What age do good Roosters act like it? Update: video

[NellaBean]

I have a Jersey Giant cockerel who is huuuuuuge. He is about 17 weeks old and is in with 8 pullets the same age.

When should I expect to see "good" roo behaviors out of him? he is not aggressive towards me at all but just doesn't seem to take good care of his ladies.

My old RIR roo was not nice to me but great with his girl and had been great since he was much younger.

Does it just take time? Age? Or is a "worthless" cockerel going to stay that way?

He has matured reaaaaaalllly slowly. Just started crowing in the last few weeks. Seems to be a late bloomer. I have not seen any mounting behavior from him at all yet. Most of his girls are way too small for him to 'service' but he does have the other JG girl who is big enough and I have yet to see him do anything with her either.


I let them all out to free range tonight for the first time and he did seem to be on the lookout a bit.....

But then at one point, he decided to go back in the run for a drink and hung out in there a while....leaving all the girls except for 1 who had followed him.....outside by themselves

When do you usually see "good" behaviors? My old evil RIR roo wouldn't let his girl get more than a couple feet away without either following her or herding her back where he wanted her. This Jersey roo not only left his girls alone when he went back in the coop with the JG girl but also took that same girl and they wandered a good 40 feet away from the others.

 

[al6517]

I have found that once I determine they are of age I give them some time, sometimes if they are the only Roo they get lazy. When this happens I put another Bachelor in with him and then you will see if he changes his attitude. this always works for me.

AL

 

[BantyRooster]

You said today was the first day you let them out to free range. Dont you think he may have to learn to be the protector? He's still pretty young, give him a chance to matue a bit.

 

[NellaBean]

Yes, today was the first day they have been "out".

I ask only because I have no idea at all.....these are my first chickens and he is the oldest cockerel I have had so far. My RIR roo was Mr. Protector from day one.....and this one is definintely not. But he also doesn't sneak attack me like my RIR used to.


How old are they usually when they DO start acting the part? Does it go hand in hand with the hormones? Like when he may start showing more interest in the girls in other ways, will he want to protect them also?

 

[BantyRooster]

Has he been with this flock since he was a chick? As the birds get out and around more he will(should) start taking more interest. From the pics it looks like he is the only roo. If so he doesn't have to deal with the challenge of other males.

BG's mature slowly. I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[NellaBean]

He has been with 5 of the girls since I bought them as day olds.....and the 3 cochins were in a shared brooder pen separated by a fence from about 3-6 weeks? Then they all moved together into this run and the coop was added about 4-6 weeks ago. He treats "his girls" better than the cochins but isn't bad to them anymore. I have been trying to add my little red pullet who is 2 weeks older but has always been separate.......it has not gone well, but they did free range "ok" together. They still were mean to her, but she had room to get out of the way and they were busier eating grass and bugs to really bother.

He has been so slow to mature so far......guess he might be a late bloomer in this as well...

 

[NellaBean]

My little boy is growing up! I use little RELATIVELY by the way......

He is still be far not the best boy ever, but he is showing some promise here and there.

He is the one running away from me in the beginning.





(also, are all roosters that HILARIOUS when they run? or just him becaue he is such a big clumsy GALOOT?)

 

[NellaBean]

The Giant Rooster is now 24 weeks old. He started breeding the girls a couple weeks ago (at least the ones laying) and I have 100% fertility on my LF eggs now. He is still 'laid back' but will dance at the girls in the mornings a bit and he even let them have treats yesterday. He still tried for them, but not very hard and he missed out on 95% of them. He used to run around and peck the girls to keep them away and hoard all the food. Now he just stands in the midst of them and takes the treats he can easily get and lets the girls have the rest. One of the girls even steals them from his beak most of the time. Every week he seems to be a little bit better rooster, so hopefully he will continue doing that! He is still very laidback with me, he doesn't try anything and will move away from me if I go towards him. He is turning into an awesome rooster! Still not as protective as I would like when they are out and about, but that may improve. He currently has 9 girls and I plan on adding a second rooster (and at least 7 more girls), who may be able to help "protect" the girls.

However, he has no interest whatsoever in protecting or even being around the three cochins. They have been together since they were about 5 weeks old? He shows no interest in them whatsoever. Anyone else have that happen? The cochin girls stay away from the rest of the flock and the rooster ignores them (and in the video above, chest bumps one when it comes running).

 

[buck431397]

My EE rooster, who i think is a VERY good man, doesnt always stay with the girls, but then again my girls are also very independent. He lets them eat first, lets them know when hes found something tasty, and warns them about predators. He also bangs the heck out of em. but thats what they do....

I have a 8 week old little roo, that i noticed the other day as a hawk flew overhead, he made a little warning sound at the same time as my big rooster. I think he's gonna be a good rooster too.

 

[NellaBean]

Was digging through old posts and found this one........thought I would update.......

My big Jersey Giant boy is now approximately 9-10 months old. He is a great rooster, keeps watch over his girls, is very polite for breeding......he will cluck and dance and if they squat will go for it,, and if they don't squat or try to get away, he will just let them go. He knocks the other roosters off of them if they are squawking, and keeps the other boys in line without being overly aggressive.

His only bad point, which is more inconvenient than BAD, is that he has gotten aggressive towards strangers. He, for the most part, leaves me alone and stays out of my way........but if anyone else comes into the yard, he will stalk them and then flog...repeatedly. I call the boys (all 3 of them) my guard roostesr as any time there is someone near my fence or something going on out of the ordinary, they will crow repeatedly....I know if there is more than a few crows here and there, I better get outside to check on things.

He is also very kind to the younger chicks, although he will give them a peck to keep them in line if they get a bit crazy. He lets his own ladies take food out of his mouth and stands watch while they "nap" midday. He plays peacemaker during hen fights, and spends a lot of time just standing around watching........


He tolerates the other roosters well and is actually friendly with them as long as they aren't harassing his girls. If something happens, all 3 boys will run to check it out.......I had tried to grab the blue girl in the below pic and she was flapping and squawking, so all 3 boys were running over to deal with it.

I was a little late letting them out of the coop one day........all the boys were at the window waiting patiently, up out of reach of all the crazy girls.

So anyone with a rooster who isn't quite living up to his potential early on? Give him some more time. They won't all be as awesome as mine......my RIR rooster (shown above) has to routinely get timeouts and can be really rough on the girls......but my big Jersey boy is almost perfect.