2 yr old rooster has gone psycho

[City farm]

 
This sounds nuts but you need to let him peck you get on some big boots and walk up to him stand still and let him peck your boot, when he attacks you it is because he feels challenged if you let him assert his dominance he will be more passive. 

Done things like that, ignoring aggression never worked with mine.

X2!!
First off " chicken guy " look at your first 3 word's " this sounds nuts" you are right it is NUTS, & won't work.. The minute you turn he will be after you again, & again.. Even a hand raised rooster durring mating season is going to think he need's to protect his girl's. He might know you his whole life & was fine with you one day.. Then all of a sudden his comb turn's red and he is claiming his girl's.. Then you come along to feed him, he think's intruder, attack.. but if he keep's on going after you, well then I guess that is what you will have to deal with. Not all roosters are like this or at least for very long, crock pot or untill your slashed open from him flyin up to tell you get out of my space.. Ya gotta be smarted than the rooster ..

 

[City farm]

@chooks4life
Hay, look what we get here in the United States of America from your country

We got it from a store called Trader Joe's.. It was only $12.00
Cheers

 

[chooks4life]

lol @City farm I haven't seen that brand before. But we do export a lot of our best stuff to other countries with higher standards just to import inferior quality stuff in return.

Best wishes.

 

[Machi]

I had never even heard of people carrying/holding roosters. I think the roosters nature should be so self-confident and easy, that one can afford even not being a perfect raiser...! But if the rooster is genetically aggressive, even the best raising as a chick, and the good handilg of the whole flock, won't guarantee the roosters trust?

It must be very difficult, or impossible, to change the rooster by teaching - and why so much trouble, to maintain it calm? (And never knowing, how it really works, if you turn your back.. :/ ) The rooster might not necessarily be any better, if it's aggressive "all the time" - a good rooster knows, when it really needs to be protective!! And I think that kind of rooster, is in many ways much better. It will sure be aggressive when needed... and not "going cazy" all the time!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Back when I was naive enough to not see the long term consequences of breeding aggressive animals, not realizing exactly how heritable it was, and still unsure about how much was nurture and how much was nature, I tried that method (distraction with food) --- among so many others... But rewarding aggressive animals with food is generally considered to be a very bad move for very good reason.

It certainly didn't work with mine, neither did any of the other training methods I tried, they could control some behavior in the short term but certainly didn't stop him (or her) passing on their underlying aggressive mentalities.

Why feed and house a vicious animal when you could devote those resources to a nice natured one? And why put up with the risk? Vicious chickens make life stressful for their owners or their flock, quite often both, and they contribute their attitude to future generations. Sometimes it skips a few individuals but it breeds on more often than not in my experience.

Best wishes.

I don't tend to feed and house aggressive animals; but if a rooster makes it to two years old before turning vicious, there may be something other than nature going on with him. Which is why the minute he starts to even look like he is thinking about fighting, you distract him.

 

[McKennA]

I have an 18 week old rooster that has started doing the wing dance and tidbitting around me and my daughter. We walk towards him or move him off when he does that, but are we just kidding ourselves thinking we can keep him from escalating to flogging? Is this just the precursor, to full on attacks, or can you "nip it in the bud"?

 

[Folly's place]

If your daughter is very young, don't chance it. If she's older, keep moving him away from you, and see how it goes. Sometimes things will work out okay, but often not. I've got a young cockrel who's on the 'Watch List' here; he's wearing the blue legband of death, and recently has been well behaved. I kept another hatchmate as backup, so if 'blue boy' gets uppity again, it's not a problem for my flock. Mary

 

[chooks4life]

I don't tend to feed and house aggressive animals; but if a rooster makes it to two years old before turning vicious, there may be something other than nature going on with him. Which is why the minute he starts to even look like he is thinking about fighting, you distract him.

I'd thought so too, to begin with, but now I believe 2 years old is the beginning of true maturity for Galliformes in general, it's when they are finally in their prime, which I think lasts a fair while after that. Unless of course one is talking about Isabrowns which are dying of old age before they hit their prime.

Most of my males (and many of my females too) gain sometimes surprising extra size in their second year, sometimes doubling their physical size, and their mentalities change into a more calm, adult mindset than they already were; these changes are for the better in most, though they were already quite good --- but in a few, they have been for the worst. So now, despite a good temperament as a young adult, I only judge a breeder once I've had it long enough to know what it is like in its true prime. Both males and females can turn after two years old, I've had a few like that, and it most definitely runs in the family. I repeated enough breedings for enough years to learn that.

I've since come to know a Silvergrey Dorking breeder whose males all go nuts after their second birthday; whereas they were once completely fine with other males and of reliable temperament, in their second year they go on killing sprees. I've also known a few people with the same issue with roosters and turkeys. I had the same issue with turkeys too. But only some of a certain family line.

This combination of physical and psychological changes I believe indicate true maturity. If you breed a juvenile you don't yet know what its adult temperament is. Same thing as judging a juvenile dog's behavior as though it were an adult just because it's a year old, or thinking a teenage human's actions are those of a mature adult. Close, but not quite, despite how mature they may act at other times, and despite the ability to reproduce.

Best wishes.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree completely! I've also had mature cocks turn into bad boys that second spring, and it's not pretty. Mary

 

[BBB454]

"Roosters kill toddlers fairly regularly, it's not one of those 'fluke' deaths, for sure."

I've never heard of a toddler/child death by a rooster. Do you have any back-up to support that? I tried a internet search and turned up nothing. I'm sure an attack "could" result in death, but I'm guessing it's not "fairly regularly"?