What is my Rooster trying to tell me?

[stargirl]

Eagley is a 7 month old rooster who I raised from a chick. He shares a flock of around 20 hens (+ a few ducks) with Tarzan, a bantam Roo. Despite Eagley being three times the size of him already, Tarzan is dominant rooster and Eagley is submissive. He’s also still a total mama’s boy and comes running for pets and cuddles whenever he sees me.

Eagley is my first boy and I’m learning a lot from him. There are a few interesting behaviours he does that I’m not sure how to interpret. I’m not very worried about him - just super curious and would love to hear your thoughts!

1. Drooping wing. Whenever he sees me and gets excited he drops one wing to the ground, so his feathers are all fanned out. Often he’ll trip over it in his own excitement and get all flustered! This only ever happens when I arrive, and nobody else. It’s the back wing, furthest away from me.

You can see it a little bit in this video:

https://imgur.com/bdnKv36

2. Blocking. As I enter the pen he runs up to me and sort of blocks my path by turning sideways. It’s very deliberate and it sort of reminds me of an aggressive Roo, except he’s definitely not showing any aggression when he does it. His vocalisations are chatty and happy, and he moves easily when I take a step - but then loops back around and repeats it a few times as I walk across the paddock, as if he wants to sit on my feet!

3. No pooping (or crowing). Eagley will never, ever, ever poop on me. He’ll often sit in my lap for up to an hour snoozing, but in that whole time he will never poop. If he needs to go he will jump down to do it. Similarly, he will never ever crow on me, or generally if I’m there. Once I leave, he starts crowing his head off. Does this mean he thinks I’m the top rooster or something?

4. Not eating. Eagley will not eat until all the hens have finished. That means when it comes to treats etc, that means he just never gets any unless I take him aside and feed him separately.
I can’t tell if he’s just being a good ‘provider’, or if he’s too intimidated to eat with them there. The hens vacuum everthing up so quickly and it seems to take him about 6 attempts to finish a single piece of sweetcorn, which doesn’t help. Compared to many of the hens he still feels too light and bony but it’s hard to bulk him up when he won’t eat until everyone else is finished! Any advice? Does he look skinny to you?

 

[Battlepants]

The drooping wing (I like to call it the "Wing Dance") is something that my rooster does to boss his hens around. I would put blocking in the same category as well. Both of these are typically shows of dominance.

No pooping and crowing while around you - I'm not sure what to make of this, but genuinely impressed with his self control. Wishing my hens had this same level of controls as our little 3 pound silkie seems to drop a blob that's a third of her body weight when she settles down.

Not eating - this seems to just be a trait of roosters with hens. When the hen is eating, her head is down so she is vulnerable to attack, so the rooster MUST watch for problems to protect his flock. When the hens have disappeared off into the coop or a bush or whatever, he no longer needs to protect them and now has time to feed himself. I feel bad that my boy doesn't get many treats, but he still seems happy enough.

 

[stargirl]

Your rooster obviously likes you but is showing signs of dominance as others have already stated .Some say when they drop their wing down and go in circles they may attack but its not true in all cases. I just hope your rooster continues to be a reserved guy and never gets aggressive .I added a rooster to fertilize their eggs but he has a hard time mating them (he's much bigger) I keep my chickens in a secure run during the day (so I won't have losses) If I don't start seeing fertile eggs soon I'll be forced to get rid of mine.He shows signs of dominance too when I pick up the hens.

So interesting! Thanks for sharing!

After another poster described it as a “dance” I had a bit more luck finding other posts about the whole wing-drop phenomenon, and found this post and video: https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/rooster-wing-dance

It lists the following reasons for the wing-drop dance:

1. For courtship
2. A friendly greeting—“I’m happy to see you!”
3. A show of dominance (which may lead to attack)
4. A warning to back off
5. To play
6. To save face after submitting to a dominant rooster
7. An expression of unbridled joy

So much meaning from one little dance! Eagley has yet to show any signs of aggression towards me at all, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to stay in peaceful harmony together, and he’s just very happy to see me! I can pick up the hens etc without any bother from him - it must be tricky if your boy is starting to be aggressive over that.

