Temperament question on Silkie Roosters

[Lynn57]

I'm considerin buying a show breeding pair of silkies and have heard so many bad things about roosters...I was wondering if the silkie rooster are or can be as aggresive as other breeds. I realize they are all individuals, but on the whole are they known to be gentle or not?

thanks guys

 

[silkiechicken]

I know it's not what you want to hear, but any rooster of any breed can be gentle or meaner than heck. It all depends on the bird and how they feel about humans/other animals.

That said, a generalization is that silkies are pretty mellow, especially if they can't see due to their head feathers. If they can't see, they are pretty much disabled and will always be "gentle" because they just plain can't get around well enough to assert a large territory and try to defend it from potential competitors.

 

[featheredfriendlover]

i have 1 silkie rooster thats nicer than all get out!!! hes one of my most docile roos i got. ive got 11.

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

Yeah, they are different just like people are; some are rather sweet and docile while others can be just plain mean! I have about 25 Silkies, several of which are roos, and I have some sweetie pies and some that I threaten to get rid of because of their temperament.

 

[denasfarm]

I have 5 Silkie roos. Two are cuddle bugs, One is proud and stand offish but not afraid, One is nutso and acts like everything is going to get him (He survived a dog attack and was one of 4 out of 40 to live) You cant go near him without totally freaking him out. The last one lives with nutso but is bottom roo, he is not social since he was hen raised in the winter and we didnt handle him much. NONE of my Silkie roos are aggressive towards people.
The worst roosters around here have always been Ameraucanas. My Marans roo is such a sweety and wonderful chick sitter. I can see my youngest RIR becoming hateful in time but I have never had a hateful Silkie. I think you will be just fine with your new pair.

 

[Jonandashley]

My rooster will sleep in my bed with me . My husband gets up early and once we go downstairs the rooster starts crowing . So then I go pick him up and put him to bed and we cuddle together. He will sleep about another hour in bed with me. Also when all the silkies are out we have 3 -4 month old silkies . They will all jump in my lap and cuddle with me . I guess I just got lucky. We handle them everyday since they were weeks old

 

[Joshgb]

In my experience it has a lot to do with how they are raised. I've had 3 silkie roo's. 2 were in the brooder in the house and were handled daily by my at the time 3 year old son and they were extremely gentle and let him carry them around and would sit on his swing set with him and wait for him at the bottom of the slide. 1 roo was in a brooder in my loft and was not handled much. He wanted nothing to do with us and would puff out when someone tried to pick him up.

 

[Chicksnmind]

My silkie rooster isn’t friendly to me but we have an understanding. If he leaves me alone I will leave him alone. When I free range them I keep a small rake near me just in case.

I raised him in the bathroom with all my other chickens. He has always been timid of people and never liked to be held as a chick (I have 3 kids so he did get handled). My other rooster that I raised with him was a d’uccle . I had to get rid of him when he was 5months because he was so aggressive and such a good attacker. The d’uccle was very bold/friendly as a chick chick.