When will I know if he is a good one?

[Shadrach]

I actually think I did, or rather a seasoned rooster did for me.
I had a beautiful young Brahma roo who was awful to my girls. He never danced, or showed food let alone shared. He was a big mean bully who pulled out feathers all day long. Good with chicks but not that great. I showed dominance over him, separated him through gates and fences from the hens but the minute he got a chance he would attack the hens. So, I took him down to our pasture where there are free ranging flocks (Kauai). He came out of the crate all full of himself and twice the size of any rooster there, well fed, rested and healthy. He immediately started fighting with the dominant Cinnamon roo. Stressed out everybody and everything, I felt awful. Thought I had a devil chicken and now I was not going to feel bad about shooting him. Well, I gave him a chance, it took a few hours but that Cinnamon, after losing a few battles, kept after him and finally kicked the snot out of that big beautiful young boy. I left him overnight and by the next eve he was begging to come home. That Cinnamon would not let up on him, (lol!)he finally chased him under the riding mower where the Brahm wedged himself and literally cried, it broke my heart. So... I took him home and he was a changed boy- nice, kind, patient, danced, shared... a dream boy, perfect, except he started crowing, and crowing, and crowing. So I found a nice home for him with someone who had more understanding neighbors. But he lives and is now for breeding. Wish I could have kept him

That is pretty much how the cocky roosters here learn how to behave.
I've had a few outright pain in the arse rooster and eventually they pick on the wrong rooster on the wrong day and they get beaten.
I've had people say 'how could you let them fight' but it's a lot better all round if they get their sharp edges knocked off by another rooster than end up as dinner.

 

[llombardo]

When he manages to get the girls to get along and proudly stands in the middle as if he is saying...these are my girls.

 

[BantyChooks]

Any update?

 

[CSAchook]

Any update?

There has been a fair amount of squabbling in the flock the last couple weeks. One of the pullets has started laying, and the two (formerly) top ranked hens are going through a hard moult and really feeling poorly. So, there has been quite a bit of fighting for position by all the youngsters including Roux.

So that has been a bit stressful. But other than that, he really hasn't caused me any problems! I go about my business and he stays out of my way. A couple times I ended up between him and my molting SS when he was chasing after her. Both times he backed off and left rather than trying to go through me to reach her. So it seems I am still boss rooster Oh, and yesterday I brought him in to the house at night to clean up some small scrapes on his comb. He was so good! Didn't fight or struggle at all while my DH held him.

Overall, still really enjoying my first rooster experience

 

[BantyChooks]

There has been a fair amount of squabbling in the flock the last couple weeks. One of the pullets has started laying, and the two (formerly) top ranked hens are going through a hard moult and really feeling poorly. So, there has been quite a bit of fighting for position by all the youngsters including Roux.

So that has been a bit stressful. But other than that, he really hasn't caused me any problems! I go about my business and he stays out of my way. A couple times I ended up between him and my molting SS when he was chasing her. Both times he backed off and left rather than trying to go through me to reach her. So it seems I am still boss rooster Oh, and yesterday I brought him in to the house at night to clean up some small scrapes on his comb. He was so good! Didn't fight or struggle at all while my DH held him.

Overall, still really enjoying my first rooster experience

I'm glad!

 

[CSAchook]

I'm glad!

Thanks! Me too!

 

[CSAchook]

Picture from yesterday. Looking dignified amid the fall foliage.

 

[CSAchook]

My boy Roux is over a year old now so I thought I would come back with an update. First and most importantly, here is a picture of my handsome fellow now .

This last year with him has been quite a learning experience. I am glad that I waited until I had had chickens for a few years before raising a cockerel. I suspect I would have made a mess of this earlier in my chickening career. As it is, I still made mistakes with Roux. Neither he nor I were ever seriously injured but I am sure we both experienced some unnecessary stress.

The most important thing I have had to learn is the difference between fear based aggression and familiarity based aggression. Thankfully, my good friend @BantyChooks has an exceptional article on the topic. She has helped me a lot. I have also had to take a hard look at my own actions and Roux’s after every incidence of boundary pushing to consider triggers and motivations. While I do not believe in keeping a dangerous bird (no matter how much you may love it), I also did not want to leap to punishing a bird for my own foolishness.

