To keep or not to keep our beautiful 1 year old rooster?

[Angie E]

Hello - My question - To keep or not to keep our beautiful 1 year old rooster Spot? Sorry in advance for the long story. Spot &Blondie

Spot

Little Red



Blackie & 1 chick

Blackie with both chicks from this year.

Spot is 1 year old and is pictured here with the hen Blondie, that hatched with him last summer. He has fathered 4 chicks this year that Blackie & Little Red have hatched out. Both are about 3 and are my first. Anyway, back to Spot. Our neighbors do not mind us having him and even said that they enjoy watching him. We love all him and think that he is beautiful, but he is a bit aggressive. He has a tendency to sneak up on you and peck shoes or legs, if you are not careful. In April, my next door neighbor was caring for the flock while we went on vacation. I had showed her what I do to keep his attention away from me when I let them out of their pen. I throw scratch on the ground and then open the gate. Well, she did as I had taught her and he looked at her after a minute or so and flew up in her face. She was so scared that she climbed on top of a large storage container until he ignored her and went across the yard with the ladies. I taught her how to manage him after that with just having a broom or long stick in hand. He keeps his distance. Now she laughs about it and always tells her friends and family about the attack rooster. She warns her grandchildren, nieces and nephews that they do not want to have the ball or Frisbee to go over the fence into my back yard because of the attack rooster. In about May, he started jumping on the back fence and crowing at the back yard neighbors there because they had been feeding them treats through the fence. I am sure that he was saying "Hey you guys, where are those goodies?" He fell into their yard and chased their big dog. I then put things on the back fence to discourage him from being up there and they stopped feeding the flock. My latest concern is that he has been rushing at and harassing Little red and her chicks (6 days old). Before going broody this year it was like they were a couple, they were always together. Now he won't let her out of the coop or pen and rushes at her a lot with the chicks right there. I wonder if he is doing that because she might have rooster chicks or just because he is a butthead? Will the ladies be ok if I take him away? If I keep him, will there be problems with him breeding with his own offspring?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Only you can decide what you are/aren't willing to tolerate in the interest of having him - some people have a higher tolerance level than others for bad behavior, and everyone has their own take on what is/isn't even bad behavior. As to breeding - yes, he will breed any females in the flock, they have no sense of who is their offspring/who isn't -and fathers will breed daughters, mothers will allow sons to mate them, etc. Whether or not that is a "problem" will depend on whether or not there are undesirable traits you do not wish to have increased both in number and degree since both birds involved would have said undesirable trait. At six days old he has no more idea whether those chicks are male or female than anyone else - so his behavior is not about perceiving a threat from a male offspring, etc.
What do you mean by "will the ladies be okay" if you do remove him? Understanding your specific concerns will better help being able to answer them.

 

[Angie E]

What I mean is, since he has been their protector, sentry what ever you want to call it, will I be taking away their safety? I also have a disabled son that enjoys being in the backyard with the chickens. I saw a small sore on his calf the other day and do not know if Spot had done it. My son is not really able to tell me whether or not spot actually pecked his leg. He says no, but sometimes no means yes. Not sure...

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

He will no doubt get worse as time goes on. Once they start to get mean, it usually escalates and they can do great bodily harm to you. And keep the kids away from him. He could really hurt them badly. So you probably should rehome him. Roosters are not easy to rehome, especially if they are mean, but you can try. As for him protecting the flock, they can act as alarm systems, but generally can't stop many predator attacks. So what little protection his is offering the flock is just not worth being attacked by a mean rooster.

You chat with your chicken neighbors in your state thread to see if maybe someone nearby will take him. Scroll thru this link to find your state thread...https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you

And after you have 20 posts, you can place an ad in our Buy Sell and Trade section as well....https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16182/animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing

Good luck with your boy. I know it is not easy to let them go, but roosters can hurt you and keeping chickens should be a fun adventure. Not one where you have to look over your shoulder to see if the rooster is coming after you.

 

[Audra9]

I can understand your reluctance to get rid of your rooster. He certainly is pretty! In my experience, a mean rooster only gets worse. A few scrapes and cuts may not be a big deal, but the injuries could become severe. He can even blind a child with his spurs. Are you comfortable being responsible for a tragedy like that? If he were mine, I would cull him. I wouldn't want to give him away just to make him someone else's problem.

If you want a good rooster for protection, consider getting a new one that is already grown so you can assess his disposition. A rooster who is gentle with people and hens will make a better protector than a mean rooster any day.

 

[Angie E]

Hello and Thank you Two Crows. My husband has found a new home for him and will be taking him there on Sunday. I just wasn't sure if we should try to keep him or not...

 

[Angie E]

What does cull mean?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What does cull mean?

The most basic definition is to remove from the flock - though some people use it specifically to mean butcher. It is a term used in all sorts of production programs (animals, etc) as a way to say you want to take that individual out of the program for whatever reason (genetic defect, not fitting what you are breeding for, etc) and the specific reason for culling can often dictate whether you would cull by killing or simply by taking them out of YOUR program and re-homing them to someone else.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

You've gotten some good advice above.

 

[Angie E]

Thank you, Ol Grey Mare. I kind of thought that it meant butchering. We don't know how and aren't ready to learn how to butcher. We keep the chickens for eggs and entertainment. We had an extra rooster hatch out last year and just took him up to the local feed store. I don't know if they sell them or give them away to people that are looking specifically for roosters for whatever reason.