Strange Rooster Behavior

[Koko Acres]

I have a Rooster that I removed from the chicken run and coop. I had too many Roos for my hens and this one was a mixed breed who I named “Ugly” because he just isn’t that pretty. Well, he is now my favorite.

I have some 8 week old youngsters (36 in fact) that I began free ranging and he is always with them, like a protector. I’ve seen that with a roo and hens but not with a roo and youngsters. Yesterday, I saw him find a grub and drop it to a few of the youngsters, and a few days before that, I could’ve sworn he was building a nest in our goat house with fresh straw I had just laid. He was making broody hen noises when I came near.

Do I have a broken roo or is this just the most perfect roo in the world? And yes, I do regret naming him Ugly now. I hope he doesn’t understand English.

Ever seen behavior like this?

 

[aart]

Not sure if he's the most perfect, but his behaviors sound excellent.
I have had males tend to chicks like that before,
have also had one terrorize them.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I have a beautiful Plymouth Barred Rock, he keeps to himself, rarely (but not never) goes after people…….. aaaaaand then I’ve got Rainbow, the half grown Rhode Island Red, who rips feathers out of his two ladies (used to have more, but a fox came through a while back, and ate 14 birds), and he keeps going for Buddy’s hens. The six hens that don’t belong to him. I’ve never seen Rainbow mount his Plymouth, or his Brahma, he just rips out the feathers. So, anyone in Ohio looking for a rooster?

 

[Koko Acres]

Not sure if he's the most perfect, but his behaviors sound excellent.
I have had males tend to chicks like that before,
have also had one terrorize them.

Yes I’ve seen the terrorizing as well. This caring attentiveness is a new one!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Not broken at all! The best roosters that I have seen take care of everyone in the flock both young and old while respecting the humans that care for them. We had a cockerel that my kids named “spider” because he would sneak in out of nowhere to attack people. However, we had another cockerel at the time who as soon as spider started making a beeline for my kids this other cockerel would intercept spider to fight him off. At first we thought it was a fluke, but it happened more than once. Spider of course quickly went to freezer camp, but my kids named the hero of the day “spider fighter”. Spider fighter is always guarding his ladies, he is gentle with mounting them, despite being larger leaves my bantams alone like they prefer, he looks after the chicks, he respects the space of even little kids and at night rounds everyone up pushing them into the coop always being the last one in.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Your rooster sounds wonderful, definitely not broken! The most proper roosters are ones who take care of their hens, and if there are chicks around, they are supposed to be the protector of the chicks and take care of them almost as a dam would. And sometimes roosters will go broody on a hen's nest and hatch out chicks, or try to at least. Those are the great ones that we need more of in the world, because unfortunately there are a ton of aggressive ones out there that are not proper.

 

[Mrs. K]

oh, you are so describing my "Bye". He was ugly as sin, the hens adored him...he was homely, and built nests for the hens, I ordered some high flying well bred roosters, and Bye passed the screaming toddler test.

The thing is, he kind of got better looking, and just kept getting the 'Bye' and one day, all the fancy roosters just went to freezer camp. When you get a good one, it really does not matter what they look like.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A good rooster should take care of his flock. What you are describing is a good rooster and does not surprise me.

It sounds like he is on his own out there with just the chicks. If there were other adult chickens mixed with them his behavior might be different, he might not be so attentive to those chicks. Each flock has its own dynamics and those depend on the individual members. I've never seen a rooster take over raising a bunch of chicks like that but I have seen roosters help broody hens with their chicks, especially if she is having problems.

 

[Lulu-vt]

Ha ha! He doesn’t look ugly to me. Maybe unique! He sounds like a great rooster

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I have a beautiful Plymouth Barred Rock, he keeps to himself, rarely (but not never) goes after people…….. aaaaaand then I’ve got Rainbow, the half grown Rhode Island Red, who rips feathers out of his two ladies (used to have more, but a fox came through a while back, and ate 14 birds), and he keeps going for Buddy’s hens. The six hens that don’t belong to him. I’ve never seen Rainbow mount his Plymouth, or his Brahma, he just rips out the feathers. So, anyone in Ohio looking for a rooster?

A random update:
Gave a whole lot of roosters to a local hatchery, and now I only have one. His name is Silber, and I believe based on temperament and color (usually calm and looks like a Plymouth, but with two random RIR feathers ) that he is Buddy’s son with either Broody or Russel.