*IMPORTANT* - How to deal with an Aggressive Rooster

[rhondaa]

Quote:
love your hen house!!!

 

[fishnet1971]

I wanna know how you housetrained your hen!!!???????? That i have gotta see.

 

[Yazzo]

ParadiseFoundFarm:

You are too kind.

It's certainly an important issue that more people need to learn about, and I'm glad you think my thread is a good one!

As for how to keep chickens from pecking your dogs eyes....you're right, it wouldn't be a good idea to slap them, although you could give them a sturdy shove if they get too close. With my dogs, they would NEVER allow the chickens to peck their eyes, not even the little dogs, but they're all different. It's possible that if you just let the chickens try to peck them, the dog will lash out and scare the chicken enough that it won't do that again. My chickens have a healthy respect for the dogs, but you certainly don't want to let the chickens TRY to peck the dog, then have someone get hurt.....if you don't have too aggressive of dogs, you could have the chicken peck the dog's nose or something, then get reprimanded. They need to have a respect for your dogs, which means you have to show them somehow that the dog is not something to mess with (though they shouldn't be terrified of the dogs).
Chickens have, on occasion, tried to peck one of my smaller dog's eyes, and I just let the dog snap out at the chicken (he would never kill them), and the chickens now respect him, but that's not such a good idea if you have a dog that's not too good around birds.....I'm can't really be of much help with that subject....I guess you'll just have to experiment a bit and see what works!

And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for your kind words!

akpeeps:

Thanks for the great pictures of Merlin! He's a real beauty.

Did you seriously house train your hen???

No chicken diapers?


chicknerd:

Glad to hear your relationship with Charles is progressing. Keep up the great updates?

Tamra of Fort Doom:

Glad I could provide those tips, and good, no no, GREAT luck with your rooster!

tarheelmama7914:


I'm certainly no dog expert, but it seems to be pretty easy to get dogs who are good with other animals accustomed to chickens. Gotta show them that you "own" the chickens though.....otherwise, they may just see them as a 'all you can eat with wings'!

Sounds like your rooster is a bit of a showoff if he's still doing the 'sideways walk' at you.

Some roosters are too proud to ever stop doing that, but you gotta watch them.....as for your 2-year-old, I would just get her to hold him as much as possible, and make sure he knows she's boss, but still probably watch them whenever they're together.

Thanks for all the new great questions and comments (and the awesome pictures)!

 

[bburn]

THIS is a post I will follow for sure! Twenty nine chickens and we managed to get at least 10-12 roo's! Just built my tractor to use as needed....we will definately have to take away some of the roo's. I had read to make sure you look them in the eye....so I do. I think it helps. We have the little pen in the run that they were in when little....we ended up carrying it out there and finishing the run with them in it! So it is still in there and the top of the run would have to come off to get it out! But the chickens love it! Every morning they are all up on it so they can see out of the run and survey their world. At 18-20 weeks old the roosters have just been crowing for a few weeks. It is a contest every morning and I love it. We live in the country so the neighbors aren't bothered.

There is some aggressive behaviors that are just starting amongst them....neck grabbing mostly. Little bit of chasing around. But that neck grabbing really bothers me. I do feel like that the behaviors are normal chicken behaviors. However, if done in front of me I usually click at them to get their attention and then move on. They stop and so the squaking stops. No picking on anyone really except the four youngest that are just a week or two behind but have been with everyone else for a long time. They use to stay to themselves but now that they are even bigger than some of the older ones they are among the flock now.

I am going to thin out the flock as we have planned all along on freezer camp for some and eggs from the others but we do want to keep a roo or two. Like everyone else I would like for the ones we keep to be 'nice' roo's that are kind to the girls. Or, I can just keep the girls. But I love the sound of a rooster crowing.

I do not feel that the roo's are agressive towards me at all. They chatter at me when they see me coming....like telling the girls that the treat miester is on the way. I sit on the brooder that is in the pen and they all gather around me. They will get up on it and watch me and they will get close but do not peck at me. I chatter at them and they chatter at me while I am sitting around. Their behaviors that are starting are towards each other. It is still at the point that I can click click to get their attention and they forget what they were doing.

