Agressive Rooster and pepper spray

OKprairiegirll

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jul 2, 2013
76
8
43
Oklahoma
I had to kill my first rooster - he didn't want me anywhere around and was way too aggressive. Now a have 3 new babies and suspect at least one will be a roo - if not all 3. LOL I'm hoping not to have the same problems. But, I have a question. In spite of all my gentling and hand feeding and all that - IF he's still a pain in the behind - has anyone ever shot your roo in the face with pepper spray? How did that work?
 
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Never have, but if you do, can you post a video?

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On a more serious note. I once was talking to a breeder (been breeding 40+ years) and she swore up and down that coddling roo's made them mean. I haven't coddled a rooster since, and while some still challenge me, none have full-blown attacked.
 
Hey, that's great - these 3 have are Orpingtons. X your fingers. :) My profile picture is the rooster I had to kill. He was a Brown Leghorn and as mean as the devil himself. LOL
 
I'm in the camp of not treating roosters as pets. If you look through all the posts here on aggressive roosters, you'll see a common theme...."He was our favorite chick, always the friendliest. We loved him and cuddled him and hand fed him and let him sit on our shoulders. Out of the blue when he hit X months old, he attacked us out of nowhere". I'm not kidding, there are literally hundreds of those stories.

My theory is roosters are livestock, not pets. I raise mine to be respectful of me. They move out of my way when I walk through the coop. I move slowly and nicely and always give them a chance to get out of my way. I don't handle them or pet them or hand feed them. I let them call the hens for treats and take care of the hens....that's their job, not being my pets.

If it reaches the point where you have to use pepper spray, I'd say don't bother. My birds are for my enjoyment and relaxation, and I'd never be able to trust a bird like that again.

I was in my coop reaching for a nest in a very difficult to reach spot recently. My knee's been giving me fits and getting up off my knees isn't always pretty
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. My big rooster was in the coop while I was down on my knees. It actually occurred to me I'd be very, very vulnerable to him at that time. Did he do anything? Nope. Would I have ever done that with a rooster that had ever shown any sign of aggression? Oh heck no.
 
I'm in the camp of not treating roosters as pets. If you look through all the posts here on aggressive roosters, you'll see a common theme...."He was our favorite chick, always the friendliest. We loved him and cuddled him and hand fed him and let him sit on our shoulders. Out of the blue when he hit X months old, he attacked us out of nowhere". I'm not kidding, there are literally hundreds of those stories. 


My theory is roosters are livestock, not pets. I raise mine to be respectful of me. They move out of my way when I walk through the coop. I move slowly and nicely and always give them a chance to get out of my way. I don't handle them or pet them or hand feed them. I let them call the hens for treats and take care of the hens....that's their job, not being my pets. 

If it reaches the point where you have to use pepper spray, I'd say don't bother. My birds are for my enjoyment and relaxation, and I'd never be able to trust a bird like that again. 

I was in my coop reaching for a nest in a very difficult to reach spot recently. My knee's been giving me fits and getting up off my knees isn't always pretty :rolleyes: . My big rooster was in the coop while I was down on my knees. It actually occurred to me I'd be very, very vulnerable to him at that time. Did he do anything? Nope. Would I have ever done that with a rooster that had ever shown any sign of aggression? Oh heck no. 



exactly!!! that was one of the first things I researched when deciding to put a rooster on our property... had a really mean one several years ago...never treat them like pets... I have hatched out dozens and kept a few to adulthood and have never had a problem ( knocks on wood) we now have a HUGE blue orpington, if he is an ounce under 9 pounds I would be shocked, alittle over six months old he is now coop master, I too was in a very vulnerable position the other day collecting eggs and the thought also crossed my mind, he could really hurt me right now.... but i am now confident enough to go back today and feed them all and have him two feet away and not worry... I toss him the treats first so he can dole it out then toss to the pullets and chicks... never ever hand feed!
 
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Wow, my comment got inserted within yours, sorry I will fix it when I am on the main computer and not this.dumb smart phone lol :)
 
Another aspect is the "mean", flighty, chicken aggressive type breeds aren't the ones that will flog you. It's the "sweetest" silkies, easter eggers, orpingtons and so on that have the most posts here. If the chicks are off of that old rooster then you may have trouble. Aggression is hereditary.
I doubt pepper spray would do much. Animals usually have a much higher pain tolerance than people. Bear spray has proven that. It gives the sprayer a false sense of security, then they get mauled for sure for pissing it off.

I always tell people to do an experiment when they're trying to make their perfectly sweet rooster turned bad to behave. Take a switch with you and when he tries to attack give him a swat. The next day the same thing. Instead of learning to not do it he learns to be more coy about his attack and tries to ambush you to avoid the switch. But not to fret they usually start doing it when still young enough to be tender, coincidence?
 

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