Talk me down - Roo expectations

[UpstateChickenDaddy]

I have a new flock of 9 BOs and ALorps. They have all been together since literal day one. My roo is a BO and they are all now 12 weeks old. Charles is always the first one to come greet me when I approach the run. They hang out together all day and sleep in a huddled bunch at night. I have seen some neck feather ruffling and some chasing here and there but as much with the girls as with Charles. They peck at me, and if they become too pecky I peck them back on the head and make sounds etc. That said they are as friendly as pigeons. I can barely move inside the run because they are all marching around wondering what I brought them.

Most of the posts I see here about roos are about how aggressive and awful they can be. I know that any day now hormones are going to start to kick in. A couple questions:

(1) Should I interpret his coming over to the run door as early signs of aggression despite he not being particularly aggressive or just “hey daddy, what treats did you bring me?” I have an emeegency time out run at the ready.

(2) Mine was a late brood so they are maturing when it is cold out (today it was 39 but they didn’t seem to mind a bit despite our wind which is pretty bad here right on the lake). I realize hormones don’t not happen because it is cold but does anyone have any experience with differences in spring versus fall flocks?

Btw they all follow him around now to the run door, inside the coop, etc. He hasn’t stopped getting his share of treats yet. I hope he soon starts asking the ladies first but teenage boys - can’t live with them in any species.

As an aside my roo somehow got himself stuck in a corner of the brooder playpen under a platform when he was about 10 days old. We frantically searched the entire house before my other half heard his plaintiff loud chirps and we rescued him. I hope that buys us some good will.

UCD

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

This was a great explanation to read, btw.

For #1, I think so, but it's a good thing. He should start looking out for the ladies too soon, where he picks up the food and drops it for them.

Usually, the bad in roosters comes out before the niceties though.

If he becomes overly aggressive with you or the chickens, there are ways to wait the hormones out for a month or two, like pen him up alone and away for what could be that long. I think sometimes people don't give them a chance to get beyond that. Yours may never be overly aggressive. I hope not!

 

[Altairsky]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

There is a lot of misinformation about roosters. If you read enough on this forum, basically it appears that everything cockerels do can be an early sign of aggression. Don't believe it. This is a good article that can clear things up.

 

[Perris]

As someone with 4 adult roos and 2 cockerels, I find most posts about aggressive roosters to be testaments to their owners' inexperience and lack of understanding, combined with keeping the birds in confinement so the roo has nowhere to run away from its owner or their kids. Your keeping conditions will make a difference to your birds' behaviour, male or female.

 

[aart]

I find most posts about aggressive roosters to be testaments to their owners' inexperience and lack of understanding

Hear, Hear!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

(1) Should I interpret his coming over to the run door as early signs of aggression despite he not being particularly aggressive or just “hey daddy, what treats did you bring me?” I have an emeegency time out run at the ready.

The way I'd interpret that is that cockerels are more curious and braver than the pullets, even at a very young age. That's why so many people fall in love with their cockerels more than the pullets. The boys have personality while the girls hang in the background.

(2) Mine was a late brood so they are maturing when it is cold out (today it was 39 but they didn’t seem to mind a bit despite our wind which is pretty bad here right on the lake). I realize hormones don’t not happen because it is cold but does anyone have any experience with differences in spring versus fall flocks?

Not especially when it comes to aggression or such. Each bird is an individual, male and female. Some mature early, some mature later regardless of the time of the year.

Btw they all follow him around now to the run door, inside the coop, etc. He hasn’t stopped getting his share of treats yet. I hope he soon starts asking the ladies first but teenage boys - can’t live with them in any species.

Interesting attitude. You expect to have issues so you probably will. Not necessarily related to aggression toward humans but with their behaviors to each other.

