Temperament, how important?

I know some people want an animal simply for how it functions, and what kind of personality it does or does not have while it's functioning, is not important to them.

This cannot work in all circumstances though. If you have a great guardian dog, but he bites every person who comes in your yard, you have a problem. A legal one! Or a great ranch horse who kicks everyone who walks behind him, again, he may function well as an athlete, but his peevish temperament is a problem!

When it comes to chickens, who neither bite nor kick, how big a deal is temperament to you? If all you want is eggs or meat, does it matter if the bird is pleasant or not?

I keep my birds for pleasure as much as for utility and while eggs and meat are their purpose, it is, by no means, their only purpose. I am wondering what others feel about the temperamental personality quirks, or lack of, of their chickens and other barnyard citizens.

Temperament is both inheritable and environmental, but I take no chances. Schips have a tendency to sharpness so I will not breed one with an edgy temperament. Rabbits that bite me when I reach into their cages will be eaten no matter how lovely their conformation is. Even though my Houdan stock is limited, I will be making a rooster soup out of one here soon. He has taken to blindsiding me whenever I go into the barn.

Temperament is number one for us in our commercial beef herd. Cranky cows or blustering bulls are not tolerated. As a result, we have a very quiet herd that can be worked on foot by one person.

I can't imagine that I would treat my chickens any differently. With two kids who will be helping do chicken chores, I need to know they'll be safe when they're in the coop with me. Good thing I don't mind butchering chickens. Mwahahaha ...

It is most important at our place. We have 2 kids and one being 5-we take no chances. A LGD that bites at everyone to me, is a fear-biter not worth having around. That is a personal beef with me, lol. Why, why... do people have dogs like that.
Our stud was picked, on his temperament as were the mares and the cattle.
I have to say for birds, I haven't encountered nasty ones. Prob because we have those child-friendly Cochins:) They wait for the little kids to come in and pick them up. Guineas are just guineas. Hard to say if they deliberately crap on people's heads. Hmmmm, got me thinking now.

My husband and I raise Texas Longhorns and they must be quiet and easy to handle. There is to much room in my freezer for animals that don't know their place. We walk around our cattle all the time. The only time I will put up with any thing is just after they calve (but only to a certain extent). We cull heavy for this trait. I'm to old to run and hide!!!!!!
When we showed our cattle was halter broke and I could take 12 head to Calgary Stampede to show by my self. This is the only way we will have animals.

pigglet wrote:My husband and I raise Texas Longhorns and they must be quiet and easy to handle. There is to much room in my freezer for animals that don't know their place. We walk around our cattle all the time. The only time I will put up with any thing is just after they calve (but only to a certain extent). We cull heavy for this trait. I'm to old to run and hide!!!!!!
When we showed our cattle was halter broke and I could take 12 head to Calgary Stampede to show by my self. This is the only way we will have animals.

WOW Kudos to you!!! The few times we dealt with Longhorns it was completely run for your life!!

Only one rule ............you never bite the hand that feeds you ! or kick ,attach etc etc .

I agree you harm the hand that feeds you you loose!!

With four kids ranging from 5 weeks to 10 yrs old, temperament is essential. I have butchered both hens and roosters that did not have a good enough temperament. If my 5 yr old can not go in there to feed them, check for eggs, walk around, or what ever, then they are not staying here. Even my cattle have to be this way. If we cant take a walk through the pasture, then they dont stay. I would rather a chicken lay be three eggs a week, but have a great temperament then lay me 6 eggs a week and be aggressive in any way.

I think temperment affects the final product as well, at least to a certain extent. If your breeding territorial birds, you may end up with underweight trouble makers who pace barriers, pick fights and cause trouble. We had one roo named Ugly, he was quite hard on his flock mates, and one day took after my mom. He was in Camp Freezer that night. Stress caused by an unruly bird could endanger the health of your flock.

But it depends on your situation. I knew a family that `ranched` in interior BC, it was such thick scrub and bush that they kicked the gate open in the fall and hoped everybody made it home for the winter, never saw them all summer. You might tolerate a bit more snort in your cows if they were fending for themselves in the boonies most of the time.

Swamp Hen, you raise a very good point.

For some livestock, how well they handle is very important. For others, let's say bison, forget the whole temperament issue. THey are what they are and what they are is wild and if you don't know that, if you think they will ever be as trustowrthy as your cattle, you need to get out of bison raising.

So some animals, to survive, have a wild, scrappy nature and as you point out, in some circumstances, it is what keeps them alive!

