Rooster troubles!

[dolly85]

Your biggest problem is in your first sentence. You tried to hand raise him. This IMO is a mistake as it bonds this rooster to a human and as he grows older he will see you as a part of the flock. The problem is he will want to be the dominant rooster in the flock and will want you to be submissive to his dominance. Since he sees you as an overly large chicken he is going to try and compete with you for full breeding rights of the hens which gets YOU hurt. This problem isn't easily solved. I would throw that rooster in a crock pot and get an older kind rooster or a young chick and raise him up right.

 

[bluemooneggs]

Thanks for replying. We are new at raising chickens. How do we raise a rooster up right? We really enjoy our chickens but the roosters behavior is not so much fun.

 

[speckledhen]

Okay, here's my take on it, from raising several breeds, both hatchery and breeder roosters.

If they are programmed to be human-aggressive (and temperament is heritable, make no mistake!), then handling them as chicks will not make them any different. It only makes them much more comfortable in challenging you when their hormones begin flowing.

If they are genetically easygoing in temperament, handling won't change that when they become teenagers. By handling, I don't mean dressing them in tutus, LOL, just picking them up on occasion to check them over and get them used to being examined, etc. They may bite to test boundaries as "kids" but that is usually handled by grabbing them up and holding their beak shut-they really hate that! Even the rooster in the video below did that at 13-14 weeks of age and two sessions of aversion therapy cured it because he was not human-aggressive anyway. He's been exemplary ever since and he's over 3 years old now.
Check out the video in this post for proof of what a rooster can be like-this was the teen biter:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/384349/sdwd/14610#post_8894682
Another video from photobucket: http://s673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/Mtnviewpoultry/Video Clips/?action=view&current=DSCN5537.mp4

He had a half brother who was super friendly as a chick and up until 14 weeks of age, then the aggression started, first biting, then flogging shoes. He was culled. Isaac stayed and was the breeding rooster. You don't want to breed from human-aggressive males because that is most likely what you'll get in the sons. JMHO.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Thanks Speckledhen, you confirmed my suspicions....

I have 3 roos, all 10-12 months old....2 of them I raised, and they were great, until recently.....One has started the flogging thing, he attacks when I'm not looking. As soon as I can find someone to process him - he's in the freezer.

My Blue Copper Marans roo is great, always has been....

- And, for the record, I didn't "hand raise" my roos, just the occasional exam was all.....

The newest roo, a Salmon Faverolles I bought just over a month ago, has aggressively come after me and jumped at me several times now. Again, as soon as I can find someone to process him - he's in the freezer...

Now for the bad part - my 2 Marans hens went broody 2 weeks ago and are sitting on a mixed clutch. I have no idea of knowing which roo fertilized which eggs. I hate to think that those genes will be passed on....

I just got a replacement Faverolles roo this weekend and a Cochin roo too, they both "bit" me when I reached in the pet carrier to get them out, it was funny! It didn't hurt, they just wanted to test and see if I'd let them go - Not! Neither of them have tried it again since then....

 

[speckledhen]

Well, you'll just have to cull as necessary when they get to be of breeding age and show their true colors.

I want to make it plain that I am not saying that 100% of the sons of an easygoing rooster will be good-tempered, just most of them, as long as there is nothing situational that changes their behavior later in life, such as repeated predator attacks, etc. A bad situation in their later lives can make them different than they were as younger males.

My Blue Orp rooster sired literally hundreds of chicks all over the country in his younger years-I was sending out hatching eggs every single week one year. Of all those, most everyone who got back with me would say they adored the male(s) they kept. I recall only one person who said their son of Suede was a butthead, for lack of a better term. He is the most laid back rooster on the planet and he tends to throw the same type sons, no matter which hen it's with.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Speckledhen - (or anyone else with roo experience!)

Do you, as a general rule, keep most of your cockerels until breeding age? - I've read about people keeping a "bachelor pen" - does that really work? Do you introduce new roosters the same way you introduce hens? (slowly)

I'm considering doing some such thing. It would simplify my life a great deal, rather than having 3 or 4 separate groups.... I understand the "bachelor pen" needs to be located where they cannot see the hens.

 

[speckledhen]

I've kept many cockerels until they were mating the hens, yes, but I haven't kept a bachelor pen, as such. Usually, it's a group of juveniles who grow out until I can pick my keepers from that group. With some breeds, they really have to be to mating age or older before you can do that, and you can't select for temperament until then anyway.

 

[ldutch123]

Your biggest problem is in your first sentence.  You tried to hand raise him.  This IMO is a mistake as it bonds this rooster to a human and as he grows older he will see you as a part of the flock.  The problem is he will want to be the dominant rooster in the flock and will want you to be submissive to his dominance.  Since he sees you as an overly large chicken he is going to try and compete with you for full breeding rights of the hens which gets YOU hurt.  This problem isn't easily solved.  I would throw that rooster in a crock pot and get an older kind rooster or a young chick and raise him up right. 

This is an excellent point! I'm new to having roosters and now I have a bunch that are about 15 weeks old. I had to rehome about 4 already. I never even thought about this point. I thought the more I handle. Them the more tame and your right that just isn't so. Awesome advice.

 

[ldutch123]

How do you introduce a new roo to an already established flock with a docile roo.?

 

[speckledhen]

How do you introduce a new roo to an already established flock with a docile roo.?

Well, you may not be able to. A docile rooster may not be so docile when another one is in his territory. In fact, I would never try that without putting in a youngster to "sneak" him into the main flock and hope the guy in charge will think of him as a kid and treat him as such, then let him grow into the flock position as an underling. I personally would never put a mature rooster in with another mature rooster.

I'm about to intro the son of my main flock rooster in about 3 weeks. He'll be 12 weeks old and I hope Dad will accept him. If not, then will have to rehome him.