i am just wondering while my chics are small.. if you handle them alot will they be tame , even the rooster.. i know all the horror rooster stories and i of course like everyone else in fantasy land want my rooster to be friendly , so if i start now and we hold him everyday, and feed him by hand some, will he still grow up and be mean ?
The biggest thing Is to have your rooster believe you are higher than him on the pecking order. Holding him so he is easy to catch when older is not a bad idea and another is just getting into the habit of carrying him around when out with the flock while you do things. Both make him subservient to you which lessens the chance he will attack you for going near his chickens. If you have any kids in the family get them to do the same. That was who our rooster tried to intimidate but by the time all that started he was already big and while I could hold him the kids were too nervous. Get them in the habit while the rooster is still small and docile. Oh and I'm not sure I'd encourage the hand feeding. Its not showing him you are boss and that is where our problems began. He used to sit on knees being hand fed before we knew he was a rooster but as he got older he would rush at you to make you drop the food or get jealous I think of us feeding his girls. Nearly all our early behaviour problems happened when hand feeding. He would peck or rush at them. The kids would drop the feed at jump back and he would think he was higher up the pecking order because of it. It sort of went downhill with him and the kids from there till they couldn't go near him without him attacking them. So its not nescesarrily about cuddling its actually about being dominant.
I handled mine from the time I got them home and once they went outside I spent time sitting with them and handling them. I ended up with three roosters, 2 buff orpingtons and a Rhode Island Red rooster. My rhode island red rooster (which i know they can be horrible) is really sweet, he is a good rooster to his hens. He's not mean to me or anyone else, he's not overly friendly, but isn't mean either. He will come up to you, but doesn't want to be held or anything. Now on the other hand my two buff orpingtons are terrors! They are not nice at all and when they first attacked me my boyfriend was like stop screaming and stand your ground. Once I did that and whacked them with my shoe, a broom, or sent them flying they've realized it's not so nice to attack me because they get it back. They're good roosters to their hens so I don't want to get rid of them just yet, but they test me weekly . Just show them who's boss and hopefully they won't be too bad. Keep a broom by your coop/run entrance if need be. Hope this helps...
Daily handling is always important for bonding but don't be surprised if things still change down the road. I had one pullet that would freak out if I got near her. Around 13ish weeks....poof.......she became the sweetest bird I don't know what the heck happened but I'm not complaining!
I'm of the total opposite school of thought. I don't believe roosters should be pets, or friendly toward humans. My lower order roosters aren't at all friends with the dominant rooster, so I don't think they should be friends with me. If you want pets, have hens. Roosters do best when treated as livestock, with respect but the human assertive and dominant.