Case in point: Roux, like all of my legbars, startles very easily, and early on, in my fervent desire to maintain my position as flock boss, I inadvertently scared him on numerous occasions. Stomping around assertively and going out of the way to “walk through him” did not work for my particular situation. It just freaked him out (because it was abnormal behavior on my part) and a terrified Roux is an aggressive Roux. Once I went back to just calmly going about my business, (as others had recommended) things improved tremendously.

His familiarity based aggression did, and still occasionally does, require active correction. Note though that by “aggression” I do not mean attack. Just overly forward behavior like coming in the coop and jumping on the roost to get above me while I am cleaning. That sort of thing is not, and never will be, tolerated by me. And those incidents of boundary pushing have decreased over time.

Overall, I am pleased with how he has turned out. He is properly deferential towards me 95% of the time and we are actively working on that other 5%. I am glad to have in my flock, and grateful for all the helpful advice from this community that got me to this point. And as a flock leader, I could not ask for better rooster. He constantly watches the skies and alerts the hens of any threats. Twice in the last year, a dog has broken into our yard. Both times he got the girls to safety while myself and DH dealt with the threat. He also gives the girls all the best treats. And although I am temporarily down to only 4 hens, there are not bare backs or injuries in the flock—just some a few missing and broken feathers.

Now he and I are starting a new adventure—introducing chicks! Wish me luck! I will be following @aart 's fantastic article on integration at 4 weeks. But if anyone has additional advice about integration with a rooster involved, I am all ears. Thanks!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I voted 1 year.

 

[BantyChooks]

My boy Roux is now over a year old now so I thought I would come back with an update. First and most importantly, here is a picture of my handsome fellow now .
View attachment 1836826


This last year with him has been quite a learning experience. I am glad that I waited until I had had chickens for a few years before raising a cockerel. I suspect I would have made a mess of this earlier in my chickening career. As it is, I still made mistakes with Roux. Neither he nor I were ever seriously injured but I am sure we both experienced some unnecessary stress.

The most important thing I have had to learn is the difference between fear based aggression and familiarity based aggression. Thankfully, my good friend @BantyChooks has an exceptional article on the topic. She has helped me a lot. I have also had to take a hard look at my own actions and Roux’s after every incidence of boundary pushing to consider triggers and motivations. While I do not believe in keeping a dangerous bird (no matter how much you may love it), I also did not want to leap to punishing a bird for my own foolishness.

Case in point: Roux, like all of my legbars, startles very easily, and early on, in my fervent desire to maintain my position as flock boss, I inadvertently scared him on numerous occasions. Stomping around assertively and going out of the way to “walk through him” did not work for my particular situation. It just freaked him out (because it was abnormal behavior on my part) and a terrified Roux is an aggressive Roux. Once I went back to just calmly going about my business, (as others had recommended) things improved tremendously.

His familiarity based aggression did, and still occasionally does, require active correction. Note though that by “aggression” I do not mean attack. Just overly forward behavior like coming in the coop and jumping on the roost to get above me while I am cleaning. That sort of thing is not, and never will be, tolerated by me. And those incidents of boundary pushing have decreased over time.

Overall, I am pleased with how he has turned out. He is properly deferential towards me 95% of the time and we are actively working on that other 5%. I am glad to have in my flock, and grateful for all the helpful advice from this community that got me to this point. And as a flock leader, I could not ask for better rooster. He constantly watches the skies and alerts the hens of any threats. Twice in the last year, a dog has broken into our yard. Both times he got the girls to safety while myself and DH dealt with the threat. He also gives the girls all the best treats. And although I am temporarily down to only 4 hens, there are not bare backs or injuries in the flock—just some a few missing and broken feathers.

Now he and I are starting a new adventure—introducing chicks! Wish me luck! I will be following @aart 's fantastic article on integration at 4 weeks. But if anyone has additional advice about integration with a rooster involved, I am all ears. Thanks!

He has turned out absolutely gorgeous! I am glad he has remained a decent fellow.