Your roos – good or bad? *Updated Chart on Page 15*

[ThePolishPrincess]

We've had lots of roos but only 5 were here long enough to receive a reputation.

1. Name: Fuzzy
Breed: Sultan
Age: 1 year and a half old
Temperment: Too good for words. The sweetest rooster I've ever had, the most docile, friendliest, you name it. He was very good to his girls, too. He couldn't have made me a happier person unless he was immune to illness. He fell victim to a freak accident when he was ill with a Respiratory illness and was not strong enough to live to tell the tail. I have his only living relative; his daughter; his legacy. She'd make him proud.

2. Name: Napoleon
Breed: d'Uccle
Age: 2 and a half years old
Temperment: Started out nice but after he was bullied by a bigger roo, he got mean and decided that I was now a lower member in the pecking order.

He spurred my mom a few times, and almost went after my younger brother.

3. Name: Cae
Breed: Silkie
Age: 2 and a half years old
Temperment: Pure evil. What a demon! I'm glad I don't have any of his spawn.

He has sparred with me so intensely that he will go after me in public and I'd have to actually kick him until he runs away. But then he'd do it again the next day. I put up with his nonsense for almost a year and gave him and Napoleon to a friend of my fathers' who lives on a larger farm. Now both of them have their own girls and will free-range for the rest of their lives. We were given news a few weeks ago in fact that they are still doing well.

They've been there since the beginning of the summer.

4. Name: Dash
Breed: Polish/ d'Uccle cross
Age: 7-9 months? (?)
Temperment: Didn't expect this mix because my Polish bullied my d'Uccle.

Guess he took a risk one day...Well, Dash is really the same as both of the roosters listed above him. Except, besides me, he also went after my brother and chaced him around. He wasn't as lucky as his father and Cae. He met his fate with a man down the road who gave him a lesser purpose of providing them with a small carcass and some 'mean' soup. He was really a very handsome rooster, though.

5. Name: We're still thinking about it...heh...
Breed: Plymouth Rock
Temperment: I hate jynxing it, but so far I'm in love with this rooster. I won him for 1st Place Showmanship at the NYS fair a few months ago. I didn't have much of an idea what his homelife was like but he was young, approx. 7-9 months old I guessed? His owner didn't know. But he now has 17 girls all to himself and has never acted badly towards me. He also isn't fearful of eating from my hands. So far, so good.

A pic of him just a few days after he came home. He looks a bit...eer...happier now.

That bin didn't really satisfy him much.

 

[BayCityBabe]

I had one really, really mean Silkie roo. And three adorable ones!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

We have 4 roos right now, but 3 are just 20 weeks and I don't know much about them.

Our flock roo is a black Ameraucana (not an EE) named Iko. He's about 18 months old. He's very skittish around people, and always moves away. He's hell to catch. We don't care, though--I'd much rather have a roo that runs away from me than runs AT me!

He's very good with the girls. He calls them over for little treats and breaks up squabbles. He also seems to keep *all 50* hens fertile--it's very rare to find an unfertilized egg--so he's a very busy boy!

 

[Granma in Costa Rica]

Funny you should ask about. I put up with the attacks of Mr. Bill for way too long.

He was good at corralling the hens and telling them about food. But he hit me with his beak and his spurs, more than once.

I have a new theory about women and stress. You know how the modern woman has a lot of stress (justifiably!) and with that stress, Valium, Librium, booze, and just plain flipping out. You do not hear so much about a stressed out farm woman. I think it is because of the Roosters. yes... read on... I got tired of cleaning the bunny cage every day…and it is impossible to live with it un-cleaned, so I build a bunny cage with a ½” mesh floor so I do not have to clean. We are all very happy with the cage. Except, I kind of wonder why I have a bunny? Apparently it is because Bunny care tipped the critical care mass into overload and something had to go. Guess what went? Yep! That rooster, Mr. Bill.

Now, I have been asking Scarlet to come in the night and just make him disappear. Roosters are not as good eating as Chickens and there has been no hurry about it. But the new Roo is getting very handsome and very Roosterish. This led to conflict in the hen house. Something had to go. So yesterday, I just walked up to him on his good side, forcing him to back into the post with his blind eye side. I reached down and grabbed him by his scrawny neck. I picked him up and dumped him headfirst into a plastic- weave (used to be burlap) animal food bag and hung the bag on a hook on the porch.

This was way too much for Beamer who thought it was a special Piñata. It must have been Beamers birthday yesterday because she also killed two of the neighbor’s chickens costing me another twenty dollars. I offered them chickens, but they wanted the cash. Big surprise there.

So I tossed the bag with MR. Bill into the Large dog Kennel and all day long the Chickens came and circled the kennel. The new rooster had a very good time getting acquainted with the chickens without Mr. Bill giving chase and some of the Chickens came and perched on top of Mr. Bill’s jail.

And I felt WONDERFUL! Great stress relief! The power of life or death over roosters! yea!

 

[jjthink]

That seems kind of mean.

