When you’re looking for a new rooster for your backyard flock, you want a guy who will do his job correctly when protecting his hens, but ideally, he should still have a bearable personality. Nobody wants roosters chasing and pecking them, their children, guests, or other chickens. Americanas (Easter Eggers) are known for their sunny dispositions but are Americana (EE) roosters aggressive?
Americana chickens have a reputation for pleasant temperaments. Still, it is difficult to generalize whether a rooster will be aggressive or friendly. Ameraucana are hybrids crossbred with a wide variety of chickens, so their unique natures and aggression will depend on their parentage and socialization.
Ameraucana chickens are mutts. They came about when many breeders were trying to develop and perfect the Chilean Araucana. They wanted to eliminate the lethal ear tuft gene and retain the bird’s blue-egg gene.
So how did this affect the Ameraucana’s dispositions, and is it the right bird for you?
Are Americana Roosters Aggressive?
Even within specific breeds that exhibit typical character traits and expected levels of aggression in the roosters, each bird will still have its unique personality.
Some may behave exactly like a typical bird of that breed, while others defy the standards completely. This is even more likely in the case of Americana or Easter Egger roosters.
Ameraucana’s are not a breed. Instead, the term “Ameraucana” is a catch-all name describing all chickens that carry the blue-egg gene but don’t meet the standards of the Araucana or Ameraucana breeds laid down by the American Poultry Association (APA).
It’s a sneaky marketing ploy used by unethical hatcheries to trick unsuspecting customers into believing they’re buying a rare Ameraucana.
In reality, they are a mixed bag of different species, and the roosters are a chicken salad of different possible temperaments, defined only by the genes of the individual bird’s parents and its upbringing.
Experienced chicken keepers agree that Ameraucana’s are ideal for a backyard flock because they have such pleasant dispositions. Most Ameraucanas are friendly, docile, and curious and don’t mind being handled. They are outgoing and sometimes even approach people for treats and affection. They don’t bully other birds and relate well to children.
Despite their reputation as a friendly breed, many backyard chicken keepers report that the roosters are vicious towards people, pets, and their flockmates.
However, this is inconclusive because other keepers argue that the roosters are equally sweet-natured as the rest of the flock.
The Aggressive Rooster
Roosters fulfill two primary functions within the flock. First, they protect the hens from predators and mate with them to increase the population and preserve the genes.
Four factors can affect the aggression levels of roosters:
- Heredity. For centuries people bred certain species for cockfighting, and many of today’s roosters still carry those genes for such aggression.
- Fowls are prey animals. Roosters will react aggressively to any perceived threat to defend their hens and territory.
- Dispositions. Each rooster has its unique personality and may or may not conform to the typical natures of the breed.
- Hormones. Cockerels usually become aggressive at puberty when the testosterone overflows. Young chicks also sometimes exhibit this behavior, but it is less common.
If your ordinarily good-natured cockerel suddenly becomes aggressive, check whether he has everything he needs:
- Enough hens
- A clean chicken coop
- Sufficient food and water
- Safety
- Shelter
What To Do If You Have An Aggressive Americana Rooster
Roosters can be protective of their flock or violent and vicious with people, pets, and the hens in the coop. Sometimes they will attack the hens, pulling out their feathers and slicing them with their spurs, reducing them to a bloody mess.
You cannot train a rooster to become nicer if his nature is to be aggressive. Sometimes it is ingrained in him via genetics. Alternatively, he may have missed out on being taught the rules by older chickens.
If you have a consistently aggressive rooster, you have three options.
- You can separate him for a while and see if his behavior improves when you bring him back to the flock.
- You can rehome him, but you can only do this if you disclose everything about his delinquent behavior. It would not be polite to land this little terrorist on an unsuspecting person. Someone with a mature flock may want him to protect their birds from predators.
- He can move to the freezer or straight to the pie.
When it comes to bad-tempered roosters, those in the know suggest that it’s good to have slightly older chickens teaching the younger males how to behave.
When he gets aggressive towards pullets the same age as himself, they will just get beaten up. Older hens will discipline him within the pecking order.
Tips For Avoiding Injuries From Aggressive Roosters
With unpredictable or aggressive roosters around, follow these tips to ensure that he doesn’t injure you:
- Never turn your back on an unpredictable rooster.
- Don’t bend down in front of an aggressive guy.
- Wear pants or strong denim to avoid punctures.
- Take an item with you to protect yourself when entering the coop.
Ameraucana Roosters And A Brief History
In the 1930s, the Araucana chicken arrived in America from Chile as rumpless, blue-egg-laying beauties. But they had a genetic default that caused many babies to die in the shells. So breeders tried to breed these birds in various combinations with mixed heritage breeds that would eliminate this gene but keep the ability to lay pretty blue eggs.
Eventually, the APA accepted a specific standard, and many varieties didn’t make the cut.
Some of these breeders got together to develop a similar blue-egg-laying bird. The APA recognized it in 1984 as the Ameraucana that lays blue eggs. All those that don’t meet the standards are Easter Eggers or Americanas.
Final Word
Ameraucana roosters have recently built up a bad reputation for being vicious. If this behavior is consistent, they are not likely to change. However, not all roosters in this group are aggressive.
There is no way to categorize a rooster’s character because he is an Ameraucana. It’s a generic name for a bunch of crossbreeds. These birds could behave according to the nature of any of their mixed-up lineage.
Before sending your Ameraucana rooster to the freezer or the pie, consider whether he is genuinely aggressive or simply doing his job. If he is protecting the flock, cut the guy some slack! But if he is consistently nasty, he will have to move on.
Related Articles
- Can Ameraucana Chickens Get Along With Other Chickens?
- Barred Rock Vs. Ameraucana
- Do Ameraucanas Have Feathers On Their Feet?
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