I agree with Perris, lack of understanding and lack of room cause a lot of complaints and real problems. I'll repeat, each cockerel and each pullet have their own personality. They will go through puberty at different ages and at different rates. Sometimes the transition through puberty and into a mature flock is seamless, very little if any drama. But that is not normal. Typically the hormones hit the boy hard long before the girls are ready. His hormone-driven instincts tell him to mate with the girls to establish dominance. The girls usually resist. It can get really rough down there. That can be really hard to watch, especially of you don't understand what is going on. Once they mature they typically settle down into a happy peaceful flock where all members know their part. I've had that happen with a cockerel as young as 5 months. With most of mine that is around 7 months, but I have a flock with adult hens and pullets. Some roosters never settle down.

I've never had a chicken injured during that phase but some people have. Having enough room gives them more opportunities to work through this phase. That does not mean 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run per chicken. It means enough room to get away from the cockerel and to break line of sight. Clutter in the run can help a lot.

Human aggression is a lot harder to write about. You see all kinds of suggestions on how to train a cockerel to not become a human aggressive rooster. I have my own opinions but the reality is that some cockerels raised with a lot of hands-on grow up to be great, some grow up to be human aggressive. Some cockerels raised with humans dominating him by carrying him around or kicking him turn out great and some not. Some cockerels that are basically ignored may turn out either way. I cannot say that any one method will definitely work. I wish I could. One thing I am convinced of. If you are afraid of him he has a real good chance of sensing that and they can be bullies.

If a rooster becomes human aggressive I consider him a low-level danger to me but more of a risk to visitors and family members, especially grandkids. I eat the human aggressive ones, it is not worth the risk.

A cockerel or rooster has an instinct to protect his flock. Some people are constantly handling the hens or pullets around the rooster. If I need to, I'll pick up a hen or chick with the rooster around. If they squawk the rooster will usually check it out and walk away. Some people have turned a great rooster into a human aggressive rooster by harassing his flock. When I can avoid it I don't leave him around. If I'm going to inspect each flock member I lock them all in the coop where they are easy to catch, preferably in the morning so I don't have to chase them in. Then I inspect him first and toss him outside where he cannot see me inspecting the others. That reduces his stress level a lot. I cannot always do that, if I need to catch one I do, but I've read enough stories on here where something like that has changed a rooster. You never know what might be important.

How common are human aggressive roosters? I don't have any meaningful statistics for you, our circumstances are so different. Every year I hatch and raise about 20 to 25 cockerels to butcher age, raising them with the flock. One of my goals is to play with genetics so I generally keep a new cockerel every year to become my flock master. I use my own criteria to decide which one I keep and decide by the time they are about 23 weeks old. That's too young to have a great handle on behaviors. I probably average a human aggressive rooster every 7 years or so.

Some people seem to have a lot of human aggressive roosters. I don't know how much of that is their perception of human aggression. To me a human aggressive rooster is one that sneaks up behind you and attacks you with his claws, buffets you with his wings, and maybe tries to cut you with his beak. If he is old enough to have spurs he will try to cut you with his spurs. Others may have a different definition of human aggressive. Some of that probably comes from how they are managed. Heredity can play a part in a tendency to become human aggressive so I try to not keep offspring of human aggressive boys.

I don't know if you will get anything useful out of this long post, which is basically my opinion. Others certainly have different opinions. Good luck!

 

[UpstateChickenDaddy]

So very helpful and responsibly reassuring! Thanks to you and all of you. I have spent a lot of time with the whole flock but while do handle them from time to time I mostly let then come to me. I have a bench in the run and after they finish being excited over whatever veggie I brought, they all start coming over, hopping up on the bench, and then me. Their pecking is not what I call aggressive but rather exploratory. At only four months everything is new. As soon as I peck back they stop. They aren’t afraid of my peck per se, as they never run away, but they stop.

