What should I do? Sweet buff Orpington cockerel turns mean.

[sahensle]

The OP said that this bad boy was 13 weeks old so I really doubt that he has produced any offsprings yet.

Yes he is still a baby and is coming in to his own. I have a home for him if he gets too out of hand for me. I'm just waiting out the change of coops and pecking order is done. The old hens are dominating him and I sure he is pissed right now.

 

[apryl29]

Wow. So my avatar is my little tiny bantam roo... he was in love w/ our buff orp roo Steve, but we didn't know Steve was a boy until recently. He still does his wing thing to Steve and hasn't accepted that Steve is a boy. He keeps trying to 'love' him. It's hilarious to watch b/c Steven has zero interest in the bantam's advances.
Then my leghorn has his own group of ladies that follow him, but naturally the bantam is looking for love so he'll find a willing girl and then Odin will see what's going on and break it up. I kind of feel bad for the bantam, but only b/c it's hilarious to watch him try to mate w/ reg size hens. But Steve.. he just keeps trying for the young girls.

 

[brucifer]

It's beyond me why anyone keeps and breeds a human aggressive cock bird, just because he's 'pretty'! Are his offspring nice, or is he reproducing his awful behavior? He's not the last of a rare species, or the only choice available. Sorry, just me venting; I've never been happy when purchased chicks develop issues like that, and hate to hear from new flock owners who are upset about their 'sweet' boy who turns into a beast. Mary

The show world is a different world than that of the backyard hobbyist, and chicken fanciers usually do what they can to win at shows and earn bragging rights. It's not that a person will intentionally breed aggressiveness into a breed for show, but the fanciers are breeding to SOP, not docility or egg-laying color or frequency. In other words, their goals are different to those of backyard hobbyists.

Sometimes though even with otherwise docile breeds, you can just get a mean bird. My wife breeds Silkies, and she has Bearded Blue who is a nasty little booger, but the rest of his hatchmates were very docile. He loves to pinch and bite when ANYONE places his/her hand in his pen, but he's so tiny that my wife tolerates it. The funny thing is, once she picks him up, he's very sweet to her.

Also, just because a rooster is aggressive doesn't necessarily mean that all of his offspring will be the same. Just as broodiness has unintentionally been bred out of some breeds such as Leghorns, aggressiveness can sometimes creep in as well. BTW, the mean Black Rooster was actually given to my friend. So, someone gave him a show champion.

Orpingtons are typically very docile and somewhat social birds, but I have a line of Chocolate Orps right now who are gorgeous, but not as friendly as my other Orp varieties and lines. I find that disappointing because I like to connect with my birds. As pretty as they are, I'm considering ending that line.

 

[Chickassan]

Now I feel bad for Steve That wing thing cracks me up! Hubert has it on repeat unfortunately, does it at least three or four times just to make sure nobody's interested. He ain't right, I knew that from the get go but aside from the permanent "hey baby" mode he's stuck in he's a good rooster.

 

[apryl29]

LOL That is hilarious! Sounds like some guys I know.. hit on every girl they meet and figure someone will say yes eventually!

 

[giwa]

What ever happened with your rooster?