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Cooks4life, I think Polish roosters in the US are known for being on the nasty side. They might be completely different from you Australian Polish.

That's not titbitting. Did the hens come running? If they didn't, it is not titbitting. I've even seen my (female) macaws do the same aggressive behavior--picking up and throwing things on the ground. I'm surprised such a similar behavior is seen in such different species.

There is a lot you can do to make aggression from your rooster less likely to happen. Keepers have a role in the development of an aggressive rooster. If you bother his hens, you are putting him in a position where he has to respond aggressively. He is programmed to protect his flock from...

I agree with ChooksinChoppers that aggressive behavior is very heritable. I think most is genetics and the rest is nurture and just plain luck. Did that aggressive rooster have life events that set him up to be people aggressive? In my limited experience, there is a huge difference between a...

I think your little chick was thinking your hand was edible--he/she wasn't "attacking" you. Do you hand feed? I have a bunch of two-month old chicks that are doing that. They are little Velociraptors at the moment. It is my own fault--I gave handfuls of live meal worms, so they know...

I'm pretty inexperienced with roosters and cockerels but not with behavior or training. The vast majority of the roosters I've grown out were just not nice at all. I've thought long and hard on what my contribution to the temperament problem is/was. Although I did do some things wrong (such...

His symptoms are also similar to a blocked crop. Have you felt the crop?

Okay, maybe everyone can help me with this rooster problem (16 months old). This is a double-copy frizzle (commonly known as a frazzle) bantam Cochin. The two copies of the frizzle gene seem to make them a bit more flighty. He always was and continues to be a hyper little rooster. I'm not...

Gape worm?

I'm not sure if you want to solve the problem that way. At 8 and 4 they are not going to handle an animal control officer forcing the issue very well. There might be unintended consequences that you never thought of, such as a fear/hatred of police/authority. Better to make the decision...

I'm glad he is a bit better this morning. I didn't respond before because what you describe was just too vague. It could be anything, really. If parasites were so bad that he was too sick to go into the coop at night, he would have some other symptoms you could see. For internal parasites...

Training is training, and a behavior is never presented in a vacuum. There is always a payoff to the one presenting the behavior or they wouldn't continue to do the behavior. Sometimes that payoff is not obvious but it is always there. It might be wanting the adrenaline rush from a fit of...

Training strategies are never wrong. Sometimes they are ineffective. Ineffectiveness isn't as emotionally laden as "wrong" is. My little ABA analysis showed me in no uncertain terms that meeting my rooster's violence with violence was ineffective. It wasn't "wrong," it just didn't work. It...

The trick is to compare training strategies. Takes the sting out of for many parents. Now, husbands--that's a whole different problem. They will never accept the concept that they are being trained.

[This is a little off topic from psycho roosters, but it does apply to training any animal--psycho rooster, dog, child or husband.] That's the real drawback in trying to use extinction as a training strategy--it is just too easy to slip up and reward the behavior. The less frequently a...

The strategy you describe--not rewarding an unwanted behavior--is called extinction. Since all animals only present a behavior because they get some kind of a reward for it, the theory is that if you do not give the reward, the behavior will extinguish itself. Before a behavior is...

Centrachid, What exacly do you mean by the statement above in bold? I have two problematic young roosters, both about 15/16 months old. Meeting aggression with aggression isn't working out very well with the LF Ameraucana who will likely simply be culled. The other problematic rooster has...

Thank you for this information! Wonderful advice and insight.

My gut feeling is that culling truly people aggressive roosters is the only thing that works. Isolating them and letting them live a normal, happy life without any contact with people is the other option. I am coming to believe that the natural behaviors and drives of many if not most adult...

Please elaborate. What is the intent of each of your scenarios and what is your response? I have a tiny little Cochin rooster who has just started going after me. He will actually stand six inches away from my feet, facing me, head lowered and hackles out like a sparring rooster. My big...