Real newbie here enjoying watching the chickens peck and hearing the roosters crow. Am watching said roo's closely to see who I want to keep and who treats the girls kindly. I have been to the local chicken swap and seen the hens that the roo's have been on too hard and don't want bare backed hens. Right now I am just taking one day at a time with them and watching to see what happens. BUT, the tractor is almost done and will hopefully be ready when the time comes that it is needed.

Thanks so much for the good advice and for helping clear up all of our concerns!!

 

[Yazzo]

bburn:

Thank you, and you are very welcome!

Sounds like you are handling things very well. Yes, you definitely should be able to look them in the eyes: chickens are not like animals such as dogs, where prolonged staring is either a threat or a reprimand, depending on what 'rank' you are.
I like it that you mentioned the 'clicking'....it's a great way to help train them.
So glad you decided to join the world of chickens!

Good luck with your flock!

 

[chicknerd]

Hi Everyone,

After a discussion with Yazzo I decided to post this. As many of you may know, I have been using Yazzo's techniques with great success with my cockerel Charles. We reached a point where I could pick him up without issue. I would hold him a while nicely and put him down. He seemed very tame after several sessions. He still loved to sing his song and had two special girls he doted on.

Wednesday I went out and opened the coop. Charles was sitting on a roost next to his favorite girl. (His other favorite girl is in isolation with curly toe paralysis). I then went out at 10am to check for eggs, and he was curled up in a nest, and he was gone. He seemed healthy and happy and was only 17-18 weeks old. There was no sign anything was wrong with him.

I was devastated as I was really getting to like him. He was a surprise cockerel, his original name was Charlette. I was not happy when I found out he was a rooster, but my husband wanted to keep him. He wasn't too loud, but was starting to get aggressive. Yazzo's post came at just the right time for me.

I have to admit that I tried Yazzo's technique in an attempt to get along better with this 'thing' I didn't really want. With Yazzo's program I was able to overcome my apprehension with him. Holding him helped me as much as him. I miss him dearly.

Well, I am actually off to a swap to pick up a new cockerel. After learning to love Charles I decided we needed another roo.

 

[Yazzo]

Thanks for sharing your story here chicknerd, and again, sorry for your loss.

I hope you have the best of luck and fun with the new rooster.

I'm trilled that my little thread not only helped you to deal with roosters, but actually helped you to LIKE them!

Thanks for trying the techniques!

 

[AlbinoChicken]

I. LOVE. THIS. THREAD!!!!

Thank you so much for the masterful advise! I only have a few chooks, and will try these techniques on my new rooster as soon as I get him!

I'm pretty new here, so I'm not sure about all the technicalities, but could someone (a moderator?) get this thread stickied? It should be read by all rooster keepers!

 

[Katy]

Despite the accolades for Yazzo and his methods, there are roosters out there that nothing but a stew pot will cure. I've had a few over the years and any rooster that even looks at me like he's thinking about jumping on me or anyone else goes bye-bye very quickly. It is not a trait that I want to continue in my breeding flocks.

 

[Yazzo]

AlbinoChicken:
Thank you so much!

Katy: How 'bout sending me your 'trouble' roosters?

I have had more roosters than I can count, some of which have been very aggressive at first, but there hasn't been one that I haven't been able to talk some sense into. Sorry, I know that sounded really big-headed, but I don't know how else to say it.....

....I don't think there is ANY rooster that's beyond hope: only very, very, very few can't be taught to be at least manageable.

I understand that it's not a trait you would want to carry on, but it's very hard to find a rooster that doesn't have at least the potential to be aggressive, and will be with certain people. Course, if you do eat chicken, it's much better just to eat your own free-ranger ones rather than eating factory farmed chickens.

P.S. it doesn't say anywhere if I'm a 'he' or 'she'. I'm not going to say which (I don't see why it would matter), but I don't really know why people come to one conclusion......