The 6 rooster delemma!

[EggSighted4Life]

@Mrs. K Can you elaborate as to why the friendly cockerel is a nightmare waiting to happen please? I have one that I currently adore and was planning to keep as a breeder unless I have a good reason not to. This question has been bugging me for.... 1 day and 5 hours now!

@wingedshade I hope you will update as to what you decided.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Now I'm just being a bully!

Sorry, but another thing I was thinking is that I don't prefer the feathered feet when its wet, as in the Brahma... might be a consideration for your location. I will see how things go with the French Marans this year and then adjust my plan as needed.

I just try to share as much information as possible so people can make their decision... well, informed. But I am not a know it all and am just trying to share the thoughts that cross my mind. Since that is why we are all, to share our experiences and learn from each other.

 

[AustralorpsAU]

@Mrs. K
  Can you elaborate as to why the friendly cockerel is a nightmare waiting to happen please? I have one that I currently adore and was planning to keep as a breeder unless I have a good reason not to. This question has been bugging me for.... 1 day and 5 hours now! 

@wingedshade
 I hope you will update as to what you decided.    

This is not always true but a lot of the time, cockerels that get handled a lot as chicks often turn out to be aggressive when they are maturing. It is often so because he knows you are all gentle with him and not scared of you.

Read this thread and see how many people that had this experience
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-roosters-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-them

 

[Mrs. K]

As the above poster said, nothing about roosters is carved in stone, but a lot of times, a darling rooster is the most curious, comes out to meet you, often times will sit on your lap. You think the rooster likes you and is friendly, but chickens see this behavior differently. They see this behavior as you accepting the submissive position in the flock. When they come into their own with hormones and especially if they have been raised with just flock mates and no older birds, (older birds school chicks in proper respect for old birds, and how to behave in chicken society, and those roosters are not the biggest in the flock and don't get everything their way).

Juvenile roosters raised up with flock mates, rapidly out grow the pullets, they come into sexual interest much sooner than the pullets, and they can bully their way with the pullets. This gives them a false confidence, and they begin to try and bully people too, Usually attacking small children first, then women, then men. They have no real fear of people, because people have been nice to them. Chickens equate fear with respect.

Now it is not always this way, but there are a LOT of posts on here, where the darling became the nightmare to ignore the possibility. Many times the rooster has been giving clues, but inexperienced people do not recognize them. People on here, whom I respect as people with a great deal of experience, myself included strongly recommend not making pets of roosters, walking through them, and even chasing them a bit. A rooster should move off FROM me, he should not crow at me, and he should not fluff up his feathers at me, or look challenging at me. And he should not sneak behind me.

Mrs K

 

[EggSighted4Life]

@AustralorpsAU , @Mrs. K , Thank you both. I do understand what you are saying and will check out that link today. I completely respect and value certain experienced peoples' advice and willingness to share!

The one I am thinking about is probably 4 months younger than my others. When someone pecks me I promptly peck them, one of the young silkies is the worst. My oldest have been crowing for about a month now. When my dogs interrupt mating or fly past during feeding the biggest cockerel often crows at the dogs after moving out of the way. So should I worry about them attacking the dogs? I have one pullet who may be on the menu as she keeps chasing one of my dogs (65 #s). My dogs know what I expect of them and comply but to be honest it kind of makes me mad that she won't defend herself against the chicken. I already told my family though that the dog gets first priority over the aggressor. Right now my friendly boy is fairly low on the pecking order.

I also had to establish myself as head of the pack with my dogs. I try to use their means of communication if I need to. So this will be the first time disclosing to a stranger for fear of judgement.... One in particular, my oldest female, would NEVER submit or go belly up. After wrestling her to the ground, getting bloody knees and frustration at her bullying over food, it dawned on me that I wasn't communicating with her in a way she could understand. And I proceeded to grab a hold of her and make the humping motion to let her know I am top dog!

It worked. She still won't belly up unless it's her choice. But anytime the bullying gets out of hand, I just repeat and it works great! We have a great relationship and she communicates WAY to well. I'm glad I don't speak Dogganees!

