Roosters

[16 and me]

I have two excellent roosters over the main flock; the rest went here.
View attachment 3801311

Ah yes, so far 8 cockerels and 1 roo have gone to my freezer camp. #10 will be going soon.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

I've got so many Roosters/Cockerels.

My big boy Goliath will follow me like a puppy. View attachment 3801364He's a gentleman to his ladies.

Wow! He’s impressive looking! What breed is he?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Wow! He’s impressive looking! What breed is he?

He's an Indian Malay.

I've got more too.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

This is Pedro, King of his castle.
View attachment 3802084 He is an excellent roo at 3 years old. He is a gentlemen to all, and a very fine protector of his ladies.
To better understand roos you have to understand males in general. They are providers and protectors, with the primary goal being to procreate and preserve their flock. If they see you as a threat, you're in for trouble. If they see you as one of their flock, you're in for trouble. Respect is key. If I'm crouched in the garden and the hens come to see what I have, it's cute tous humans, but the roo may see me as trying to woo his girls away from him or as crouching in submission. So as he approaches I acknowledge him and stand. He always gets first few pecks at the food in my hand, which he drops for the hens. When they are all circling him for his favour, he is at his happiest and I start to drop grains and seeds for the rest. I avoid picking up hens in his presence when possible, as he would feel the need to protect them, putting our relationship in jeopardy.

This is Sammy, who is in the penalty box:
View attachment 3802095
Sammy wants to be a good roo. He is good with people, but he just doesn't want to be #2 roo and he isn't winning over the flock with charm. He's 7 1/2 months old and wants to establish his kingship by overthrowing Pedro & bullying the hens into submitting to him. He may well be a great roo for a flock with only him as king, but his days are numbered here I'm afraid.

They are both beautiful! That is good to know!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

He's an Indian Malay.

I've got more too.View attachment 3802109

How tall is he?

 

[MysteryChicken]

How tall is he?

Goliath is 3ft tall.

This black cockerel I haven't measured yet.

I added more pictures.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

They really are some cool looking chickens!

 

[MysteryChicken]

They really are some cool looking chickens!

They really are. Also an almost extinct chicken breed here in the US.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

This is Almanzo when he was younger! I don’t have many pictures of him before I rehomed him.

This is also Almanzo

this is Royal with his hens! This picture was taken when they were molting so they all look a little scruffy

I gave my two silkie cockerels away when they were pretty young. Lewy was not very nice. Even was pretty good but I didn’t have enough hens for them.

 

[McChooky]

I have kept chickens for years, and have had a lot of roosters. I have had two outstanding roosters out of all of them, one more that was pretty good. Chrome who was an expensive Biefelder and Captain, a mutt red, with a green tail, and Bye - who was never suppose to be kept as a flock master, ugly as sin, but simply checked off ALL of the other boxes:

• Good with people
• good with grandchildren
• calm
• ladies adored him
• broke up fights in his girls
• tidbitted to his girls
• kept his girls together
• good with chicks
• beautiful crow
• found and created nests for the hens (they never quite liked them, and he was good with that)
• good with predators warnings until the last one got him

I have had two roosters since Bye, snowman got aggressive. I have Longjohns - he is a middle of the road rooster - a nice bit of eye candy... but only checks part of the boxes.

Roosters are a crapshoot. I have a slim theory, that you get better roosters if they are raised in a multi-generational flock, under older birds and you do NOT MAKE A PET of him. This forum is filled with stories where the darling becomes the nightmare. They really are not good pet material.

If you cannot butcher a rooster, my advice would be to re-home him ASAP. A lot of them do not work out, especially for inexperienced people. The traits that people think indicate that the rooster likes them, are often times pre-traits to not respecting people.

If the OP has children under the age of 6 and especially if they share a yard with them, I strongly recommend letting the rooster go. Rooster are opportunist and will attack children first, often times in the face. It has often ruined the whole chicken experience.

On rereading the OP - and see their rooster is a year old and is doing fine, that is a good sign, but always be aware.

Mrs K

They're taught from day one whether we can be trusted or not so I don't let anyone around my chickens period lol. Not everyone has a set up where they can separate their chickens from visitors or family members and is it impractical for others. Yes they will attack people they don't like, whether they've been mistreated or not. I also agree they can inherit good and bad traits from the parent stock so getting chickens from reliable sources is important