Nice rooster turning mean

chad-o said:

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.

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I'm so with this. What happens in the summer when your daugher doesn't want to wear a jacket? Why does your husband tolerate the rooster attacking him?

World's full of perfectly nice roosters.

. Kicking a roo seems like you're solving the problem quickly and easily, but all you're doing is making the roo more distrustful of you than he was before. He may keep his distance, but you will never know when he will decide to get the courage to attack you again. Hormones play the biggest role in a young cockerel's behavior. He becomes nervous and naturally distrustful of anyone he sees as a possible threat to the hens. Realizing this, why not take the time to show him he can trust the humans that come to care for the flock?

Training and disciplining a cockerel will produce a rooster, by age two, that is calm and well-behaved. By taking advantage of the time between the ages of six months to two years to correct a cockerel's behavior, you will end up with a rooster with good manners that you can trust. Roosters are very intelligent and will respond to their names and your commands.

It's as simple as moving slowly, deliberately, and disciplining the rooster when he shows any aggressive behavior. Do this by pushing him to the ground and holding him there until he calms down. Later, when he's behaving like a good boy, offer him treats, and yes, you can even cuddle him if he's calm and permits it. Chickens are no different than other trainable animals. You discipline the bad behavior and reward the good. In no time at all, you have a very well-behaved rooster instead of one you have to be afraid of.

Thanks very much for your replies everyone. What an interesting debate! After reading the first round or replies, I decided to go the route of re-training him. We are teaching him to think of humans as the bringers-of-food and not a threat. My husband tried both the kick-him and the more gentle approach and found the second one to be much more effective. If he kicked him, it just seemed to make the rooster more aggressive and he would keep pursuing my husband as he turned to walk away. He says that when he crouches and moves towards the rooster, talking low, the rooster calms down. So, the problem seems to be abating quickly.

I just want to say that he has been a wonderful rooster for a year, until he was cooped up for a very long, very snowy winter. He was only aggressive for about a month, as we started to let the flock back out in late Feb.

Really, I just wanted to post an update to follow through. I really appreciate your replies...and the point about putting your face near an animal's claws is very true. He actually prefers to launch sneak attacks from behind and does not attack when someone is facing him. If he were that bad, he would definitely go to freezer camp! Thankfully, he seems to be learning and calming down.

Thanks all.

Me too! I am the one "in charge" and all of my animals (3 dogs and 3 horses as well as 8 chickens) know it. I had to kick my rooster a few times to get his respect. He leaves ALL humans alone now, but I still warn people to be careful around him. People who don't know about roosters can inadvertently do things to upset them.