The rooster must go!

[Mark]

We have a 2 year old free-range rooster. It is pretty aggressive. I've read the instructions on rooster behavior modification (catch and hold will modify behavior). He and I have come to terms. It is still a bit stressful, since I never know when he will pick a fight, but I know what to do.

DW wants him gone. More specifically, she wants him dispatched, tonight. Dispatching chickens is my least favorite part of this hobby.

I guess it is too late to alter the course of events here, but we have 4 baby chicks. One is surely a roo, and we are likely to have the same issue in the future.

Any suggestions on things DW could do which would let her feel safe around a free range rooster? She currently walks around with a stick, but I don't think the stick really providers her with much comfort. "I want my peace of mind back," she says. I've thought of caging the roo, but that just creates extra chores.

Mark

 

[crazy4chix]

I feel for ya man! I bought four chicks from the pet store that were "98%" guaranteed to be hens. Three of them were roosters! I was able to give two of them to local chicken owners looking for roosters. The third, which was a barred rock, was nice so I kept him. As he grew he became more aggressive. I did the pick up and hold technique that worked for me but I could never really trust him. He would attack my daughter and granddaughter. I finally found a home for him with our local organic egg farmer. Now I only have hens and life is less stressful for me and them. Look in Craigs List for rooster ads. You'll find a home for him.

 

[andalusn]

People come over and to see my flock and always mention how nice my roosters are. That surprises me actually... I have a pen of Brabanters that free range (rooster w/hens) The mixed flock is my Jersey Giant roo and a roo we named Red that is his son. They hang together like guys at the bar. Both are nice, friendly and cause no ruckus. Between them they have had a small spat or two with Gus (dad) putting Jr. who is as big in his place. I don't have issues. When the feed store chicks (2 wellsummers) turned out to both be roos they also got along and did not challenge me or anyone else. I don't keep lots of extra roos so they were sold but to day I have not had the issues everyone seems to have. Course then again....if I did the rooster would not last longer than supper time and I probably would not mind the plucking job

 

[BooBear]

Yeah they do taste yummy......

Oh, you probably could try a breed that is known to be more friendlier. Even though individuality plays a key roll in their temperment too.

The extra boys at my house become meat birds. So if the rooster that was picked as leader of the egg laying flock decides to go bad there are usually replacements in the wing to take his place. I do not believe in keeping a people aggressive rooster, accept in a pot, bbq grill, or other cooking device.

 

[Kev]

There is never a good reason to keep a roo, other than for fertile eggs really. So there really, really is no reason to keep a roo that doesn't stop attacking after the second or third 'treatment'. I'd recommend either killing or putting up an ad on craigslist or free ad somewhere and accept that some responses could have butchering for him in mind. Nothing wrong with either.

It's not inevitable for all roosters to be mean, so you could let that cockerel grow up and see.. cull or list him as soon as he attacks. But if he doesn't attack then great.

There's always lots of roosters available for new homes and many of them are quite respectful of people so if anybody wants a roo.. go ahead, cull the meanies and give a nice roo a good home. Then everybody happy, especially your wife.

 

[aeg1001]

We had a VERY mean too that we are on our way to get rid of as I type this. He has attacked my DD several times while she was just standing there. He has no tail feathers and I don't think they will ever come back. He was just to aggressive for our girls.

 

[splinter]

Roosters can be a bit aggressive at times but we found out years ago that when we introduce a new rooster into one of our flocks we carry a peice of 1" pvc pipe when we visit the coops and sooner our later the rooster will try to flog us. One swift hit with the pvc and the rooster will never try it again. Guess the roos have a pecking order too.

 

[Mark]

I thought I'd update this story. In mid-April we took a week long trip and had a friend care for our chickens, goats, etc. We warned our friend about the rooster. At first, things when well. On the 3rd night, the rooster attacked our friend. She called on her teen age boys who were helping out. They didn't have much experience with chickens. Things escalated. The rooster didn't survive. It wasn't pretty.

At about the same time, we had some chicks hatch. The runt of the group survived the local hawks and turned out to be a rooster. He looks just like his father, but, at least so far, has none of the aggressive tendencies.

 

[h_palmer]

Its a hard call when he is a pet, we have one rooster and two hens and whenever I would go into the coop in the morning or anytime in fact he would peck at my feet, one swift kick stopped it for good - he is just over 5mths old and lately has been chasing my daughter, managed to peck her once but she wont go outside and play if he is in the yard now..... So tomorrow is D-Day for poor Robert. my two boys will be at daycare and my daughter at school so have told her he is off to the farm which she is very happy about considering it was her chick that turned into a rooster. She wants another one to replace him but in strict instructions mummy.... it has to be a girl

 

[Direchicken]

Our first two chickens were given to us as hens - the girl giving them to us kindly had them sexed in a DNA lab but then muddled up the results... anyway, one of them turned out to be a rooster. He was a fine looking fellow, big and red and full of himself, and although our hen's back did take more than its fair share of his attentions he was never aggressive towards her. Everything else in the world, he wanted to kill. Whenever we went into the chicken pen to change their water or feed we had to bring a stick to fend him off. Couldn't let them out while we were gardening or he would just circle round our backs to have a run at us. We kept him for a year, more as company for the hen than for any other purpose, but in retropsect we should have gotten rid of him sooner. We have mostly pullets now and looking after them is actually enjoyable. The way I see it, aggressive roosters are no fun to keep, and as modern chicken owners we are now paying the price of centuries of selection for aggressive roosters for cock-fighting, which used to be widely popular in most chicken-keeping societies. I do like the idea of keeping a rooster to breed from, but if I do then I'm going to make sure I keep a breed that is known for being relatively placid. From what I've read, this means staying away from Mediterranean breeds and also RIRs, and instead going for a breed like Brahma, Pekin, Cochin, Welsummer, Barnevelder, Buff Orp, Jersey Giant, Cream Legbar... there are lots of breeds that are known for being quite docile, but none of them are guaranteed to produce sweet tempered roosters. Apart from breed, I think rearing is tremendously important, and I would recommend to anyone wanting to raise tame birds of either gender to maintain plenty of contact from immediately after hatching until the birds are nearly mature. The other thing I've heard you can do, if your place is big enough, is keep cocks separate from hens - I think the main reason that males are aggressive to humans (or anything else) is that they think they are defending their females, and I spoken to several chicken owners who say that a cock of theirs only became aggressive after it was placed with a flock of hens. Anyway, best of luck with your search for a good-tempered cock, hopefully your runt will come good!