BUt for daily handling animals,animals that we know have been somewhat domesitcated (unlike bison), we can expect better behaviour, when required.

as long as the cock an't to cocky he stays. As long as it does not attack me,my dad, gramp or any one else it stays!

other than that no. I would prefer something that was calimer.

Swamp Hen, our cattle go to range in May and come home in October. We have limited exposure to them and won't see some of them the whole time they are out. We have a moderate predator range with wolves, cougar and bear. We expect them to be able to tell the difference between the predators out there and us and the working dogs. They can be a little more sensitive when they first get home, but they settle quickly or they go. We do not tolerate any bad tempered cows, but we also do not push the boundaries with new calves. They are allowed to be a little pushier with newborns and they are not exposed again to the dogs until the calves are older.

I don't have kids, but I do not tolerate bad tempered roosters (or hens for that matter). Some people think the roosters are more virile if they are stroppy. They think they are better protectors, I don't agree with that. Have have had very good, protective roosters that are very good with me. I am not a threat to the hens and they realise that. All about temperament I think.

Oh temperament for me is number 1. Mostly can only speak to chickens and ducks though. Had a mean muscovy drake that hated me. had so many run ins with him, finally a friend took him cause he was so big and he became bottom man in a breeding group, there were three other males. Don't know if his attitude ever changed. But that did not matter, the guy was not a hang-around-the-chicken-and-duck-yard, like I was, way back when. Got another two year old drake and he was kind as the days will become long with light. To me and his ducks.

I have had mean roosters, they have not stayed long, a buff orpington and a barred rock. Just can't stand that. I do not want any fear when I go into my chickens' domain.

I have two buff orpington roosters and two cochin roosters. The temperament has not changed on any of these fellows. They are well natured. If the ugly side arises. Sorry, they will be taken out of my area, held somewhere separate, used to fulfill breeding purposes and then to the dinner table. I think they are mature enough that if there was any bad behaviour going to surface, it would have by now.

Also, flighty birds. Nope, not here. I had two hens of a breed specific. They only stayed for a short time and then they were sold (well, one died because of some jerk that brought a dog here and that dog decided he was a hunter, three birds eventually succumbed to death from injuries sustained). I did not enjoy the freakish nature of the hens and how they roosted way up in the rafters at night or on the gates between the breeding pens. Also found eggs way, way up on a shelf about 2 weeks ago, in an empty heated dog water bowl. Go figure....they flew how far up to lay eggs? Puleeeeze, how could I have ever retrieved those eggs, or known they were there. I like my hens to enjoy the lovely nesting boxes they have. Not a hard plastic water bowl, go figure...soft straw, rock hard plastic. They were beautiful, but the personality sucked. I like big birds that have a proper fear of me, but at the same time don't hit the walls as they think they need to run for their lives. Calm birds, to me, an absolute must. Scared birds make too much mess with stuff flying everywhere. My birds are calm. Just how I like it. (am I repeating myself, must be one of those days). I have a blue cochin hen that is funny. She is SO calm that she would rather come to me when I am throwing them their morning scratch and stand in front of me to get me to put my hand down so she can eat from my hand. Go figure that one. There is so much good stuff thrown on the ground, but nope, she needs to come to me and wait for me to lay my hand low, my teeny tiny hand filled with the scratch. Docile. All my birds will eat from my hand if I ask them. They are not afraid of me in that way. I like that. Good topic, by the way, have a most awesome day, CynthiaM.

Temperament is huge for me. A nice rooster doesn't cost any more to feed than a nasty one.

Temperament is top's on my list. I do not want myself or anyone else to be attacked when going into a chicken pen to feed,water and gather eggs. Our first qualification for a good roo is good temperament, then other qualites are secondary to that.

Temperament is very important here. We have very young children helping with our livestock. In the past we have sold breeds of chickens based on the negative behaviour of one rooster. Our herd of Highlanders started with two heifers about a dozen years ago. One heifer was relaxed and laid back and the other was flighty. For a number of years we bred off spring from both heifers. The original heifer only had two calves (both heifers) before she had to be put down due to illness. One of these was a very gentle white heifer, which we sold when we decided to raise only blacks. The other was hand raised after her mother became ill, but forever nervous and flighty. Although this line of cattle was not dangerous to anyone here we prefer the line that would come up for a scratch behind the ears. We now have the one gentle heifer we started with, her offspring and a gentle bull from Tatlayoko Lake.

Temperament is tops with me. If I can't live with the temperament of an animal or poultry I won't purchase or breed it. I don't want to perpetuate that fault.