I've got suburban Los Angeles chickens, so this is another one of those questions that real farm people will probably laugh at. But we have 4 hens and an "accidental" half-bantam rooster that we took a liking to and decided to keep. But out of consideration for our neighbors, I take him out of the coop and put him in a kennel inside the house at night, and I don't put him back out with the hens until a reasonable hour of the morning. When he's inside the house, he's a sweet little pet rooster who likes to sit in my lap with the dogs and get pets. When he's outside with the girls, it's another story. He takes advantage of any opportunity to attack me, especially sneaking up from behind. Other times he'll puff up his feathers and challenge me head-on. He does this with me and any other kids or women who come into the yard (although he's too intimidated to attack my husband). He's a complete chickenSh*t when it comes to protecting the girls. (A strange dog got into our yard the other day and he headed straight up a tree, every bird for themselves).
I've done the thing where I don't let him win a fight. I hold onto him tight, do the "forced affection" thing, show him he can't win, etc. I've tried the "rocking" trick I saw someone do on YouTube. But he does the same exact thing over and over again. I wish I could get inside his little head to understand his thinking. It seems to me he's attacking me specifically because he knows I won't hurt him and isn't intimidated. Is he showing off for the girls? It's even occurred to me that he might think this is a really fun game, and he might actually enjoy when I grab hold of him and restrain him.
Does anyone have any insight? Am I inadvertently encouraging him to attack me because of the way I respond? Is there something else I should try to prevent these showdowns in the first place? Or is this just an individual rooster personality thing?
I've done the thing where I don't let him win a fight. I hold onto him tight, do the "forced affection" thing, show him he can't win, etc. I've tried the "rocking" trick I saw someone do on YouTube. But he does the same exact thing over and over again. I wish I could get inside his little head to understand his thinking. It seems to me he's attacking me specifically because he knows I won't hurt him and isn't intimidated. Is he showing off for the girls? It's even occurred to me that he might think this is a really fun game, and he might actually enjoy when I grab hold of him and restrain him.
Does anyone have any insight? Am I inadvertently encouraging him to attack me because of the way I respond? Is there something else I should try to prevent these showdowns in the first place? Or is this just an individual rooster personality thing?
