FunClucks
Crowing
So, I have Speckle, a RIR/RIR-mix/production red rooster. He's 8-9 months old and at least 10 lbs, maybe larger. The rest of my birds are maybe 6 lbs tops.
Speckle has never shown me any sign of aggression. I generally walk through him, and am pretty hands off, unless I need to inspect him for some reason. He walks out of my way, and is not interested in staying close, but if I make a point of picking him up, he'll let me. He's never tried to bite or attack me, or postured at me. I've wrapped him in a towel, administered dewormer, washed, dried, and applied Nu-stock to his feet, checked for lice and mites, etc. His spurs are coming up on 3/4" long and as big around as my pinky. He's not aggressive with the hens, likes to mate a fair bit, and doesn't crow too much.
My son and I share chicken chores, and occasionally my husband. My son is ten, and somewhat small. The nest boxes are on the ground, so one has to get really low and small to check for eggs. This put my son below the level of Speckle's head. About a month or two ago, Speckle tried to peck/attack him, and my son kicked or hit him back. I think Speckle was trying to see if he could be in charge of my son, and my son won that interaction.
For the next week or so my son brought a stick into the enclosed coop/run with him when checking eggs, etc. (He had like a broomstick at first, and then it was a piece of quarter round - not something that would actually hurt the rooster) Only once he used it when Speckle got close, and Speckle ran away as soon as he saw the stick after that. After a week or so, my son didn't bring the stick in anymore, and Speckle still left him alone, got out of his way when my son was walking, etc. No signs of aggression that we could see. So I figured that Speckle learned that my son was not to be messed with. This was a few months ago. I warned my son not to make a pet of him, but he's generally been more interested in petting Speckle and getting close to him than I've been. Since the attack, I've had him make sure to wear jeans and safety glasses when visiting the coop, and be more aware of where Speckle is before he bends over to do chores.
I have a daughter a few years younger, slightly smaller than my son, who feeds the chickens grass through the wall of the run, and is out there quite a bit and has been for their whole lives. I told her she was finally big enough to go in and collect eggs. I was right behind her, but didn't anticipate any problems, after all, she was familiar to the chickens. She walked into the coop/run, and Speckle ran up and started crowing, biting, and spurring her. I raced in, kicked him away at once, used a mad voice, and Speckle ran off. He hovered in the corner crowing in agitation while I kept an eye on him and comforted my daughter. She still wanted to collect eggs, so she did that, then we both left the run. She's been back in to collect eggs a few times since with my son, and he keeps an eye on Speckle while she collects eggs. No problems since then, Speckle has kept his distance, but it's only been a few days. When I go in by myself, I haven't had any issues with him, and I go in there a fair bit.
The only reason Speckle comes up to us on purpose is when he wants food and can see we have it, or are opening the scratch bucket. Otherwise, he randomly wanders the coop/run while we do chicken chores and pretty much stays out of our way. If we're dealing with a hen, and the hen starts to panic, he does start to get agitated, but he calms as soon as the hen does.
From Speckle's perspective, I guess my daughter was an intruder, so he was protecting his hens from someone new that he didn't know coming into his space. Now that I've shown she's not an intruder and he's not allowed to attack, I'm hoping that will be the end of it. If it's not, well, I guess it's time to reconsider freezer camp.
How would you guys interpret Speckle's behavior? Do you think I'm reading these situations correctly? Obviously if he starts to attack again, then it's a pattern and steps must be taken. But if he continues to keep his distance and leaves my kids alone, then I guess he's learned they're off limits, or at least they're not someone he's allowed to dominate, and I can continue to keep him. Thoughts?
Speckle has never shown me any sign of aggression. I generally walk through him, and am pretty hands off, unless I need to inspect him for some reason. He walks out of my way, and is not interested in staying close, but if I make a point of picking him up, he'll let me. He's never tried to bite or attack me, or postured at me. I've wrapped him in a towel, administered dewormer, washed, dried, and applied Nu-stock to his feet, checked for lice and mites, etc. His spurs are coming up on 3/4" long and as big around as my pinky. He's not aggressive with the hens, likes to mate a fair bit, and doesn't crow too much.
My son and I share chicken chores, and occasionally my husband. My son is ten, and somewhat small. The nest boxes are on the ground, so one has to get really low and small to check for eggs. This put my son below the level of Speckle's head. About a month or two ago, Speckle tried to peck/attack him, and my son kicked or hit him back. I think Speckle was trying to see if he could be in charge of my son, and my son won that interaction.
For the next week or so my son brought a stick into the enclosed coop/run with him when checking eggs, etc. (He had like a broomstick at first, and then it was a piece of quarter round - not something that would actually hurt the rooster) Only once he used it when Speckle got close, and Speckle ran away as soon as he saw the stick after that. After a week or so, my son didn't bring the stick in anymore, and Speckle still left him alone, got out of his way when my son was walking, etc. No signs of aggression that we could see. So I figured that Speckle learned that my son was not to be messed with. This was a few months ago. I warned my son not to make a pet of him, but he's generally been more interested in petting Speckle and getting close to him than I've been. Since the attack, I've had him make sure to wear jeans and safety glasses when visiting the coop, and be more aware of where Speckle is before he bends over to do chores.
I have a daughter a few years younger, slightly smaller than my son, who feeds the chickens grass through the wall of the run, and is out there quite a bit and has been for their whole lives. I told her she was finally big enough to go in and collect eggs. I was right behind her, but didn't anticipate any problems, after all, she was familiar to the chickens. She walked into the coop/run, and Speckle ran up and started crowing, biting, and spurring her. I raced in, kicked him away at once, used a mad voice, and Speckle ran off. He hovered in the corner crowing in agitation while I kept an eye on him and comforted my daughter. She still wanted to collect eggs, so she did that, then we both left the run. She's been back in to collect eggs a few times since with my son, and he keeps an eye on Speckle while she collects eggs. No problems since then, Speckle has kept his distance, but it's only been a few days. When I go in by myself, I haven't had any issues with him, and I go in there a fair bit.
The only reason Speckle comes up to us on purpose is when he wants food and can see we have it, or are opening the scratch bucket. Otherwise, he randomly wanders the coop/run while we do chicken chores and pretty much stays out of our way. If we're dealing with a hen, and the hen starts to panic, he does start to get agitated, but he calms as soon as the hen does.
From Speckle's perspective, I guess my daughter was an intruder, so he was protecting his hens from someone new that he didn't know coming into his space. Now that I've shown she's not an intruder and he's not allowed to attack, I'm hoping that will be the end of it. If it's not, well, I guess it's time to reconsider freezer camp.
How would you guys interpret Speckle's behavior? Do you think I'm reading these situations correctly? Obviously if he starts to attack again, then it's a pattern and steps must be taken. But if he continues to keep his distance and leaves my kids alone, then I guess he's learned they're off limits, or at least they're not someone he's allowed to dominate, and I can continue to keep him. Thoughts?