He hasn’t started actually mating any hens as far as I know yet, though, so things might change with another month or so.

 

[BelovedBirds]

View attachment 3032117

Eagley is a 7 month old rooster who I raised from a chick. He shares a flock of around 20 hens (+ a few ducks) with Tarzan, a bantam Roo. Despite Eagley being three times the size of him already, Tarzan is dominant rooster and Eagley is submissive. He’s also still a total mama’s boy and comes running for pets and cuddles whenever he sees me.

Eagley is my first boy and I’m learning a lot from him. There are a few interesting behaviours he does that I’m not sure how to interpret. I’m not very worried about him - just super curious and would love to hear your thoughts!

1. Drooping wing. Whenever he sees me and gets excited he drops one wing to the ground, so his feathers are all fanned out. Often he’ll trip over it in his own excitement and get all flustered! This only ever happens when I arrive, and nobody else. It’s the back wing, furthest away from me.

You can see it a little bit in this video:

https://imgur.com/bdnKv36

2. Blocking. As I enter the pen he runs up to me and sort of blocks my path by turning sideways. It’s very deliberate and it sort of reminds me of an aggressive Roo, except he’s definitely not showing any aggression when he does it. His vocalisations are chatty and happy, and he moves easily when I take a step - but then loops back around and repeats it a few times as I walk across the paddock, as if he wants to sit on my feet!

3. No pooping (or crowing). Eagley will never, ever, ever poop on me. He’ll often sit in my lap for up to an hour snoozing, but in that whole time he will never poop. If he needs to go he will jump down to do it. Similarly, he will never ever crow on me, or generally if I’m there. Once I leave, he starts crowing his head off. Does this mean he thinks I’m the top rooster or something?

4. Not eating. Eagley will not eat until all the hens have finished. That means when it comes to treats etc, that means he just never gets any unless I take him aside and feed him separately.
I can’t tell if he’s just being a good ‘provider’, or if he’s too intimidated to eat with them there. The hens vacuum everthing up so quickly and it seems to take him about 6 attempts to finish a single piece of sweetcorn, which doesn’t help. Compared to many of the hens he still feels too light and bony but it’s hard to bulk him up when he won’t eat until everyone else is finished! Any advice? Does he look skinny to you?

View attachment 3032120

Sorry, I don't have anything to really say but, I find this very interesting- and he is gorgeous! What a handsome boy

 

[stargirl]

The drooping wing (I like to call it the "Wing Dance") is something that my rooster does to boss his hens around. I would put blocking in the same category as well. Both of these are typically shows of dominance.

No pooping and crowing while around you - I'm not sure what to make of this, but genuinely impressed with his self control. Wishing my hens had this same level of controls as our little 3 pound silkie seems to drop a blob that's a third of her body weight when she settles down.

Not eating - this seems to just be a trait of roosters with hens. When the hen is eating, her head is down so she is vulnerable to attack, so the rooster MUST watch for problems to protect his flock. When the hens have disappeared off into the coop or a bush or whatever, he no longer needs to protect them and now has time to feed himself. I feel bad that my boy doesn't get many treats, but he still seems happy enough.

Thank you so much! This is all so interesting!

I searched for “wing dance” (I’d been calling it how “happy wing” haha) after you wrote this and found lots of others saying their roosters do it too! Consensus seems to be that it’s a ‘mating dance’ of sorts that they do to impress the lady-hens. So I guess I’m his crush? It makes sense though, and fits well with the fact that he never shows any actual aggression, so far. Hoping it stays that way!

Re: pooping, it’s a mystery! I wish I knew what I did to teach him this skill as I’ve had house hens who I’d have loved to show the same control! All I can think is that I used to put diapers on him sometimes when he was young before bringing him inside for a cuddle, which he hated and so refused to poop in. It shows amazing control either way!