So now it is just a waiting game to see what the hormones do to Charles and Henry (my unintended roo). I have a separate mini run in the larger area so if it becomes a problem, he can go in there a few days.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I don’t consider a cockerel aggressive to hens unless he is injuring them and I don’t consider a cockerel human aggressive unless he is actively attempting to flog. I raise for meat and hatch every spring to re-introduce more pullets for eggs so I have dealt with many cockerels and there were only two that I actually considered human aggressive. One was a salmon faverolle and the other a Cochin bantam. I do not hand feed, pick up, or cuddle my chickens. They have ample and I mean ample amounts of space (16x60’ lean-to at night, access to a 30x60’ barn and another lean-to about the same size along with free ranging on 30 acres during the day). I keep multiple feeders and waterers full 24/7 and spread out to prevent any food aggression. My issue with those two is they would be out free ranging (again on 30 acres) see one of my kids out on the swingset or playing ball in the yard then make a beeline straight to them and jump spurs first. The first time they did that they were on the butcher list for the following weekend and the faverolle I didn’t even wait for my planned butcher date to butcher. He sealed his fate when I was locking up the barn doors and he jumped onto a trash can then jumped spurs first going straight for my face. He was caught and dispatched immediately. Something was not right with that one. The other cockerels I have had no issues with and they left my kids alone which is all I ask. On the other hand I do have a specific butcher pen for my meat cockerels and I do not let my kids go in there. There is no reason to and I think putting a kid in a pen with hormonal cockerels is as dumb as an idea as it gets. I also do not let my kids chase the chickens or hold them beyond the little chick age. I think force cuddling chickens creates its own set of problems.

 

[UpstateChickenDaddy]

I don’t consider a cockerel aggressive to hens unless he is injuring them and I don’t consider a cockerel human aggressive unless he is actively attempting to flog. I raise for meat and hatch every spring to re-introduce more pullets for eggs so I have dealt with many cockerels and there were only two that I actually considered human aggressive. One was a salmon faverolle and the other a Cochin bantam. I do not hand feed, pick up, or cuddle my chickens. They have ample and I mean ample amounts of space (16x60’ lean-to at night, access to a 30x60’ barn and another lean-to about the same size along with free ranging on 30 acres during the day). I keep multiple feeders and waterers full 24/7 and spread out to prevent any food aggression. My issue with those two is they would be out free ranging (again on 30 acres) see one of my kids out on the swingset or playing ball in the yard then make a beeline straight to them and jump spurs first. The first time they did that they were on the butcher list for the following weekend and the faverolle I didn’t even wait for my planned butcher date to butcher. He sealed his fate when I was locking up the barn doors and he jumped onto a trash can then jumped spurs first going straight for my face. He was caught and dispatched immediately. Something was not right with that one. The other cockerels I have had no issues with and they left my kids alone which is all I ask. On the other hand I do have a specific butcher pen for my meat cockerels and I do not let my kids go in there. There is no reason to and I think putting a kid in a pen with hormonal cockerels is as dumb as an idea as it gets. I also do not let my kids chase the chickens or hold them beyond the little chick age. I think force cuddling chickens creates its own set of problems.

Wow. I can imagine. Luckily we have no kids. And what a space! I thought I was doing reasonably ok with a 20’ x 40’ covered space. While I have maximized space by building several two level garden “condos” so in summer they can be in the ground or four feet up in their upstairs chicken gardens, I feel like they are in a studio apartment now. I wanted seven and even though I specified I didn’t want any “free” additions they sent two anyway. So I built some hides and covered areas where they can get away and out of sight from one another if they wish. I would free range if I could but within a day they’d all be eaten. Bald eagles and a variety of other hawks etc are here in abundance. Then of course the raccoons, fox, coyotes and more. So they stay inside. We’ll see. I’ll be back to pick everyone’s brains when the hormones start.

 

[fuzzi]

With my current cockerels (7 and 5 months) I have had few issues. Both were broody raised, so respect for the adult hens was pecked into them. The older, Zack, went through a period where he would attack my feet and legs. I'd tried the pushing back with my feet and restraining methods with previous cockerels, didn't seem to work. So since it really didn't hurt I just stood there and watched him do his worst. He got frustrated and quit after a couple weeks, and has been a Good Roo since. The younger cockerel, Silas, is not as bold, being lower in the pecking order, and I personally have had no issues with him.

Zack's father was my first cull, as he not only flogged and spurred my face, but also was rough with the hens. Then he attacked his own chicks one day as I was present, and that was the final straw.