Silkie Rooster Behavior Help...Please

[Amberly98]

We have a silkie rooster that is very nice to myself, my daughter, and my husband, but is constantly challenging my 5 year old son. My son loves our chickens and hand feeds them treats and even holds them frequently. However, since the rooster it about 7 months old he jumps up and scratches my sons hands, legs, and back. If my son tries to grab him or get him to stop the rooster gets worse! If my husband or I go out with him the rooster is much better, but will usually get him at least once when we have our backs turned. The rooster almost never comes straight at him...it is always a "sneak" attack when my son is not looking at him. If we pick the rooster up and put him in my sons lap he relaxes and lets my son pet him but if he is free-ranging it is a different story. Is there anything we can do to stop this behavior? If not, unfortunately, we will likely have to rehome him as it really upsets him that the rooster goes after him, regardless of what he does or doesn't do. My son loves our chickens and willingly helps with all the choirs involving them. He interacts with the chickens daily and is getting pretty scratched up.

Thank you in advance!

 

[The Phantom]

Some birds just don’t like some people. My crane really loves me. He is somewhat nice to my parents but he cannot stand my brother. He attacks him. Lol

 

[The Phantom]

But maybe give him something that the roo is afraid of that he can hold out when he tries to attack. Like a piece of fur. That way he learns to respect him with out a fight.
My friend that would take care of my killer turkeys used this trick. It worked as long as he had it but there were 3 of them and the would circle. Plus the were big toms.

 

[Amberly98]

Thanks Phantom, I will try that!

 

[sourland]

Once roosters develop a behavior it can be very difficult to correct, and even when corrected they can never be trusted 100 %. Since a child is involved given the possibility of injury (think eyes) I would have to get rid of the rooster if it was me. Kids have to come first.

 

[azygous]

Warning: Combining a young cockerel and a small child may result in serious injuries to the small child. This would be the warning I would stamp on every boy chick sold to people.

Toddlers and short humans run a risk of being mistaken for competition by inexperienced cockerels. At the very least, a child can be knocked over or scratched and develop a terror of poultry. At worst, the encounter can result in serious injuries requiring a visit to the ER for stitches or even something worse such as permanent eye damage.

Handling and training an aggressive cockerel is something even most adult chicken keepers find daunting. Exposing a child to this sort of challenge is especially dangerous.

A cockerel that attacks any human, no matter the age, is one that is potentially dangerous. The options are to consider removal of the cockerel from the flock, temporarily or permanently or using training and discipline to alter the bad behavior. But small children should be kept away from roosters until the certainty has been established they are not a danger to humans, no matter the age or size.

 

[Amberly98]

Warning: Combining a young cockerel and a small child may result in serious injuries to the small child. This would be the warning I would stamp on every boy chick sold to people.

Toddlers and short humans run a risk of being mistaken for competition by inexperienced cockerels. At the very least, a child can be knocked over or scratched and develop a terror of poultry. At worst, the encounter can result in serious injuries requiring a visit to the ER for stitches or even something worse such as permanent eye damage.

Handling and training an aggressive cockerel is something even most adult chicken keepers find daunting. Exposing a child to this sort of challenge is especially dangerous.

A cockerel that attacks any human, no matter the age, is one that is potentially dangerous. The options are to consider removal of the cockerel from the flock, temporarily or permanently or using training and discipline to alter the bad behavior. But small children should be kept away from roosters until the certainty has been established they are not a danger to humans, no matter the age or size.

Thank you. It was never our intention to have a rooster and I really don't want one. We purchased 2 hatchling silkies (and 3 standard breeds) that were sexed as females, one turned out to be a male. We have had him for about a year now....and were hoping that he would come-around and chill out towards my son, but unfortunately it looks like that will not happen. I know silkies are popular so I am hoping if we can't keep him, we will be able to find him a good home.

 

[Shadrach]

I love my roosters but I would never let a child near them.
I hope you can find a good hope for him.

 

[SniperGoose]

Back when I had a roo, he was extremely aggressive with everyone, and would never back down even if you restrained him a while. I tried and tried to change his behavior, but to no avail. He was set in his ways. I still have scars on my legs and arms from him. Even as a full grown adult, he still did quite a bit of damage to me. I don't even want to imagine what he could have done to a child. We finally had enough of him and culled him. All in all, not a good rooster to the hens, or to us, and rehoming him wasn't an option because of his aggression.
However, I'd be looking into re-homing yours since he isn't aggressive towards everyone from what you say. Just best he goes to a home without children I think. Can't be trusted with them. I think your son will be much happier with the roo gone, so he can interact with the chickens without getting beat up all the time.