Very aggressive rooster

[Folly's place]

Cockerels raised in a flock with adults do tend to get educated and behave better, I agree. Also, polite chickens tend to have polite offspring! My current batch of cockerels, about fifteen of them, are sparring with each other, and ignoring me. That's as it should be!
Mary

 

[Akrnaf2]

i have a problem and need a solution. I have a very aggressive rooster he attacks us every time we go into the yard. You need to be armed with a rake or something because he is coming for you. He won’t even let my dog go outside - she is terrified of him. I’ve tried to find him a home but who would want him? I’m tired of feeling like I’m a hostage in my own yard. Suggestions?

Eat him ! It can cause some serious damage, especially to children.

 

[Nardo]

Barging in here, maybe someone has an answer. I searched forums but unable to pinpoint.
My question is:
If a young cockerel is raised with strict hens who pretty much whack him around when he's young, will he grow up to be respectful or is it totally about genetics and a dice roll?

 

[red horse ranch]

That's a hard one to answer. I think they are hatched with a lot of the personality traits they will have as adults. Some little roos are lovers from the start and others show aggression at a week or two old. The strict hens may play a little part in developing their attitude but I think most of it is genetic. Breed seems to make more of a difference than how they are treated as babies.

p.s. You can make a good rooster mean but I'm not sure a mean rooster will ever be a really good one.

 

[Folly's place]

The game bird folks have bred for extreme interspecies aggression, and non-aggression towards humans. They appear to be separate traits, which can be modified, but are inherited. Really bad birds show some of both!
That's why breeding choices matter, and management matters too.
Mary

 

[CannedMonster]

I have a question about how to manage young cockerels.

I currently have 14 birds total- 5 are adults around 1 year old (4 females & a bantam roo).
9 are the "littles"- 12 weeks old.

I have 4 (12 week old) cockerels.
One is a bantam Cochin and the other three are NN.
All four have been raised together and at 12 weeks haven't shown any aggression toward me.
They get along well together and with the pullets; no fighting and just a little bit of sparring here and there.
The pecking order amongst them is well established and oddly the bantam is not last...he's 3rd.
Currently they are in a coop with enclosed run with the other 5 pullets (two LF & three bantams) they were raised with.
The bantam has been crowing and tries to mate the LF pullets.
I don't have enough pullets and will be ordering more within the next couple of weeks.

I have three coops.
One is a walk-in that's 10' x 6'. The 5 older birds sleep/lay eggs in it only.
The other coop/run is the one the 9 "littles" are in now.
The 3rd coop is small but would be adequate for the bantams.
ALL the birds free range from sunrise to sunset.
The littles keep to themselves as a separate flock and give way to the adults when free ranging, etc.

My question is...until I can get more females and they're old enough to be mated, should I separate the 4 young boys into the coop with the enclosed run. It's plenty of space for them.
I cannot put them where they can't see the girls though!! My set-up just doesn't allow that right now.
Some people have expressed concern about me putting my bantam Cochin in there with the other boys.
I don't see it as a problem since they were all raised together and have a pecking order.

The reason I want to do this is because the bantam is starting to chase and harass the pullets and I know soon the other boys will too.
So I want to make a separate bachelor flock until I have enough females for all of them.
Once I have more girls and they're old enough can they be separated into separate flocks or will they work out who gets certain girls on their own?
I don't know if having four separate flocks will work!
Can they share a coop if they only sleep/lay in it?
How much space will they need in the yard?
Will they fight even though raised together?

 

[cmom]

I'd love to give your rooster a home right here with my hen's. i love roosters no matter how aggressive. in all honesty, every rooster that was ever given to me 6, which have died because of old age, the people would tell me how aggressive they were and proved to be that. what i have done with those rooster's, I clipp their wings only once when i first get them, and stand my ground, and try to grab their feathers on the back of their neck. its the way ofthe pecking order. Show whose BOSS

I agree. Often times when a male is re-homed they are in a totally new environment and then are low on the pecking order of the new flock until they establish their place in the pecking order. Also brooms and such usually make the bird afraid of the broom not the person on the end of the broom. They have a pea for a brain. I have taken some birds to an auction and sold a boy because the fellow wanted a RC Rhode Island White male for breeding other wise they go into the freezer.
This RC RIW male was being picked on by others in their bachelor coop and pen. When I took him out he couldn't walk. I put him in with my pet girl Gladys and she was good with him and helped his regain his legs. When he was completely well he decided to attack me several times from the rear and then he started to do it to my husband. A fellow had asked asked me for a male RC RIW so I told him about the bird and he said he wanted him for breeding so I sold him.

 

[Folly's place]

There's no one answer here. Cockerels may continue to get along, or not. If they get along this year, things may really escalate next spring, and require adjustments.
More space is always better!!!
You really aren't going to keep three roosters of the same breed? There's no need to do that! The trick is in choosing the right one or two to keep. It's nice to have a 'spare', but it does require more space, more hens, and no serious fighting.
My adult flock has four roosters and currently 37 hens, both bantams and standards, and they have a coop with separate areas that open to each other, and then they range outside. There's very little sparing, even when they are all locked if for some reason.
I plan to sell one of the roosters, and keep a couple of this year's cockerels, and see how it goes.
Mary

 

[CannedMonster]

There's no one answer here. Cockerels may continue to get along, or not. If they get along this year, things may really escalate next spring, and require adjustments.
More space is always better!!!
You really aren't going to keep three roosters of the same breed? There's no need to do that! The trick is in choosing the right one or two to keep. It's nice to have a 'spare', but it does require more space, more hens, and no serious fighting.
My adult flock has four roosters and currently 37 hens, both bantams and standards, and they have a coop with separate areas that open to each other, and then they range outside. There's very little sparing, even when they are all locked if for some reason.
I plan to sell one of the roosters, and keep a couple of this year's cockerels, and see how it goes.
Mary

Thank you SO much for replying Folly!
Yes I understand I don't need to keep all of them.
They're all beautiful colors and that is what really attracts me to any chicken...temperament & color/pattern of feathers.
If any of them became very aggressive it would be off with his head! No problem.
Since they are only 3 months old I want to see how their behavior/temperament turns out.
But I'm not sure how much time to give it?
I mean, it seems as though they can suddenly turn aggressive anywhere from 4 months to 1 year old.

Out of the 3 NN, one is not as confident and more skittish and lowest on the cockerel pecking order...even the bantam dominates him.
I was thinking that if I had to choose I would keep him because maybe he wouldn't turn out aggressive?

 

[Folly's place]

Wait and see!
I pick temperament above all, but then size, structure, and color is low on the list. Obvious faults for the breed matter too if purebreds are going to be produced.
Mary