What is a 'gentleman' rooster actually like.

[Arielle]

I have 2 black sexlinks roosters, from the same MM hatch. One is very docile and sweet; he has his harem of BO hens who are gentle like he is;My boys regularly catch him and bring him into the house for a visit. He will come very near, with in 2 feet and pay us little notice; he stays calm and quiet. The other is named Raptor, a name he earned by 4 weeks old. Very good at watching his girls and caring for them; just tough on any intruder (his definition) as he is quick to flog. He watches us like a hawk and is face on at all times. HE is active and re-positions with quick steps. He keeps us on our toes!

Hope I have described the two boys well enough so you can see the big difference in behavior.

 

[silkielover5]

all my roosters have to be gentalmens or they get sent off to the stew pot (my neighbers stew pot)
my favorite rooster fallows me around and sits in my lap while i watch the rest of the flock

 

[seminolewind]

I had 2 roos a few years ago. Both White crested black Polish. Ivan, the alpha rooster did all the husbandly things, and warmed nests. I caught him once jumping up to my rose bush to grab rose petals for the hens. He had "the act" down perfectly. Never needed to grab feathers or anything.

Since then I have had a few rapists, an Orp with poor balance, and a JG who is really good to most of the girls, and has one eye. I'm still waiting for another Polish roo.

 

[partsRheavy]

Gentleman Rooster (he's in my avvy) flaps his wings to greet me and shows the girls the food. He has never deigned to chase or attack me. By the way, he's the alpha of our two mature roosters.

He chases the other rooster (name not printed) around. (name not printed) has never actually touched me but I've had to dominate that fella with a stick on the top of his back a few times this past summer.

I don't catch/cuddle either one.

I DO crow a big loud UR-URRRRrrrrrrrrrrh!!!!! as necessary in the barnyard but never in the henhouse. It's fun to belt a big UR-URRRRRrrrrrrhh!!!!! out especially as a girl who has to make roosters stay on the right track!

I like to show off my crowing abilities to kids....

 

[kaki]

After reading these posts, I have decided to turn my rooster into nuggets. He's shocking! I often see him standing on the head of a hen, pushing it into the dirt. He tries to stop the hens from eating and is quick to snatch something from their beaks. He has never attacked me or anyone else, and if he does he'll be instant nuggets. My girls are very tame, often approaching me and only run away if I am carrying something big. He runs from me all the time.
I've only recently put him in the coop at home, but his behavior was as bad in the other coop as it is now. As soon as I have some new chicks, I will begin taming his replacement.

He has until then to get in line...

 

[crazybarnlady]

My first batch of chicks I raised turned into rapist roosters and actually killed one of my hens by ripping her sides open with their talons! Needless to say they were sent to freezer camp... temperment in roosters can be genetic so you don't want to pass that on to future generations.

I also had a rooster that was great with the girls but evil with me - I kept him for quite awhile because he WAS so gentle and protective with his hens, but decided life's too short to stress about being attacked every morning (the moment of truth was when he stuck a spur right through my gumboot into my ankle joint

) and found him a home where he'd have less human interaction.

I now have two lovely roosters that are fine with me, drop a wing and do the courtship dance with the girls, and don't pull any feathers from them. There are so many roosters out there, don't put up with the bad ones!

 

[seminolewind]

Has anyone had a roo that would snap at a few of the girls if they got to close to his snack? He's okay to the rest, there are just a few that he chases away. ?????

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
Mine do not do this.. This doesn't sound like a good rooster behaviour to me

My girls do this though.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

my Chickie won't let anyone near him but he is a wonderful boy with me and the dog. just never got socialized at the proper age and now thinks i'm his girl and has no idea that he is a chicken

i just can't reach into his pen too early in the morning or my arm could get mounted!

a 'gentleman' rooster should not attack his owner or anyone bring them treats. a dropped wing and short dance around you seems fine as long as he doesn't start chasing you. he might just see you as one of his girls. pulling feathers out of the poor girl's head is a 'no-no' in my book. some grasping of neck feathers is usually needed but if he is a good roo he has learned to balance properly and lets them loose after jumping on her. if the girl is gracious enough to squat and let him on that is a good sign she respects him. my faverolles roosters are good with the girls and will come over to see if the girls will let them on and if the girl fusses he will not mount her and back away from trying that for a few more minutes. he will try and show her the good food to woo her in the mean time. if one of my other roos is messing with any of the girls and makes them squawk the faverolles boys will try to come to her rescue and bounce the other roo off her. these boys are not the dominant rooster but are very loving to the girls and will stand by each girl that is trying to lay an egg. they call to the girls and everyone in the coop when there is new food or treats. if i'm feeding they will offer it to the nearest hen first before taking for themselves. leafy greens they will pull some from my hand but again offer it to the hens and hold it while she takes what she can.

 

[CYGChickies]

Our rooster is wonderful! We first noticed his "quality" when we picked him out to take to the fair. He was the sweetest and prettiest rooster. Roosty has only ever attacked once--when my farm partner took her red raincoat off in the coop he started "flogging" her, first time ever! And only once before she booted him one and he remembered who he was jumping lol. He loves to cuddle with the hens and even the guineas respect him and follow him. He keeps the fights in check although they e decreased dramatically after the three extra roosters went to freezer camp for the Holiday dinners.

Roosty isn't a romantic though more like a clumsy teenager. The birds are just barely mating age so--as I've noticed with all my farm animals--the male has no idea what he's doing and makes hilariously awkward attempts and the females have little interest in this new game! The hens don't attack him afterward like they do the Silkie too that's been trying to get on them though and Roosty's technique is improving but the girls still aren't very pleased with being chicken trampolines while he figures things out. Hebonly tried to mount one guinea hen before he figured out they were not his type.

CYG