Too Many Roosters.

[3KillerBs]

but now the promising cockerel is beating up on our 7 wk old chicks.

I'm still relatively new to breeding, only a few years in, but one of the things I look for in my cockerels is how they act with the chicks being integrated.

My first rooster, Ludwig, was a wonderful babysitter even as a young cockerel. As soon as I put the first chicks he'd ever seen into the integration pen he went and sat with them and they took their first venture out into the main run under his watchful eye.

Subsequent batches of chicks would run right underneath him to get away from a hen who was harassing them.

Rameses doesn't love chicks the way Ludwig did, but he's still good with them.

Rameses II and Seti are about to get their first trial that way next week depending on weather and feathering.

 

[aart]

I ordered chicks from Cackle Hatchery a few weeks ago. Hopefully a good rooster will come out of there. Any tips on how to socialize roosters so they will be really friendly. We have never had a problem with our roosters being mean to humans, just eachother.

Define "good rooster"...do you want a cuddly pet or a 'flock protector' or a male to fertilize egg s for hatching?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any tips on how to socialize roosters so they will be really friendly. We have never had a problem with our roosters being mean to humans, just each other.

Raising them together helps. That's either as siblings or as father/son, even if they are not blood related. But that is not going to solve the problem. They still have to go through puberty.

When the hormones hit the immature cockerels those hormones often take over. The hormones tell them to be dominant so they are ready to fight other males and possibly dominant females. The mating act is an act of dominance, the one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top either willingly or by force, at least temporarily. With immature cockerels that's usually by force. All that mating you typically see with immature cockerels is not about fertilizing eggs, many times the girls are not laying. It's about dominance with hormones out of control. As someone once said, watching them go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. The fighting and the mating can be pretty vicious. A lot of cockerels literally lose their heads in this phase.

At some point the cockerels can mature enough to challenge a mature rooster. Until they reach this point they typically just run away. Sometimes the older one wins, sometimes the younger one does. This might be a fight to the death or one may decide it is better to run away than to keep fighting. Sometimes one fight is enough, sometimes it takes more. Sometimes you never see any fighting, the older one wins by intimidation.

Often, if they live through this phase, the boys reach an accommodation on how to care for the flock. If they have enough room they might each claim a territory out of sight of the other and collect whatever harem they can. The hens decide which male they like best. They can work out other ways where they stay more together. Each chicken has its own personality, each flock has its own dynamics. We don't always see the same thing.

The only thing I know that can improve your odds of getting through this is to give them as much room as possible so they can run away if they need to. Forcing them to stay near each other does not help. And always have a Plan B in case it doesn't work. That generally means have a place ready that you can isolate one on a moment's notice if you have to.

Good luck!

 

[winterwolf4]

Define "good rooster"...do you want a cuddly pet or a 'flock protector' or a male to fertilize egg s for hatching?

I want one that is good with chicks, able to handled without ripping my arm up, and a male to fertilize eggs for hatching.
We already have a flock protector. And the way we have it now is 2 roosters to 13 or 14 laying Hens.

My husband is building a 2nd coop for my new chickens along with a run so the new hens can be kept separate.

 

[3KillerBs]

I want one that is good with chicks, able to handled without ripping my arm up, and a male to fertilize eggs for hatching.
We already have a flock protector. And the way we have it now is 2 roosters to 13 or 14 laying Hens.

My husband is building a 2nd coop for my new chickens along with a run so the new hens can be kept separate.

I don't handle my roosters except off the roost.

I don't want them too comfortable with me.

 

[aart]

I want one that is good with chicks, able to handled without ripping my arm up, and a male to fertilize eggs for hatching.
We already have a flock protector. And the way we have it now is 2 roosters to 13 or 14 laying Hens.

When and why do you need to handle him?
I only did exams off the roost at night, and they were used to me touching while talking softly to them at night. That took some 'practice' to get them used to being handled without totally freaking out, but well worth the time and effort.

 

[3KillerBs]

When and why do you need to handle him?
I only did exams off the roost at night, and they were used to me touching while talking softly to them at night. That took some 'practice' to get them used to being handled without totally freaking out, but well worth the time and effort.

Your advice to me about this when I had my first rooster has served me well.

 

[winterwolf4]

When and why do you need to handle him?
I only did exams off the roost at night, and they were used to me touching while talking softly to them at night. That took some 'practice' to get them used to being handled without totally freaking out, but well worth the time and effort.

We had one rooster with string wrapped around his leg. We had to handle that rooster then. That us what U mean.

 

[winterwolf4]

We had one rooster with string wrapped around his leg. We had to handle that rooster then. That us what U mean.

*That is what I mean.

 

[ChicFil- A]

Raising them together helps. That's either as siblings or as father/son, even if they are not blood related. But that is not going to solve the problem. They still have to go through puberty.

When the hormones hit the immature cockerels those hormones often take over. The hormones tell them to be dominant so they are ready to fight other males and possibly dominant females. The mating act is an act of dominance, the one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top either willingly or by force, at least temporarily. With immature cockerels that's usually by force. All that mating you typically see with immature cockerels is not about fertilizing eggs, many times the girls are not laying. It's about dominance with hormones out of control. As someone once said, watching them go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. The fighting and the mating can be pretty vicious. A lot of cockerels literally lose their heads in this phase.

At some point the cockerels can mature enough to challenge a mature rooster. Until they reach this point they typically just run away. Sometimes the older one wins, sometimes the younger one does. This might be a fight to the death or one may decide it is better to run away than to keep fighting. Sometimes one fight is enough, sometimes it takes more. Sometimes you never see any fighting, the older one wins by intimidation.

Often, if they live through this phase, the boys reach an accommodation on how to care for the flock. If they have enough room they might each claim a territory out of sight of the other and collect whatever harem they can. The hens decide which male they like best. They can work out other ways where they stay more together. Each chicken has its own personality, each flock has its own dynamics. We don't always see the same thing.

The only thing I know that can improve your odds of getting through this is to give them as much room as possible so they can run away if they need to. Forcing them to stay near each other does not help. And always have a Plan B in case it doesn't work. That generally means have a place ready that you can isolate one on a moment's notice if you have to.

Good luck!

Thank you, This article is informative and appreciated, It really does make sense of Roosters behavior