??about slightly aggressive roo

[Parkers*momma]

I'm not sure this will work for you but it has worked for us. These are my 9yo chickens and she was having a horrible time with one of the roos. So to break him when he tried to flogger her, she started chasing him all around the yard until he tired. Then she grabs him while he is still on the ground, 1/2 lays over him and starts flicking the ever living daylights out of his comb, head and chest. She is the Alpha male...not some silly old roo...and she did this every time she went into the coop yard. It could be 10 times a day but the roos finally figured out she is top dog.

If she turned to come back to the house, and he started after her, it was all on again...over and over. This went on for about a week or so.

Might not work for you but it does work around here with her chickens.

 

[newchickens2009]

Mrs. K :

If you do not want your girls attacked, get rid of him! They are not that big, and he is getting way too brave, and he could attack them badly. No rooster is more important than their faces or eyes.

imho roosters are for household without children. They are a male animal, and many male animals can get very aggressive, quickly. Children are small, and more at eye level or nearly eye level with a flying bird.

You really have been given a warning, when he attacked you. His attacks will get bolder and bolder, and he will have considerable less respect for your girls, as they are not as big as you. You are risking too much.

Perhaps one can train a rooster, and you be the top rooster, but a child will not.

Mrs.K

Couldn't have said it better. There is NO WAY any Roo is worth your childs eyes!! KILL and eat NOW! You may tame him for now, but believe me he WILL attack again and when he does so to your kids you wil be in a "should have, wish I would have" mood but it is then to late!
Why risk it??​

 

[PortageGirl]

Here’s another thread it was recently discussed in

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=365939&p=1

Here’s the article I spoke about in that thread, I hadn’t found it before I posted there but found it since:

http://www.plamondon.com/faq_roosters.html

And this is Rooster-red’s page about the topic which has valuable info on it too IMO, though I prefer to try the way Robert Plamondon talks first. Still, Rooster-red has some great points in it too https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior

I think I somehow just fell into the attitude Plamondon promotes by accident.

//eta// I just wanted to say also that I've had the best experiences with roos that I treated nicely but rather distantly. I let them be chickens and I be the person. Yes, I throw them some scratch etc to distract them, and I make sure I can handle them safely so I can treat them for injuries or illness etc, but I don't 'snuggle' with them either. I did with the one when I was 12, but not since then.

 

[newchickens2009]

I had a Buff Orpington Roo that was just so loving and kind to me, (I got that breed of roo because I was told that they were the most friendly). He always let me hold him, pick him up and carry with me like a pet dog or cat. Always came running to me when I would feed the chickens and never once did I question his behaviour. Until one day out of the clear blue he attacked me like I was his biggest enemy. I tried everything that I read on here to try and calm him but it would only last for awhile and when I thought he was back to being my friend he would attack again and only to be more aggressive then the time before. Needless to say but he went to freezer camp! I since then have gotton a RIR Roo and he is very friendly and loving for now, but believe me the first time he shows aggression he will become dinner! There are some nice roos no dought all their life, but my life is to short and my kids to precious for it to be changed forever with 1 less eye or some facial scares to my kids face!!

Edited to say that I also have a bunch of my neighbors kids coming over all the time to see and enjoy my chickens both when I am home and during the day when I am at work. God forbid if 1 were to get attacked by a roo that I knew was aggressive and wouldn't kill. How would I explain that to their parents????

 

[yomama]

Thanks so much for the responses. He went after me again today, always sneeking up on me from behind. I noticed that he doesn't get as scared when I swing, kick and chase him around, as much. As soon as I stop, he stops in his tracks and watches me.I really don't want to kill him. Actually, I know I wouldn't be able to, myself. I've thought about rehoming him, but who is going to want an aggressive rooster? I think it is time for him to go bye bye, just got to figure out how. I definately don't want him hurting my kids, that is for sure. They're scared to go in the run with him now... He is being relentless with the pullets too. He is plucking out some nice handfuls of feathers from the poor girls, and I even watched him eat the feathers he pulled off of one of them. How weird is that?!

 

[Oven Ready]

Plucking and eating feathers is not weird (sadly).
Some chickens (cockerels & hens) just get a thing about plucking and eating feathers. The soft new feathers, still in their sheaths are full of blood and they get a taste for it. Maybe his diet is lacking in something (protein or iron) and he is making up for it the only way he knows how. Maybe he has just gotten into the habit and if it continues he could possibly, maybe, but not definitely, turn cannibal, especially if you have small chicks around. Chickens love to eat meat - most of them don't know the other chickens are meat so don't bother, once they know other chickens can be food it seems like it's an addiction.

When we pluck our chickens all the others hang about hoping to eat the feathers, we have to be careful to bag all the small tasty ones - the bigger feathers they don't bother about but the new soft ones .... wow, they get as exicited at these as they do with termites nests.

 

[Beekissed]

The behaviour you describe...the sneaking up on your and surprising you with attacks is the same behaviour you should be using on this roo, if you want him to remain on your place. Get yourself a rooster stick...it should be long and lightweight. Every time....and I mean every time...during the training phase, carry your roo stick...make sure the kids do also.

Never let this roo rest when you are in the coop or hen yard. Surprise him when he comes out of the coop and touch him with the stick, right on the back or under the tail feathers. If he shows fight, lunge at him and whop him good. Never let him eat or breed while you are there....whop him good on the butt if he attempts it. Every once in awhile, lie in wait for him to come out or in the coop door and scare him with a lunge and a tap with the stick.

No need to yell or chase....top roos don't have to make any noise and they usually don't have to chase much after they have made their point.

If you are walking by him and he doesn't make a wide berth around your advance, lunge and attack with your roo stick. The object of these lessons is to make this roo very nervous....so nervous that he won't dare enter your space. You are big and he is little. You have a stick and he has measly feet/spurs and a beak. You have the power of life or death and he needs to know it....RIGHT NOW AND EVERY DAY. Be consistent.

These lessons should not have to last very long before your roo understands that the humans, no matter if they are big or little, have the upper hand. They are the boss roos. Even if he starts behaving and leaves you alone, remember to surprise him with a lunge or a loft kick to his rear now and again. Boss roos never miss a chance to school a lesser roo...this keeps their position in the pecking order. If he stares at you, whack him with the stick. If he doesn't get out of the way when you walk towards him, lunge and attack.

I have even gone so far as to go in the coop after dark and knock an aggressive roo off his preferred spot, just so he doesn't get comfortable with his place on the roosts.

Sound mean? Not really. Its the only thing they understand and its natural to them. It shouldn't take longer than a few days or up to a week of this type of schooling to improve your roo's disposition. If it does not, he is too stupid to learn and he needs eliminated from your flock gene pool. You really don't want stupid AND aggressive in your flock, do you?

Try it...its fun and educational!