The food thing is reassuring, thanks. It makes sense that he’s protecting the hens - he used to be happy to sit on my lap while they all ate, but as he’s got older he gets agitated when they start eating and wants to be down amongst them. It’s amazing to see these instincts in action!

Thanks again for your reply, it was super helpful.

 

[stargirl]

Most of your questions are answered in this article.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

This was a wonderful read! Just what I’ve been looking for, thank you!

I was cheered to read that the herding isn’t aggression, and is more of a ‘you’re one of my flock’ behaviour.

Also, that all the grooming sessions I do for him are helpful to reduce aggression! He’s so happy to let me groom him I even carry little clean mascara brushes to brush his head and cheek feathers with, and he just let’s me! He loves me to give him a good long scratch under his wings too. Hopefully this continues to be a calming/bonding experience for us both!

He is at risk of being “tribeless” as an unrelated rescue, but I’ve noticed a few hens follow him around now, and squat when he walks near them (although he still seems to be oblivious to this). Hopefully that’s the beginning of his own little flock forming!

 

[stargirl]

Yep, sorry, but he looks like he's working up the nerve to attack you. If you're lucky he may never get there, but be prepared. In my experience the cockerels that turn out to be the very best roosters are the ones that quietly, but confidently stand off to the side when you are around.

I understand why you’d think so - especially when I go back and look at that video in isolation. And perhaps I’m just being terribly naive! But truly, I get *zero* aggression vibes from him, ever.
He’s never so much as pecked me. I sit on the floor with him for about an hour a day and he’ll do his little wing dance and come and sit on my lap or preen my hair.

So to be fair to him, here’s some of that too:

Doing my hair -

https://imgur.com/I8yU6MP

Getting cozy -

https://imgur.com/oXUKrsz

Shoulder snuggles -

https://imgur.com/HhzEcLB

What’s kind of fascinating though is that if I didn’t *know* him, I’m sure I’d interpret the video the same way you did. I work with rescue birds a lot and I always find there are such tiny nuances in their behaviour and communication that can totally change the tone and meaning, and often they’re things that are difficult to verbalise to another human being.

Another example - this is him running to the gate to let me in, which he does every day.
It *could* seem aggressive, like he’s trying to stop me coming in - but his feathers are down, he’s doing his happy chatter sounds and ‘love wing’, and when I go in, all he wants is to hang out with me and have me scritch under his wings

https://imgur.com/7N7yeE9

(please excuse the ridiculous baby-talk and the fact that I apparently sound like a 13 year old girl! I’m nearly 40!)

Obviously, with him not even being 1 yet this could allllll still change very rapidly. I wont be letting him get so close to my face and squishy bits if I’m in any doubt!

 

[Shadrach]

Yep! But they are only doing what they are biologically determined to do, claiming and protecting their hens and staking out territory.

Sure, common to every species on the planet as far as I'm aware and that includes humans.
I've never been entirely happy with thou shall not anthropomorthise. Perhaps the reality that we humans are just another animal is hard for some to accept.
So, I don't agree that people are always making a mistake of thinking of cockerels or any other creature in human terms. Suppose I suggest it's the humans who think of themselves as a species above all other creatures that is the problem here.

 

[McChooky]

Your rooster obviously likes you but is showing signs of dominance as others have already stated .Some say when they drop their wing down and go in circles they may attack but its not true in all cases. I just hope your rooster continues to be a reserved guy and never gets aggressive .I added a rooster to fertilize their eggs but he has a hard time mating them (he's much bigger) I keep my chickens in a secure run during the day (so I won't have losses) If I don't start seeing fertile eggs soon I'll be forced to get rid of mine.He shows signs of dominance too when I pick up the hens.

 

[MorningGlory16]

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I had a rooster that behaved similar to yours (never a lap bird though) When he was about a year old, it turned into full on attacking. He was my first cockerel too, and I spent a lot of time holding and feeding him. As soon as he got that surge of testerone, he became a total jerk, attacking me and chasing my kids everywhere. He went to freezer camp and I don't try to socialize cockerels anymore. I hope that's not the situation with your boy, but just a word of caution.