2 yr old rooster has gone psycho

[Pinkaboo]

chooksforlife gave the most excellent and spot on answer.

Cull him- please do not "re-home", IMO that is dumping one's own problem on someone else.

There are plenty of well mannered roosters who need a new home.  Well mannered roosters are infinitely more pleasurable to have around than "so very protective" roosters.

Your hens will soon forget that roo, they do not have long memories or permanent bonds.

I agree you should not be aloud to re home ANY animal you know to have serious behaviour problems
Cat and dog rescue centres will always put down animals that might attack people unless they can find the right
Owner with the knowledge to care for them,

Its very sad when you've had him for two years but I think you have been very lucky not to be seriously injured
My this cockerel

 

[chooks4life]

Thanks Pinkaboo, I'm always glad to help make room in the world for decent males. I understand the attachment issue, but it's pretty futile to try to change them.

I do not like it when someone has less knowledge about something but writes better than I do. You are perpetuating the bad rooster management system.

lol, centrarchid! Can you perhaps explain this? As far as I am aware I'm only perpetuating good rooster management, which involves culling bad roosters, ensuring quality of life for other animals in the area as well as the humans.

My results speak for themselves, I feel, certainly they work for me. Myself, visitors, small children, injured and ill birds, and birds of every type and age and gender coexist peacefully, which I consider to be successful management of the system I have, which is free range and integrated. Those who can't run a free range operation may have to make some adjustments, and nobody has to keep as many roosters as I do, but not everybody breeds for meat as well.

chooksforlife gave the most excellent and spot on answer.

Cull him- please do not "re-home", IMO that is dumping one's own problem on someone else.

There are plenty of well mannered roosters who need a new home. Well mannered roosters are infinitely more pleasurable to have around than "so very protective" roosters.

Your hens will soon forget that roo, they do not have long memories or permanent bonds.

I agree. When they attack a non-abusive owner they're not protecting against anything legitimate.

Best wishes to all.

 

[Ganjaroo]

I can't thank all of you enough for this outstanding advice. MUCH appreciated! Thank you all so very much!!


Chooks4life, I have learned more from your excellent and informative post than I have in my 2 years of chicken keeping! You described his behavior to a T, especially the part about the 'tid bitting' ..which he does ALL the time. I always found it funny and entertaining. Little did I know..
He was always treated very well, spoiled actually, ..and loved! I never dreamed that this would happen. He has never attacked anyone until today.

Now, I am sitting here crying at the thought of culling my beloved rooster. I feel so foolish for letting them become pets, and I have become so ridiculously attached to them! He was such a sweet and lovable Roo the majority of the time. As for his other antics, ..I was just too inexperienced to see the signs for what they were.

I do let my chickens free range, and as I said, this roo saved my girls from hawk attacks on many occasions. I will not get another roo though. I guess I will have to supervise the hens when they run the yard, and/or build them a larger and secure run. I can not deal with losing one of my hens as well.

Thanks to all once again for your time, advice, and sharing your experience with me. I am so very grateful.

 

[Pinkaboo]

I can't thank all of you enough for this outstanding advice. MUCH appreciated! Thank you all so very much!!


Chooks4life, I have learned more from your excellent and informative post than I have in my 2 years of chicken keeping! You described his behavior to a T, especially the part about the 'tid bitting' ..which he does ALL the time. I always found it funny and entertaining. Little did I know..
He was always treated very well, spoiled actually, ..and loved!  I never dreamed that this would happen. He has never attacked anyone until today.

Now, I am sitting here crying at the thought of culling my beloved rooster. I feel so foolish for letting them become pets, and I have become so ridiculously attached to them! He was such a sweet and lovable Roo the majority of the time.  As for his other antics, ..I was just too inexperienced to see the signs for what they were.

I do let my chickens free range, and as I said, this roo saved my girls from hawk attacks on many occasions. I will not get another roo though. I guess I will have to supervise the hens when they run the yard, and/or build them a larger and secure run. I can not deal with losing one of my hens as well.

Thanks to all once again for your time, advice, and sharing your experience with me. I am so very grateful.

