Rooster

[Ole rooster]

If you have children to be concerned with, that's one thing, but he is being a rooster. I may way wrong here but I feel a lot of this happens when people try to make people out of chickens. When you handle the chickens and treat them as pets, then to hormons kick in with a rooster problems are bound to be produced. It's like a parent of an unruley child. When the parent tries to be their childs best friend instead of the disciplinarian parent, problems ensue. I know that first hand. You are looked on as an equal instead of the dominant party. I think you can still remedy the situation but you have got to be dominant party. Whatever it takes that rooster has to learn you are his boss. If he can't learn, then it's fried chicken time.

I sure hope mine doesn't have a fit and challenge me. That will be a bad day in the chicken house.

 

[SLWyandotte]

carry a broom or something similar. when he gets uppity Give him a good smack with it. establish that you are just too big to attack, and when he does it just hurts and accomplishes nothing. running from him just encourages him. an open handed slap to the head works too. i broke mine from getting aggressive with me that way when they started "dancing" at me. they would drop their wings and side shuffle at me and i'd Gibbs slap them and they soon learned leave him alone and he'll leave you alone.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Please tell me that you do realize that the rooster is not going to understand a word that you're saying and could care less what you decide to do with him. If my rooster were that aggressive with me, he'd be gone. As in, gone to the freezer. I wouldn't give an aggressive rooster to someone else to become their problem. (If I were to give one away, it would be with full disclosure) If you choose to give it away, be sure to tell them about your rooster's behavior, then walk away and find another pretty, friendly, protective rooster. Don't give the mean one a second thought. It's part of chicken-keeping. Eventually, you're going to have to make hard decisions.

 

[ChickenMack]

I had a situation very similar- my RIR rooster was just under 3 years old, he had been a nice, mellow rooster, kept watch over his girls and then one day, POW! He attacked my daughter. Since my Rooster became unpredictable and very strong, I made the difficult decision to have him butchered. I know, this is not the advice you are looking for but if you have kids or people coming onto your property, you don't want them attacked by a rooster. If your rooster attacks a mailman or a child, you will be liable for expenses and depending on where you live, may be required to put him down.

A pet is a pet, I know, but what would you do if it were a dog?

 

[WalkerH]

Quote:
Yup, just about every morning for a week mine did this to me. And every time he would fly across the penned area. He stopped after that happened a few times.

 

[easteregger96]

I had one that did that and after a few smacks with a broom he stopped. Then after I would take the broom with me and he wouldn't come near me. There is no need for you to be scared of your animals. Pets or not. I say either get rid of him however you want or do some serious boss training and introduce him to the broom.

 

[toritori]

I had issues with my roos biting....I was getting irritated and was tired of explaining the scabs and bruises on my arms and hands. So I was wining to an older friend of mine (70's and old school) and he said that I needed to pick him up. Pick up the creature that is trying to eat me alive one little chunk at a time???? He basically said that I had to establish that I was the "Loving Alpha Chicken".

So my husband (who thought I was insane, but got me into this whole chicken thing) and I started operation "I AM THE LOVING ALPHA CHICKEN!" I'll be ******, it worked. You the offending rooster up, hold him firmly and make sure that his feet are supported. Then, stroke his chest and his neck and tell hime that he is a good boy.

I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it actually worked. They calmed down a lot, and this spring I swear that they would run at me on occasion just so that they would get picked up and hugged and loved. You have to do it frequently when you start, and then remind them from time to time. Our Harry particularly likes it. Believe me, it works, or I wouldn't tell you this and sound like an absolute crazy fool in public.

 

[janinepeters]

Here we go again. As usual, we see the 2 opposing methods/theories: brutality vs. compassion. If you talk to enough people, you will eventually find that both methods work sometimes, but sometimes nothing works. It's the same with all animals. Do you beat a dog into submission to train it, or do you use more humane methods? I go with toritori on this one. I've seen people literally maim their roosters - kick them so hard they break a wing or leg, to "teach them who is boss". I think it's kinder to put the poor creature down if that's what it takes.

I think toritori's suggestion works sometimes not because you are "offending" the rooster, but because it confuses him. When you pick him up and pet him, you are doing something very unchicken-like and un-predator-like, so he no longer sees you as another rooster competing for his hens, nor as a predator who might eat them. You no longer fall into the category of creatures that trigger his aggression. That said, it doesn't always work --

Just my $.02. Good luck!

 

[Mattemma]

I have a roo for a year now.He is great.If he ever attacks me or especially the kids I would rehome or dispatch. I would do the same with any other animal. Life is too short to live in fear of an animal...or man for that matter!

 

[Aves]

You know I have had roosters, many roosters in fact, with every flock I have owned. I would guess over 30 in all my years of owning chcikens. Even as a child I owned chickens from the age of 9 to 20 something, then took a break for many years and now again I have a large flock with several standard roosters. NONE have ever been aggressive to me or the kids (current ages 6, 8 & 15), even when I was a child, it didn't happen. I guess you could say we use the gentle method now and then because we do pick up our roosters once in a blue moon, pet them and talk to them just like we do with the hens. Once I gave one of my gentle roosters to a friend and he became aggressive with them (what happened?), but he was always fine with us. So when I read these aggressive roosters posts, I am truly baffled what happens that turns a rooster into a mean one. I guess when considereing the numbers that I have had and the lack of aggressiveness in my flocks, I’d have to make a therory that being gentle and pick them up now and then works better and proves dominace better than being mean and pushing the rooster around…Just a thought.

Aves