attack rooster! help! - Page 4

Cherwill

I do believe you are right...he must have been testing you...I will be sure to keep a close eye on roo behaviors.Thanks for your help I hope I can keep 3 of them but will not tolerate a mean roo. My youngest (twins) are 12 but still...any company getting attacked would really bother me!I just don't want the hassle...plus I want to hatch some of my own...so I don't want any "mean genes"
I'm glad you were able to rehome him. Maybe try again with a different breed?

I've had a bunch of roos--RIR, SLW, and EE and have had no problems with aggression from any of them. I sent a bunch of the boys to freezer camp awhile back because the hens were getting torn though. Mine were all at or just over a year old so I think if they were going to get mean they would have been showing some signs of it.

I don't make pets of my roos though. I'm not mean to them and I've never taken a stick or anything to them, but I don't love on them like I do the hens and when I bring treats out I don't let them have any until after the hens have started to eat. They get treats too, but they have to wait until I say it's ok. I also don't let them breed any of the hens while I'm around, if they try I just nudge them off with my foot and then walk towards them for a bit and make them back away from me. It's all pretty low-key, but it seems to work. Best of luck with your little guys.

Pip was basically raised as a pet, much more so than the hens, because of the boy who lived here and his girlfriend. I'm new to chickens, so I don't know if that kind of thing makes a difference or not. He takes such good care of his harem; I'm going to miss watching that.

NYRIR, we won't seek out a rooster but wouldn't automatically get rid of one, either. We live in town but our neighbors all said a crowing rooster wasn't a problem for them. From other threads here at BYC, I know how lucky we are with that! I don't know enough about chickens to know if there are some breeds more prone to meanness than others. We got our chickens based on what thrives in Kansas since our weather ranges from hot and steamy to cold and icy. Since we fell into this more or less by accident, we didn't get to do the research and things we would normally do and the first two chickens weren't chosen by us. They were Pip and a barred rock that our Weim got to before we had a permanent pen and coop built.

Kittymomma, how would I tell the difference between a rooster trying to assert his dominance and one who's just plain mean?

Every roo that I have had (and I hand raised all of them) have gotten mean between 14 mo. and 2 yrs. old. I would not trust him with my children or anybody else for that matter (and DO NOT turn your back on him).

If you  decide to keep him, I would take a few days and really work at him on the dominance thing. Taike a bucket and a hose and intentionally go after him. Make him fight or fly and even if he flies chase the little devil around for 10 or 15 minutes about 4 or 5 times a day. Scare the feathers right off of him and then blast him with the hose. Always have something with you that you are not afraid of really wacking him with - HARD.

Once they start getting mean, it just gets worse from there. Please don't breed him. He may be beautiful, but he's just a demon behind all of those feathers.

The meaner the rooster - the better they taste. If you feel bad about it, say an extra prayer over him at dinner.

My mother almost lost her eye to a peacock who too a disliking to her, she's go a 4 inch scar to remind her today. I don't play around with human-fighting roosters. If I havn't done my job and let them know that I am the top rooster then I will separate their heads from their bodies before their feet hit the ground the first time they attack me. I'm not going to lose an eye! That would make culling very easy for me. Eat them - you can eat chickens believe it or not! Probably tasty too! Sorry but they have spurs they can be dangerous I wouldn't take a chance and I would definately not give him to a friend(I might give him to an enemy).

I found an old fishing net with a long handle like you would use to reach over the side of the boat when deep sea fishing. I have been catching the roo when he approaches me. I simply become the aggressor and go after him. Now I carry it out there with me and so far he is avoiding me.

I have a rooster that started out very nice then he went mean then went back to nice and now we have to watch him.  Right now he has a 4 inch laceration on his back where the other roos attacked him for trying to attack me the last time.  If any of my oldest chickens goes to peck at me then the others pecks back at them for trying to hurt me.  I don't how it will be when they get more mature but in any case if any of them are repeat offenders I have no hesitation to butcher them.

I'm sorry, but this seems awfully harsh.  And I think it could really backfire and cause an already aggressive rooster to be a frightened, wary, threatened, defensive bird, and therefore even more aggressive.  Furthermore, you run the risk of causing your rooster a nasty injury as you chase and hit him - HARD. 

Since the ideal ratio in a mixed flock is 1:10 then there are job positions for a mere 10% of all roosters hatched.  That means the other 90% have their purpose on a plate.  I've processed a number of agreeable & mannerly roosters simply because I had no room to keep them in my flock.  Why waste a moment trying to re-program an unruly rooster -- especially with such harsh methods -- when there are so many others already calm & placid and headed to the table?

I have been having trouble with my roo the last couple of days.  I was planning on giving him away because he'd gotten really vocal and we only have 6 hens.  The kids were opposed to eating him.  But now I can't do that in good conscience because he's gotten mean! 

So... I thought I would try the dominance thing and see how it went.  I have been picking him up and carrying him around, and going out and generally harrassing him during the day.  I'll pick him up and hold him while I reach down and pet the hens.  (He HATED that!)  I don't let him have any food until all the hens have eaten.  Basically showing him I'm the boss.

It seemed to be working... then, this morning, my 9 year old went out to open the coop and he tried to attack her.  Chased her screaming across the yard.

So... into the soup pot he will go.  I don't need a roo, as much as I liked him until now, and I'm not passing off my problem onto someone else.

We took Pip to his new home this afternoon, then I cried all the way back to town. I'm certain that flock is destined for butchering. Too many roos and no nesting boxes in sight. I have no philosophical objection to that BUT, I'm a wee bit attached to this particular chicken. He was the first, and the friendliest, and beautiful. I just couldn't take the risk of keeping him here in town. I'm trying to convince myself there's something to this idea of culling the aggressive ones, but right now I'm just mourning.