At the end if the day you need to do what is right for you re homing just isn't an option as there are so many ' good' rooster that people will go for
If someone did want a Nasty aggressive roo it prob wouldn't have a great life, it's been socialised like my chickens and its probably fairer to have it humanly destroyed then not cared for properly
If I was in your position I would find someone I trusted to cull it or ask a vet to do it
BUT only you can decide, if your not ready yet as long as he's somewhere he can't harm anyone give yourself time to accept it, its going to be a loss for you , he's a pet and losing any pet is awful
I really feel for you because I think I'm prob going to end up the same with one if my roos but he's only 7 wks so I'm going to hope he's stays his lovably self for as long as possible

 

[Stiggy]

I agree with the above, there are plenty of other roosters who are nice and need homes. I will never keep an aggressive rooster, or an aggressive hen for that matter . they all end up being disposed of to a friend who really likes his chicken curry.
as said above there is a difference between a protective rooster and an aggressive one. We had one rooster hatched last year in October who turned aggressive, he would go around beating up the hens, roosters and chicks, he had it handed to him by a normally docile boy who was easily 5-6 times heavier and bigger and yet he still wasn't deterred. I think of it as him being the ring leader, once he started some of the others started and then it was a gang bash towards the other girls and boys. after that him and his little friends took a little drive where they met their death, it was quick and easy and we didn't have any problems after that . I kept the most cowardly rooster of the bunch and it has paid off well, he looks after his girls, and never attacks me or any of the others. they seem to have a mutual understanding, these are my girls those are yours.

 

[Ganjaroo]

Well, that is why I'm so confused and shocked that this has happened. He was always a gentleman with my girls, although very protective of them, ..and very loving, even snuggly, ..with me! ..and after two years, here I was today, fending off his repeated attacks. SIGH. I just don't know.

Chooks4life really was spot on with the aggressive rooster behavior though, and my roo has displayed all of them.

Yes, that is also good advice to give it a few days to sink in. I'm still hoping that some miracle will occur and he will stop this threatening behavior, but, regardless, .. I am preparing myself for the worst, and if need be, ..take him to the vet and have the deed done.

 

[Pinkaboo]

Well, that is why I'm so confused and shocked that this has happened. He was always a gentleman with my girls, although very protective of them, ..and very loving, even snuggly, ..with me! ..and after two years, here I was today, fending off his repeated attacks. SIGH. I just don't know.

Chooks4life really was spot on with the aggressive rooster behavior though, and my roo has displayed all of them.

Yes, that is also good advice to give it a few days to sink in. I'm still hoping that some miracle will occur and he will stop this threatening behavior, but, regardless, .. I am preparing myself  for the worst, and if need be, ..take him to the vet and have the deed done.

Its lovely when they are so snuggly
I was sat this evening with cuddles the cockerel snuggling up under my neck, rubbing his face against mine its so calming and sweet
Even little cockerel came on my knee for a cuddle ,
I remember someone telling me a story one in hospital about a pet snake,
They said it slept loose in the house, on the bed wherever it wanted and the
Owner was very pleased when it started sleeping along side her in bed
Its head at her head and its body stretching down towards her toes
Just like a person would sleep next to someone

Then another snake owner said you need to kill it now,
Its doing that to measure you up, its seeing if you will fit into its body when its killed you!

Just shows what we think is cute can be deadly

 

[Ganjaroo]

Quote: Lol. ..yikes. Although I could never find a gigantic snake sleeping next to me, (or anywhere in my home for that matter), "cute" your point is well taken. Thanks for making me giggle when I am so sad!! I just never realized that my lovable roo could/would turn mean or deadly. I'm still trying to process this fact. xo

 

[chooks4life]

I can't thank all of you enough for this outstanding advice. MUCH appreciated! Thank you all so very much!!


Chooks4life, I have learned more from your excellent and informative post than I have in my 2 years of chicken keeping! You described his behavior to a T, especially the part about the 'tid bitting' ..which he does ALL the time. I always found it funny and entertaining. Little did I know..

He was always treated very well, spoiled actually, ..and loved! I never dreamed that this would happen. He has never attacked anyone until today.

Now, I am sitting here crying at the thought of culling my beloved rooster. I feel so foolish for letting them become pets, and I have become so ridiculously attached to them! He was such a sweet and lovable Roo the majority of the time. As for his other antics, ..I was just too inexperienced to see the signs for what they were.

