LilyD, you have absolutely no reason to feel bad about killing that rooster. Sometimes I think people like to argue just for the fun of it. That rooster wouldn't have had a long life here, either. Rest easy and enjoy your chicken 'n dumplings!
OP said nothing about "chasing a young fowl around the chicken yard" - there is a huge difference between that and "bending over to scoop up" a stray poult. OP also mentioned that the rooster had started going for her legs previous to this attack. Rooster was flat-out attacking his human, and...