 

[hen-thusiast]

 

[NCchickenman1958]

I have a RIR named Mr. Doodles who so far has attacked my wife, and my 8 yr old nephew twice, he will stay around because I am not afraid of him and his job is to protect and take care of the RIR flock and he does that well.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i've had lots of roosters/cockerels in my attempt to hatch the breeds i wanted. some have been too aggressive and have since made it into my freezer. others i have since found homes for but sort of wish i could get them back.

being in a residential area i'm trying to be good with my neighbors so i can't really keep the boys outside.

i had a wonderful bantam splash polish that was sooo friendly and funny! when his crowing got to loud and constant for my neighbors (and someone was ripping out his crest feathers) i brought him inside the house. after a couple of weeks i took him outside for some fun and left him for a few minutes, i found he ran straight to the coop full of girls. i opened the door and he ran in to a nice greeting from all the girls and my other cockerel. he has since found a better home.

also had a bantam salmon fav who was such a lovely little boy. loved treats and never attacked me but on occasion would try to put newbies in their place with a quick nip. he's also in a new home.

i miss those boys!

i've kept 3 cockerels and so far only one (my first and namesake) has been a little aggressive towards me, but i have since realized he has been trying to mount my hand and not attack it. he hasn't been keen on girls since i had him away from everyone since he hatched in March09. (actually, he's run from one of my ladies i tried introducing him to and he won't go near her!) he's been my 'baby' and loves to cuddle with me, also he will fly to me to get attention. will also fend off my corgi when he gets into Chickie's face too much.

i have a bantam cochin named Sunny that has been such a sweet little boy to me since he hatched! though he's a little rough on his girls who are younger than him and not expecting him to do what he does. but so far no one has become noticeably bald or lost feathers.

the 3rd is Cruly Joe, a frizzled silkie cochin cross. he hatched with curled toes and i didn't know how to fix them at the time. he can still mount the girls but can't hold on well. he's sweet once you pick him up but he is shy when you go to get him and will try to run off at first. he'll gladly come when he sees treats are involved. he's been a little aggressive with Sunny (who i tried to introduce him to) so i have them separated till i can get them to get along with each other. i think if i put them both in with the full group of girls they won't be picking on each other as much. one of my hens would be sure to break up the fighting if she saw them!

i've seen no serious aggression problems with people so far from anyone that i spared. and certainly no serious aggression towards the hens/pullets they are with. just usual behaviors within the pecking order.

 

[wordgirl]

NEWLY updated chart – 9.17.09

Thanks again, guys! This is great!

Ameraucana/EE
Good 16 Okay 2 Bad 5
Ancona
Good 2 Okay Bad
Andalusian
Good Okay 2 Bad
Araucana
Good 1 Okay Bad
Aseel
Good 1 Okay Bad
Australorp
Good 7 Okay Bad
Brahma
Good 3 Okay Bad
Buckeye
Good 4 Okay Bad 3
Buttercup
Good 1 Okay Bad
Cochin
Good 24 Okay 2 Bad 1
Delaware
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad 2
Dutch
Good 2 Okay Bad
Dorkings
Good Okay 1 Bad
d'Uccle
Good 3 Okay 2 Bad 1
Faverolle
Good 5 Okay 1 Bad
Games
Good 100+ Okay 1 Bad 2
Japanese Bantams
Good 5 Okay Bad
Javas
Good Okay Bad 9
Jersey Giants
Good 4 Okay 1 Bad 1
Leghorn
Good 5 Okay Bad
Marans
Good Okay Bad 1
Minorca
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad
Mixes
Good 14 Okay 2 Bad 1
New Hampshire Red
Good 1 Okay Bad 2
Orpingtons
Good 11 Okay 3 Bad
Old English Game Bantam
Good 3 Okay Bad 3
Phoenix
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad
Plymouth Rocks
Good 9 Okay 3 Bad 3
Polish
Good 13 Okay Bad 1
Red Jungle Fowl
Good 1 Okay Bad
Rhode Island Red
Good 9 Okay 3 Bad 6
Sabelpoot (Booted Bantam)
Good Okay 1 Bad
Sebright
Good 1 Okay Bad
Serama
Good 6 Okay 4 Bad 1
Sexlinks
Good 1 Okay Bad 1
Showgirl
Good 1 Okay Bad
Silkie
Good 11 Okay 1 Bad 4
Sultan
Good 1 Okay Bad
Sussex
Good 2 Okay 1 Bad
Welsummer
Good 1 Okay 1 Bad
Wyandottes
Good 5 Okay Bad 4
Unknown
Good 3 Okay Bad

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I have one roo (outside of the three week old babies that my broody just hatched).


His name is DaddyRoo, and he is a very gentle Easter Egger rooster. Absolutely gorgeous little boy!


He will actually come up to my wife or I and ask to be held! He likes to eat scratch out of our hands, which we encourage because we want a gentle, people oriented roo.


Of course, he really enjoys having his way with the gals. He mounts all of them regularly except for the one Rhode Island Red. The red hen stands up to him, and he is the first one to stand down every time.


He seems to be the highest in the pecking order, except when the Rhode Island Red is around. (I have them living separately because they fought so much, and some of the fights were pretty bad.) He does a good job of protecting his hens, too.