I do let my chickens free range, and as I said, this roo saved my girls from hawk attacks on many occasions. I will not get another roo though. I guess I will have to supervise the hens when they run the yard, and/or build them a larger and secure run. I can not deal with losing one of my hens as well.

Thanks to all once again for your time, advice, and sharing your experience with me. I am so very grateful.

Thanks, I'm glad you didn't take offense.

You're not foolish to let them become pets, that's not why he disrespects you or attacks you.

It's most unlikely to be your fault, because good roosters like any good animals don't just start attacking because you were friendly with them or hand fed them or any other 'reasons' like that. Genuinely good roosters will even put up with abuse without turning savage. Of course I'm not advocating abusing animals but in my experience abused animals are not necessarily more likely to harm you than non-abused ones, possibly even less likely in fact. I've dealt with rehabilitating quite a few abused animals of various species and the abuse is not the main determining factor in them turning vicious; just like some humans, some animals bully, some don't, some 'hit back' and some won't. Most of it has to do with the mindset they inherited and then their subsequent decisions to act on it. Not all chooks are smart enough to question or check their impulses.

Your hens are able to defend themselves from hawk attacks, mine have. Chances are they'll just keep an eye out for one another, that's generally how it goes. There are nice roosters out there, please don't let one bad one frighten you out of keeping them. It's a bit like with dogs, one aggressive dog shouldn't taint your perception of the whole species.. But I do understand your disinclination to immediately get another.

I know it's a bit odd to compare dogs and chooks, but it's much the same in some ways, you don't reasonably expect an intact male dog who's always been a loving pet and who has no reason to fear you, to suddenly maul you without warning just because he's an intact/adult male. It's not the real reason for the behavior and to believe otherwise is to ignore the many good males out there or dismiss them as flukes, or as some people do, as surely infertile, as evidenced by the lack of wanton attacking and killing sprees. lol.

I also don't put up with human-aggressive hens either, as Stiggy mentioned; mentalities like that shouldn't be bred on. Certainly the little bantam hen I once owned, who took to attacking me (also around 2 years old), wasn't such an aggressive animal because she was an adult/intact male. She was a female, a good layer and mother. Being male is not the real reason for viciousness to humans but plenty of people will tell you otherwise, but I've found they're not the sort of people who breed safe animals. What we believe strongly shapes our flocks because it guides our breeding and culling programs/decisions. The woman who sold me the human-aggressive rooster had a pet chihuahua that routinely mauled her and her children, and in retrospect I know that was a warning sign I missed. Of course she kept human-aggressive roosters too, it fitted her belief system.

If you can't do the cull, you shouldn't have to look far to find someone who will do it humanely. Alternatively if your hens are nice you can get them a new rooster and find some nasty hens and let them keep him company in a cage somewhere, and not breed him or them, if that's easier for you; but he won't appreciate being caged too much and his behavior will most likely get much worse and it's probably only a matter of time before he catches you out and does some serious damage.

Due to the strong likelihood of that, I wouldn't advise keeping him, as much as I can empathize with your disappointment over him not turning out as he should have, given his chances. He's had it good, far better a life than millions of other roosters ever got.

Best wishes, sorry he took the path he did.

 

[Mari1]

So happy I found this thread! It was a great read and I learned a lot. Thank you chooks.
If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to hear more of your take on aggressive hens.
Recently, one of my hens went broody. I put her in her own pen away from the flock so she could brood in peace.
I put eggs under her and would candle them regularly. When I reached under her she would look at me and fluff up and say "Ourrrrp"
She would turn and sort of peck me, but it was very half-hearted, and seemed more like she was trying to figure out what was touching her.
The only time she REALLY pecked me was the night I looked under her butt feathers to see an adorable little yellow face peeking out at me.
That was when she seemed to become serious.

She has two babies now that are a few weeks old.
If I enter the pen and I don't have food or anything to offer, I can sort of see it in her eyes, that she's about to be mean.
She has pecked me since and was quite serious about it, holding on and doing the head twists and hitting me with her legs, but she has never shown this behavior before having her babies.
Do you think this behavior is temporary and expected?
Even though she tells her babies to eat out of my hands?

Thanks!