Nice rooster turning mean

Our one-year-old rooster watches over a flock of ten free-ranging hens. He has been great for the last ten months: friendly, gentle with the ladies, a wonderful protector. The last two months he has started attacking my daughters and my husband. They are my chickens, and he still respects me. But when the others walk past him, once their backs are turned, he will attack. I thought it might be because there were young roosters in the flock, but we took them all out and processed them, so there are not any more. There are five guinea hens in the coop....not sure which are male or female. They are obnoxious, but lower on the pecking order than the rooster and all of his hens.

Any ideas why he has turned aggressive in the last few weeks? He still acts the same with the hens...does a great job with them when they are out. We do live in upstate NY and it continues to be freezing with still a foot of snow on the ground. Last week the hens started a petition: Chickens for global Warming. Even the cats signed.

Thanks for any ideas. He's a gorgeous rooster that we all really like, but I can't keep him if he keeps attacking my pre-teen daughters and hubby.

@Mammachix , you may find this helpful — http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/help-for-agressive-roosters.aspx
We haven't encountered an aggressive roo yet, but "Buster" already knows that my wife and I are indeed "food dispensers" and not any kind of threat or rival. Good luck. Also on the site are posts on how others have handled their rowdy roos.

If this is sudden, there most likely had to be something that happened to make your rooster not trust any human but you. Perhaps someone came into the yard while you were gone, or maybe an animal threatened the flock. There had to be some sort of incident that upset the equilibrium.

What I would do if this situation were mine to deal with, would be to limit the exposure, for the time being, your daughter and husband have with the rooster. When they do need to be around him, they need to walk slowly, but never turn their backs on the rooster. It's very important they not show fear or run away from him. They need to approach him slowly, head-on, not backing out of his way.

Some will say they should show force or swat him with a broom or a squirt gun, but that won't solve the problem. The rooster needs to know they aren't a threat.

As your daughter and husband feel more confident, encourage them to spend more time around the roo so he'll become accustomed to them. I think with time your roo will settle back down. Be careful though not to make the problem worse by using drastic methods. If your roo was nice before, I think he will be nice again after he learns to trust again.

Thanks very much for the ideas. We'll try these ideas. I'm hoping that once the snow melts and they have room to range again he won't feel so confined and defensive. I think we will try a gentle and food approach for now.

I have a rooster who was extremely tame as a chick. He went through a stage of being aggressive, but every time he came toward me I would pick him up and hold him just like I did when he was younger. He has outgrown the urge to bit and flog, but now he thinks I'm his favorite hen. As soon as I go outside, he calls me over for treats. He "mounts" the ground in front of me. He also is always no more than 5 feet from me whenever I'm outside. He talks to me constantly and shadows me wherever I go. He is around a year old and has outgrown being aggressive.

Hi,
I thought I'd post an update now that the snow has melted and our flock is out and free-ranging again. Our rooster has calmed down a lot. I'm guessing he doesn't feel as hemmed in now that they have more space to move. However, he will still attack my husband. My daughter says she is safe as long as she has on my chicken-jacket. Isn't that funny?! I've encouraged them to crouch low and try to touch him when he gets aggressive and that idea has been helping. It's amazing to me that he can tell the difference between me and people who are not-me.

Hope your roosters and you are also enjoying the spring!

Mammachix said:

Hi,
I thought I'd post an update now that the snow has melted and our flock is out and free-ranging again. Our rooster has calmed down a lot. I'm guessing he doesn't feel as hemmed in now that they have more space to move. However, he will still attack my husband. My daughter says she is safe as long as she has on my chicken-jacket. Isn't that funny?! I've encouraged them to crouch low and try to touch him when he gets aggressive and that idea has been helping. It's amazing to me that he can tell the difference between me and people who are not-me.

Hope your roosters and you are also enjoying the spring!

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Aggression from a rooster should never be taken lightly. An aggressive rooster can inflict serious wounds. Children are especially vulnerable because of their size. In my opinion and aggressive rooster should have his spurs removed or he should be removed. Your suggesting that people stoop low or crouch exposes their face. I can't help but think of a friend whose cat was a little aggressive. After 100 stitches to their daughter's face they finally got rid of the cat.

"It's amazing to me that he can tell the difference between me and people who are not-me."

Chickens don't simply see humans as big, two-legged beings. They recognize over 100 different faces, of humans, of other household pets, as well as each other.

Read this. http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/sentience in farm animals poultry chickens.htm Chickens are pretty darned intelligent.

I have never been above kicking the crap out of a rooster charging me. Most leave me alone faily quickly. LOL! I have found that being penned up does tend to make them worse.