2 yr old rooster has gone psycho

[subhanalah]

1) Is it just running over, pecking / flogging then running to a safe distance to deny your counter attack and simply watching you?

Bird has associated such behavior with a reward. What does he get out of it, especially with respect to nutrition?


2) Is he standing his ground and flaring his hackles and interspersing this with outright attacks with spurs, wings and bill?

He is outright fighting you for rank and treats you as a conspecific. Based on most discussions this the assumed by keepers of man-fighters. Something is or has gone on that got him into mindset that you need to be and can be defeated so as to be a subordinate.


3) Is he attacking while fluffed up like a hen making lots of noises and moving about in a very fussy manner?

He treating you a threat and is trying to repel you. More details need here from party with such a bird as can have many causes.


Note: I did not as of yet provide actual methods for promoting changes in behavior for a given situation.

this is good, gets our mind grapes juicing.

 

[jajeanpierre]

First you need to describe how the rooster attacks. That provides information about its mindset. Methods of attack I look for are as follows.

1) Is it just running over, pecking / flogging then running to a safe distance to deny your counter attack and simply watching you?

2) Is he standing his ground and flaring his hackles and interspersing this with outright attacks with spurs, wings and bill?

3) Is he attacking while fluffed up like a hen making lots of noises and moving about in a very fussy manner?


My birds have a range of methods, each indicates a different intent, and methods for countering differ accordingly.

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 Ameraucana does the Weeping Angel attack, rushing me when my back is turned and freezing sidways when I turn around.

I'm curious what people with more experience than I have deal with them other than Coq au Vin, that is, which is the most likely outcome.

Personally, I think there are very few intact male animals that are safe to be around.

 

[subhanalah]

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 Ameraucana does the Weeping Angel attack, rushing me when my back is turned and freezing sidways when I turn around.

I'm curious what people with more experience than I have deal with them other than Coq au Vin, that is, which is the most likely outcome.

Personally, I think there are very few intact male animals that are safe to be around.

you can say that again.

 

[Ganjaroo]

Quote:
He doesn't make much of a fuss when I handle the hens, although he does watch me closely until I put them down. Also, if he is way at the back of the yard and hears me talking to a hen who is in her nesting box in the coop, he will come flying across the yard at top speed to see what I'm doing with her. ..and again, he will stand and watch until I put her down or go away. Sometimes wing flapping, ..but that's about it.

 

[Ganjaroo]

1) Is it just running over, pecking / flogging then running to a safe distance to deny your counter attack and simply watching you?

Bird has associated such behavior with a reward. What does he get out of it, especially with respect to nutrition?


2) Is he standing his ground and flaring his hackles and interspersing this with outright attacks with spurs, wings and bill?

He is outright fighting you for rank and treats you as a conspecific. Based on most discussions this the assumed by keepers of man-fighters. Something is or has gone on that got him into mindset that you need to be and can be defeated so as to be a subordinate.


3) Is he attacking while fluffed up like a hen making lots of noises and moving about in a very fussy manner?

He treating you a threat and is trying to repel you. More details need here from party with such a bird as can have many causes.


Note: I did not as of yet provide actual methods for promoting changes in behavior for a given situation.

Alrighty then. Centrarchid, would you please, at your convenience, ..provide actual methods for promoting changes in behavior for situation #2?? I am trusting that you are not going to be just another person who tells me to beat up a 9 pound rooster, because I will not do that, and frankly, I'm quite tired of hearing it.

 

[subhanalah]

 Alrighty then. Centrarchid, would you please, at your convenience, ..provide actual methods for promoting changes in behavior for situation #2??   I am trusting that you are not going to be just another person who tells me to beat up a 9 pound rooster, because I will not do that, and frankly, I'm quite tired of hearing it.

I'm sorry that you are feeling so much frustration with this whole experience. That's one thing about such a vast user base. Not everyone would normally be your "friend" in real life, so realistically...this type of undesireable response is not something you would expect to hear in your real life.

We weren't made for conflicts of personality to occur such as this...all we can do is recognize it and hopefully our opinion will help people change their minds about how they handle animals?

There are much worse things than humane euthanasia. I would hopefully opt to have a cockerel or cock humanely euthanized if he was a "problem or aggressive rooster" before deciding to become violent with the animal. I say hopefully because I've not been in the situation, and I don't want to say that I know what the future holds, but I'd like to think that is the decision I would make.

 

[6of6chicks]

We weren't made for conflicts of personality to occur such as this...all we can do is recognize it and hopefully our opinion will help people change their minds about how they handle animals?

There are much worse things than humane euthanasia. I would hopefully opt to have a cockerel or cock humanely euthanized if he was a "problem or aggressive rooster" before deciding to become violent with the animal. I say hopefully because I've not been in the situation, and I don't want to say that I know what the future holds, but I'd like to think that is the decision I would make.

One of the reasons I like open forums like this is because I come across such differing opinions from my own. Sometimes I get my feelings hurt and/or outraged by things people say, and more often than not people say things that make me examine my own beliefs. I find myself thinking about people's posts long after I've logged off, which is a good thing (even if it's because they made me mad). Sometimes I also find like-minded people who think the same way I do, and that makes me feel better about the world in general. It means I'm not alone in the decisions I make, even the hard ones.

I also don't have a rooster, so I haven't been in the OP's situation. But discussing it and hearing different opinions is helping me, personally, consider what I would do in this situation. Maybe if I talk about now, and think about it now, then someday when I'm facing my own angry roo I will have a mental plan in place for how I want to handle it and NOT just react in anger. That is why I've found this thread to helpful and interesting, whether practical OR philosophical.

I just have ONE tiny request of the OP. Could you post a picture of your rooster? There's been a ton of talk about him and it would be nice to have a face to go with the discussion! For all the fuss he's caused, I bet he's a good looking roo!

 

[subhanalah]

As for why it seems to be around 2 or 3 years, its because that's when they've got their big boy pants on and finally feel old enough to...DO something about it whether it be take over the flock as alpha cock or make you stop messing with HIS girls.

Just my .02 FWIW

 

[Fancychooklady]

Don't lose faith Ganjaroo. There are many varied opinions on how to deal with roos. Some people write paragraph after paragraph but when it comes down to it none of us are experts. We are merely relaying our own personal experiences. As centrachid said, there are many reason for a roo to display aggression and without understanding the trigger you have no chance of correcting the behaviour . I can remember the horror of being flogged by a roo when I was kid and wouldn't tolerate it happening to my kids or anyone else's.
If I need to tend to a hen I will do it at night so as not to challenge the roo. There are of course those who persist and I have a ' sin bin ' or rooster pen for such culprits. 3-4 weeks in there usually sorts them out and if not , I have a man that comes and takes them away.
I have at least a dozen roos here at any one time and have only had 2 have a go at me. I'm happy to say that solitary confinement has made them see the error of their evil ways. Chickens have been part of my life for at least 40 years and that doesn't make me an ' expert ' . It just makes me wary when I feel someone with spurs sneaking up behind me.
Do what you need to do , but as ' sub ' said culling is sometimes the last resort.

 

[Ganjaroo]

As for why it seems to be around 2 or 3 years, its because that's when they've got their big boy pants on and finally feel old enough to...DO something about it whether it be take over the flock as alpha cock or make you stop messing with HIS girls.

Just my .02 FWIW

Quote: I'd love to, but sorry, I have an inept phone at the moment and no camera which will upload pics! I will remedy this situation soon. He is a good looking roo though. A mixed breed I'm guessing, yet looks like a purebred White Rock.