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Strange rooster question

769 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Ellendra 
#1 ·
We have a rooster who is only one year old. We've had him nine months now.
He is on the aggressive side which we put up with because he is excellent at keeping the hens
safe from preditors during the day when they are out free ranging. He keeps them all together like a military sargent, and scolds any hen that gets too far from the flock.

But oddly he gets quite upset when the hens go in to lay their eggs in the morning.
He stands outside the nest boxes and growls. It sounds like an angry dog growl.
He even has gotten in the nest box with the hen in there. He walks around quite irritated until they all finish laying and go outside together.

We had a hen get broody, and after two weeks on the nest something got in and cracked open a few of the eggs. We do have black snakes around, but we think it might have been our rooster trying to get her off the nest.

Anyone else ever seen this?
Do you think he will grow out of it?
Hate to get rid of him as he is such a good protector -- no hawk attacks since we got him.
 
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#2 ·
Hmm, yes I have seen something similar before with a gamecock. I don't know for sure but he may have been eating eggs? The entire flock eats eggs now. . .

Also, I have seen a tom turkey go into a nestbox and break eggs, but he was trying to go broody and crushed them. . .!! He seriously, was sitting on that nest for days lol
 
#3 · (Edited)
I personally would turn that Cock into soup. Non aggressive cockerels and cocks protect flocks just as well.

Anyway, what breed is he? A buddy of mine had a Minorca that was that way. It wasn't man aggressive, but was very anxious and nervous with the hens. I thought the bird hit his head or something, but my Buddy would always just say "hes a Wired bird" when anyone asked about him. That bird just disappeared one day.
 
#5 ·
The normal and natural behavior of a rooster is to survey and approve of nesting sites. "Come over here, I walked over here a minute ago and crowed a couple times and didn't get eaten by a tiger". They call them in and show places to lay eggs. They might break up a nest of a strange hen, they might call their hens to do it, in a few days she will be ready to mate, at that point , not a strange hen. A mature and dominant rooster should be very accepting of broody hens, and should partake in some aspects of chick care, even to the point of brooding chicks. This attitude will change as the chicks age, any young males would naturally be driven away, if not killed, by the boss.

What we see in nature with wild jungle fowl and with the less refined breeds of domestic chickens is the way chickens were for a very long time, without human intervention. With the more selectively bred birds, there is no telling what bits and pieces have been lost in the genetic code, and how the resulting birds may act. In some breeds, traits like the brooding instinct has been bred out entirely. Sounds like your bird has parts of what he needs to be a flock patriarch, but has some flaws, They would be fatal flaws in my program.

Chickens are supposed to have an amazing sense of facial recognition. Maybe your boy is bad with remembering faces. The hens go in the nest boxes and he forgets who they are. If he is growling, that is like a danger warning sound, and could mean he is becoming a little confused. I have always considered the tendency to attack humans a sign of mental deficiency in a rooster, people should easily click over into the flight side of the fight or flight response in all but a few instances.
 
G
#7 ·
The normal and natural behavior of a rooster is to survey and approve of nesting sites. "Come over here, I walked over here a minute ago and crowed a couple times and didn't get eaten by a tiger". They call them in and show places to lay eggs. They might break up a nest of a strange hen, they might call their hens to do it, in a few days she will be ready to mate, at that point , not a strange hen. A mature and dominant rooster should be very accepting of broody hens, and should partake in some aspects of chick care, even to the point of brooding chicks. This attitude will change as the chicks age, any young males would naturally be driven away, if not killed, by the boss.
That's why I love games! They have those wild instincts, and their behavior is so completely different than that of most other chickens. They help the hen raise the chicks! I love that about them! And the high intelligence of games is remarkable!
 
#8 ·
When you start breeding things to lay close to all year, and tolerate being packed shoulder to shoulder in a pen, you lose some instincts, you have to, and it's not all a bad thing. But it is good to know there are still birds around that are closer to the wild example, just for raising chicks. You can learn so much from them, by watching.

Take the egg song, for instance. I have hens that the egg song must last two hours. They make more noise than roosters. Sometimes the roosters join in. What it is, is let's jump up on this little vantage point close to our nest that we just laid in, and we will sing a song to see if any predators are around. We will do this for several days, if we don't get attacked, our nest is in a pretty good spot, not too close to a predators den. If we see to much activity during the egg song, we will move our nest. As the clutch gets big and sitting begins, the egg song ceases. It is loudest and longest in the beginning. Our laying birds do it, but it is not orchestrated enough that you could ever figure out what the purpose is. Now later during incubation the hens come flying off the nests, in case any tiger was lurking nearby during the feeding and defecating run, they will be drawn to the explosion of activity and away from the nest. The last few days, not a peep is made, and not a muscle is moved, except by the male, who will provide decoying service nearby.
 
#10 ·
But oddly he gets quite upset when the hens go in to lay their eggs in the morning.
He stands outside the nest boxes and growls. It sounds like an angry dog growl.
He even has gotten in the nest box with the hen in there. He walks around quite irritated until they all finish laying and go outside together.
Am I the only one reminded of a guy stuck holding his wife/girlfriend's purse, standing outside the ladies room?
 
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