any one. He was handled a lot in the brooder the only white chick and we were sure he was a hen cause we ordered 5 EE hens so he is Gracie. poor thing still is called Gracie. We have had orpington,sussex, and the latest a lakenvelder and a rose comb all not handled much in brooder all start attacking by 6 or 7 weeks. used the hose on the Lakenvelder don't think I can carry a hose with me all the time, to bad cause he is really pretty. and I won't keep a pet that goes after people. Some one could get hurt. they eventually go after kids

 

[zowieyellowflame]

We have an americana rooster, Elton. I got him last May, I bought 8 hens, the rooster was free. I had to choose from a dozen roosters all destined for the pot. I chose the most beautiful..... brown, black, green. He was tiny. My husband laughed at him when I brought him home. He was just a little cockeral.
Now he has 3 inch spurs and is double the size of any of the hens. He is a real gentleman..... feeds the girls, finds food for them, will only eat if there is plenty. He has never attacked us. When there were chicks, he would take them for rides on his back. Seriously.
I think though he is assertive. One day my husband came home to find a hawk in our run, sadly, eating a young chicken. Elton was standing a few feet away. He did not hide. Also, we have not lost a single chicken to night time predators. Knock on wood! I attribute that to having a good roo.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

Not quit sure what the poll is actually asking?

What is the BIG roo of the world?

Now if given a choice of Nature or Nurture... I HAVE to choose... NATURE.
My roos are all treated the same and either they are a good roo or they are not a good roo. If there is any nurture involved at all, it would be the example of a good, experienced Head Roo to learn from.
Now as far as being an alpha in my family/pack/flock... I am.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have had 10 roos total and the nice thing about hatching them at home with hen is I got to watch their behavior for a while before choosing. The main roos name is Rufus he's game/ bantam 1 yr. old very sweet. Once he was weaned from mom I started going into the house in the evening and picking him up carrying him around with me, he has never showed aggression towards anyone takes very good care of his girls too, now we have his son JW [James Wesly] he seems to have his dads temperment but he's only 5 months old. All other roo's are in the freezer now. Only had one who attacked me he was a big brahma roo. But boy did they fight each other. We keep them till they start the fighting which seems to be around 5mos. Any way I love our roo's and don't think the flock would be the same without them.

 

[michickenwrangler]

We've just gone about and done our business in the chicken run and haven't had any issues with any rooster/cockerel that we've had. We had 4 males at one point, now we're down to 2, one in each run. While skittish, they were not aggressive at all. We didn't try to cuddle with them. We just would go in, gather eggs, give food and water and scratch feed, clean coops as needed, etc... and they just ignored us and we ignored them. It worked.

 

[elite8]

With this being my first year having chickens, I have dealt with a lot of roosters or cockerels already...7 of them. My first flock of 8 was supposed to be all hens. Ended up with two cuckoo marans roosters. I watched them develop and saw how dominance worked with brotherhood amongst pullets. Eventually they either got too aggressive with people and/or the pullets and had to go. They did learn that I was the boss but felt differently about others. I wanted more hens so i picked up six more bcm chicks. As it turned out, five of them were cockerels. Not good picking. lol Now I needed some more pullets as companions for the single girl. Eventually I picked two of the cockerels to move in with the three young pullets. Twelve weeks old at this point. I chose number two and number 5...number 1 being the alpha. Number 2 was very aggressive with the pullets so I had to pull him and soon found out that they cannot be put back with the original group of cockerels. No brotherly love happening. So far number 5 is working great with the pullets and people and I am hoping that his behavior will continue. I have already learned though that his temperament can change overnight when hormones get cranking. I think that having this many cockerels is actually a blessing in disguise...many choices available. I am not really looking for a pet rooster although that would be nice. My goal is to find one that will protect the ladies and have respect for people. Roosters are interesting creatures indeed.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm a benevolent provider but will be Big Roo if needed. So far I've only had to do this infrequently to change a roo's mind. The reference to "knocking them about" was very negative and not a good description for what one can do to change an aggressive roo....but then, to some, any negative reinforcement would seem like "knocking them about".

Coddling? Never have done it in all the years I've had chickens and don't really see the point in it. A roo is a proud male animal, not a teddy bear for a child. Be his superior, be his provider but please don't demean him by putting him in diapers and carrying him around like a baby doll!!!!

 

[tcates]

My Roo (RIR) has waffled between being aggressive and being well behaved. I do NOT coddle/cuddle him, but am prepared with the hose sprayer at all times. Unfortunately as he is getting older, he terrorizes the hens occasionally, but by the time I get there, he stops (knowing I am the one with the sprayer) and he always insists that he eats first, which irritates the heck out of me! I am hoping since this is on again off again, he will eventually settle down. He only tries to attack me if he thinks I am going to take the treats away now, which is an improvement. Still in the learning curve, but I remind him when he misbehaves that his body is shaping up nicely for a baked meal!

 

[lurky]

Joe Bryant had a great post recently. He has the best rooster wisdom i have ever read...................

"I've learned to never make my rooster jealous of me and to always shower him with respect for his status, allowing him to do what roosters do without any interference from me. I let him know that I know my position is merely the provider of food/water and care for him and his hens.This stuff of trying to prove that I'M the head rooster is just plain nonsense. I always try to make it look like the treats come from him when I let him eat out of the birdseed container, dropping a handful down in front of him so that he can call his hens over, and he knows what I'm doing. I treat the young rooster the same way. Neither has ever acted aggressively toward me.
" Joe Bryant