RIR roos, are they "helpful" parents?

[floridagirl13]

I've heard that some breeds of Roos are "helpful" parents, what about RIRs? I only have 1 roo and 1 hen, for now. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me about their RIR roos. Mine are only about 2 months old and still in "training" as far as hand feeding and handling goes. One minute my lil roo thinks he's a tough Guy and the next he's jealous that I'm petting the hen. I'm looking into getting him some more ladies but I want to be sure that he's going to be a good protector of my future flock instead of being that Guy that strays from the flock to go fight a lawn chair (my grandpa's roo did that)

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I have never had a rooster make a single move towards helping raise chicks. It is totally up to the mama hen to introduce the babies to the flock, and the rooster doesn't back her up. I had a lovely RIR flock rooster before he died a month ago. My RIR was a very good boy, respectful to me and always danced for his hens. RIRs do have a bad reputation as nasty roosters, though.

I will caution you about how you are handling your rooster. After having many, many of my own and listening to a lot of stories here on BYC and hearing the advice of some people here on BYC that I really respect, I am firmly of the opinion that you should NOT be handfeeding and handling your rooster unless he's a show bird that must be tame. I am going to repost something I just wrote to another person whose rooster is now getting old enough to start showing aggression. I hope you find it helpful.


Quote:

 

[floridagirl13]

Thank you! Much of this is news to me and I appreciate you sharing the info! I was hoping he wouldn't be very aggressive as I have scars from my grandpa's rooster who chased me every time he saw me when I was a little kid. Same roo that fought lawn furniture and undoubtedly, in his mind,won every fight with the furniture. I have to admit I had. A good laugh reading about your reprimanding your roo! I must take notes!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

What works best for me with roosters is simply leaving them alone. What you're going for is a bird that isn't afraid of you, isn't stressed by your presence, and will come running for treats when you call all the chickens--but will also move out of your way when you move towards him. That's about perfect. And the way I've found to make that happen (and not just me, many others have found this, too) is to leave him alone except for routine things like deworming, etc. You might also pick him up and carry him around like a football every once in a while just to remind him that you're bigger than he is.

All my chicks start out deathly afraid of me. I have a lot of birds, so my chicks don't get handled much. In fact, I usually only see them twice a day, morning and evening, when I feed and check on them. But then when they reach 18 weeks or so and are introduced to the main flock, all of a sudden their entire demeanor changes. They pick up on the main flock's behavior very quickly and stop seeing me as a potential predator. They start to come running to me when the rest of the flock does--my flock runs to the gate any time I step out of the house--and they are not longer afraid when I'm in the hen house and I'm only inches away from them in a confined space. None of them are thrilled about being petted, but they aren't afraid of me. The reason I tell you this long, rambling story is to reassure you that if your hens think you're OK, your rooster will think you're OK even if you didn't play with him as a cockerel.

Finally, if your rooster turns out to be aggressive (and a RIR has a better-than-average chance of being so) it won't be your fault. Some birds simply are aggressive by nature and there's nothing that can be done to fix them, and you certainly don't want to breed from them. It's a sad thing, but you can cull a rooster and try again and it is not a reflection on you as a person.

Oh, and I personally would get your rooster more hens right away. He'll be more calm with more girls, and the hens will be less stressed. Roosters want to mate like every five minutes, and that's hard on a single hen. It will also make him a bit more aggressive with only one hen to lavish his attentions on. Personally, I would not want to keep a rooster with less than six hens, and 10 hens is even better.


Quote: You'll have to share that with some folks here on BYC who think that I'm over-exaggerating when I say a rooster is a potentially dangerous animal, especially when there are children about. I was given an earful about that yesterday.

 

[floridagirl13]

Haha will do! I spent many summer vacations and weekends on my grandpa's farm so I've got plenty of stories of this particular rooster,though I'm not sure what breed he was. He was appropriately named Rocky Balboa. He may have been a red, he may have been a partridge rock, I may never know.

I don't think I could bring myself to be the one to do the dirty work if he does end up being too aggressive, so would I locate a butcher or....
Hubby thinks he could do it but it took him weeks to get over watching a stray cat get hit by a car so I don't want to do that to him.