16 wk old rooster attacked daughter, new ? post #38

[sourland]

As people have tried to indicate, it depends upon the rooster. Any human aggressive rooster has no place in a flock where small children are present. One flogging to the face can result in a lost eye or permenent scarring. There are lots of roosters out there. Just keep looking until you find a good one. If aggressive roosters are removed from a breeding program over a period of time the strain becomes less human aggressive. Very interestingly game roosters are generally not human aggressive since this trait has been selected against for safety reasons.

 

[oliviad51]

I have the same problem with my Polish rooster. You can grab him when he roosts at night. I have a rake that the bottom of it fell off, so its just a long stick. I carry that around when I got outside in case he tries to go after me.

 

[bobbi-j]

You Don't get rid of the family Dog because you told him to sit 100 times and he only did it once.

No, I wouldn't get rid of the family dog for that, but I would get rid of the family dog if it attacked my child. There's a huge difference! And yes, I would get rid of the dog or rooster the first time it attacked a child. No second chances.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

With my old rooster he started getting aggressive and flogging my daughter when he was about 8 months old. After the third time it happened (he was out that time and I didn't know) I started putting him in a dog crate when my hens were free ranging. I knew that I would have to eat him for his naughty behavior some day. Several weeks ago he came up missing....so now I don't worry about it. I tried the behavior modification with him that was suggested reading to me here on BYC. I didn't do it long enough to see a difference but what I did do only made him wary or ME not anyone else.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Quote:

Any of my dogs snapped at my kids they are out of here.... There are no second chances around my kids (or anyone elses). There is a HUGE difference in learning to sit and aggression. Not even in the same ball park.

 

[orionburn]

Quote:
Nobody is going to be able to answer that. Maybe. Maybe not. You really won't know until you try with that particular rooster.

Ditto!

Ditto to the ditto. We've had good roos and lousy ones. Our Buff Orpington is fine with us. We pick up the birds from time to time and he never messes with us. You just wont' know until you try.

And as far as trying to tame a roo, I think that's all fine and well...if there weren't kids around. To me it's not worth that risk.

 

[carriehelene]

Qi chicken, to answer your question, yes, there are many roos out there that will not have a problem with your children handling the hens. I have around 8 now as a matter of fact. My son and my 5 yr old niece frequently handle the hens around the roos. I have 3 in a bachelor pad that wouldn't dream of going after us or the kids, and 5 more that are out in the yard with the girls all day, every day, and in the big coop with them at night. A couple of them run from us if we get close and the others will just stand there looking at us like "whatcha doin?", and hoping for a treat.

We've had 2 roos who were doo-doo heads, and they went to live elsewhere. IMO, you have young children, and they are at risk right now, so you just have to ask yourself, are the extra security measures it will be necessary for your children to take worth keeping your roo? By this, I mean are you willing to keep your kids in, or the rooster locked up, or having your children armed and never outside alone? Having kept a mean roo out of sheer stuborness on my part, I'm very familiar with what it takes to keep the mean roo and the kids from interacting, as your kids will come out the loser every time. I'm not saying any way is better for your family, just want you to be aware of what it will take to keep the roo and still keep your children safe. We've done all 3 of these things with mean roos, and decided the doo-doo heads weren't worth the aggrevation or the risk. Took a while to get to that point though. My yard is a much happier place since they went bye-bye. I wish you luck Qi, whichever road you decide to travel.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Quote:

Any of my dogs snapped at my kids they are out of here.... There are no second chances around my kids (or anyone elses). There is a HUGE difference in learning to sit and aggression. Not even in the same ball park.

As I said in my OP this was a mean agressive rooster I got off craigslist Who was shoved in a small box in a garage with a few hens to live out his life. When I got him home he was very agressive to anyone even my kids. Unlike most people who are so Quick to Kill or rehome I took the time to give this bird 1 on one attention and slowly intruduced him to the family. Heres MR Jolly Red Giant Now. Actions speak louder then words.

For about 12 years I breed and rescued American Pit Bull Terriers. The majority Of those dogs were "vicious" I had a total of 3 dogs out of hundreds I had to actually put down because of the lack of wanting any human contact. My only Point here was. as Long as your Kids are safe and you take the apropriate measures to secure yourself. (trim his Spurs ect.) why rehome a bird that has the potential to be a sweety. If you are close to my area My farm is rooster friendly and I accept all agressive roosters . You are all correct about kids come first. (thus I recall making the statement "Secure the Roo so kids are safe then work with him") but like I said Until I See it with my own eyes that you can't break a Rooster of this habit Or any animal for that fact. I disagree. So the best solution here is to agree to disagree. the proof is in the pudding.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:

Any of my dogs snapped at my kids they are out of here.... There are no second chances around my kids (or anyone elses). There is a HUGE difference in learning to sit and aggression. Not even in the same ball park.

As I said in my OP this was a mean agressive rooster I got off craigslist Who was shoved in a small box in a garage with a few hens to live out his life. When I got him home he was very agressive to anyone even my kids. Unlike most people who are so Quick to Kill or rehome I took the time to give this bird 1 on one attention and slowly intruduced him to the family. Heres MR Jolly Red Giant Now. Actions speak louder then words. http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r212/somanytears_album/IMG00192-20100721-1605.jpg

For about 12 years I breed and rescued American Pit Bull Terriers. The majority Of those dogs were "vicious" I had a total of 3 dogs out of hundreds I had to actually put down because of the lack of wanting any human contact. My only Point here was. as Long as your Kids are safe and you take the apropriate measures to secure yourself. (trim his Spurs ect.) why rehome a bird that has the potential to be a sweety. If you are close to my area My farm is rooster friendly and I accept all agressive roosters . You are all correct about kids come first. (thus I recall making the statement "Secure the Roo so kids are safe then work with him") but like I said Until I See it with my own eyes that you can't break a Rooster of this habit Or any animal for that fact. I disagree. So the best solution here is to agree to disagree. the proof is in the pudding.

I'm glad your rooster worked out for you. For me, the key word is "attacked". As in, "MY rooster ATTACKED my six year old." Any animal that ATTACKS a child on my place will be gone. Period. I do applaud you for your work in rescuing and training the Pit Bulls. They are beautiful, fascinating dogs. I don't know enough about them to ever own one, but good for those who can.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
A good rooster will allow the humans in the family to do any darn thing they want. My kids tote hens (and roosters) around like they're permanently stuck in the crook of their arm. Any rooster who doesn't like it can meet the soup pot. We had a rooster that used to go sledding with my kids in the winter. He'd sit in their lap on the sled and go on down the hill. A good roo knows his place.