Early signs of an aggressive Rooster?

[jroyalimage]

So my Easter egger rooster is just shy of 6 months in age and he is beautiful. He was raised up under my big australorp rooster so he’s really nice to “his” hens and respectful to the older ones. But in the last few weeks I’ve seen him start to kinda posture behind me as I walk away. Sometimes he loosely follows me out of the chicken yard. Now this in itself is not totally abnormal. Even as a baby he was the first to have the courage to come up to me on day 1 and is always first at the door for breakfast.
He only squabbles with my other EE rooster of the same age. He doesn’t even bother my 2 older Roos (the actual bosses). I’m wondering if these are behaviors that I should correct or is this just a young Roo “feeling himself” and growing up. So far he has not come up to be directly with aggression but it’s like a little kid that’s making faces behind their parents back. Should I be worried lol.

 

[igorsMistress]

I would keep an eye on him, but at this point there’s really no behavior to correct. He’s feeling it being at the bottom of the rooster pecking order and he will likely be the one to challenge your older boys if they are all together.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Being on the bottom of the dominance hierarchy, he may decide to advance on you to prove his dominance in front of the other males. If he is noticing you not doing anything when he "postures" behind you (which I assume is wing-dancing), then he may take that as weakness. When you see him make an aggressive posture at you, react to it by quickly stepping forward as a warning.

Also, a chicken is only an adult at one year of age, so your Easter Egger is not a rooster. He is a cockerel.

 

[jroyalimage]

I would keep an eye on him, but at this point there’s really no behavior to correct. He’s feeling it being at the bottom of the rooster pecking order and he will likely be the one to challenge your older boys if they are all together.

Just from watching the flock he seems to not be all the way at the bottom of the pecking order. Out of the 4 roosters I have together, he seems to be number 3. The other 2 older ones never really bother with him unless he gets into a scuffle with one of the older hens.. I think this semi-aggression may be coming from his more recent status upgrade. It’s only been like a week that I’ve noticed him being dominant over the other cockerel. So I’m guessing he’s just on a power trip lol and I may be an easier target than my old Roos? Either way, I’ll keep an eye out

 

[igorsMistress]

Just from watching the flock he seems to not be all the way at the bottom of the pecking order. Out of the 4 roosters I have together, he seems to be number 3. The other 2 older ones never really bother with him unless he gets into a scuffle with one of the older hens.. I think this semi-aggression may be coming from his more recent status upgrade. It’s only been like a week that I’ve noticed him being dominant over the other cockerel. So I’m guessing he’s just on a power trip lol and I may be an easier target than my old Roos? Either way, I’ll keep an eye out

I agree that you’re an easy target in his mind. Those power trips can be dangerous so be super careful. Also, be prepared for a fight between him and another.

My son has 2 roosters, father and son. Dad maintained his place as king for a few years. One day the kids came home and their beloved Clyde was a terrible mess, but alive and he’s ok. Son Ozzy is the ruler of the roost now. They’d all lived together in relative harmony before, some scuffles but nothing serious. So it can happen out of the blue; it can also be disastrous with the death of the birds being possible so my son was lucky.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Your getting good advise, one thing I'll add is you may need a separation pen/coop ready if it escalates for injury if you don't already have one set up.

 

[Folly's place]

Make sure you walk 'through' your flock, never around, so your cockerels have to move out of your way always. You are the Bringer of Food, not a flock mate to be challenged! Keep an eye on the cockerel, following you can be the star to bad behavior towards you. I'm not sure what you mean by 'posturing', but I think that cockerels and adult roosters should be spending their time interacting with their flockmates, looking out for actual danger, and avoiding me.
Watch this guy, and be prepared to act if it becomes an issue, and have that spot ready for him, or any of them, if things go bad out there.
Mary