Please note that I was only describing my situation, not trying to explain reasons why "mine might be different". As I stated earlier experienced advice is HIGHLY valued by me. I often hang on every word of my elders (the respectable ones).

Thank you again!

 

[Mrs. K]

Your posts sound like you have several dogs, however your technique sounds a bit tough when needed so you do understand that.

Most of us have had puppies and kittens before we had chickens. If you treat mammals nicely, they most often grow into life-long, beloved pets. My point, is chickens are not that way.

They are, of course, your birds, and you can try however you think best. Just be aware, all roosters are a crap shoot, some turn out great, and some don't. You need a plan if and when they don't.

Good Luck,

Mrs K

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Your posts sound like you have several dogs, however your technique sounds a bit tough when needed so you do understand that.

Most of us have had puppies and kittens before we had chickens. If you treat mammals nicely, they most often grow into life-long, beloved pets. My point, is chickens are not that way.

They are, of course, your birds, and you can try however you think best. Just be aware, all roosters are a crap shoot, some turn out great, and some don't. You need a plan if and when they don't.

Good Luck,

Mrs K

So, chickens don't actually develop trusting relationships with their humans? Of course I understand it's my decision, but I sincerely value and appreciate the input is why I ask. It helps very much when making decisions if you have good advisers! So if I actually like this young cockerel, YOU would quit handling him? I don't quite have chicken language or their dynamics with humans down. Every day I try to learn something new.

So far all of my chickens have gone through changes several times some good and others not. Is there an age at which you think the uglyness is likely to take place by? Or how old do you think I should raise my breeder boys before making a final decision?

My plan is to eat most of the boys, if we don't end up vegetarian by next year!

Actually the only reason I am breeding is for eating. Though it might be nice to cover my cost with other adventures.

I appreciate your time! Once it's gone, you can't get it back.

 

[dekel18042]

So I agree with @donrae as well. And was thinking that adding a rooster or cockerel once the hens have matured is a better ideal. Her statements about space are insightful.

Also, I wonder why someone would not keep the cream legbars pure. Are the not an auto sexing breed that lays blue eggs?

By crossing out, it has defeated both purposes.

Not to change the subject but to give insight, cream legbars are often used to make olive eggers. In some cases the olive egger progeny (cream legbar over a welsummer hen) can also be auto sexing.
Blue layers can also be bred to production whites to create a production pale blue egg layer.
There are lots of projects to do with chickens that may involve hybridizing.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Not to change the subject but to give insight, cream legbars are often used to make olive eggers. In some cases the olive egger progeny (cream legbar over a welsummer hen) can also be auto sexing.
Blue layers can also be bred to production whites to create a production pale blue egg layer.
There are lots of projects to do with chickens that may involve hybridizing.

Thank you for sharing. I hadn't considered those. It would be fun to hear if that was what the OP's source was doing, and how those project turned out.

I thought of OE as being Am X BCM.... Now I see the possibilities! That's why I asked.

 

[Mrs. K]

So, chickens don't actually develop trusting relationships with their humans? Of course I understand it's my decision, but I sincerely value and appreciate the input is why I ask. It helps very much when making decisions if you have good advisers! So if I actually like this young cockerel, YOU would quit handling him? I don't quite have chicken language or their dynamics with humans down. Every day I try to learn something new.

So far all of my chickens have gone through changes several times some good and others not. Is there an age at which you think the uglyness is likely to take place by? Or how old do you think I should raise my breeder boys before making a final decision?

My plan is to eat most of the boys, if we don't end up vegetarian by next year!    Actually the only reason I am breeding is for eating. Though it might be nice to cover my cost with other adventures.

I appreciate your time! Once it's gone, you can't get it back. 

People will disagree, but while chickens should be calm around you, they don't really develop a trusting relationship with you. They have a very small brain. If I wanted to keep that cockerel, I would walk up to him, untill he moves. I would insist that HE kept a distance of 4-5 feet away from me. I would not make a pet of him. I don't want them terrified of me, but I do want them respectful of me and other humans. A violent, aggressive rooster is a very scary animal. They can do serious damage, and have ruined the whole experience for a lot of people.

If this is your first year with chickens, I would cull all of them, and get some experience.

Mrsk