Aggressive Bourbon Red tom

[Barred Rock Man]

I just bought a pair of year old Bourbon Reds for breeding. I was told the tom was aggressive. He didn't seam bad at the time, but has gotten steadily worse. He has bitten me many times, which I don't mind much since he has only drawn blood once, but is now following me and attacking just because.
I held him an hour ago because he has a bald chest growing new feathers and one of them looked bad, and he was OK while I was holding him. But when I started to put him down, he reached back and clamped onto my watch. He bit my watch so hard it notched his lower beak, and he held on for just over ten minutes when the dog barked and the tom let go to gobble.
I am friendly (well, at least I try) with the tom and want to keep him as a breeder. I also hope to let him free range with the hen, but want to get them to get used to me so they will come back at night. I any one has any suggestions on what to do about him, please let me know.

 

[PekinBantam]

Look, I had the same problem with my white mutt rooster on my profile pic, he kept chasing my dad & me and I still have scars from his scratches & bites, I wouldn't say that he should be free range, the best idea I could think of right now is to make a large pen that is higher than he could fly and keep him & the hen there...

 

[Oregon Blues]

Being "friendly" isn't how you train poultry to respect you. He will have to learn that you are tougher than he is and that you have no fear of him.

His behavior is well established and might be difficult to train out of him. But at least you know why he was for sale.

I have purchased "aggressive" ganders and as soon as they learned that the behavior was not going to be tolerated, they quit doing it. Turkeys are not nearly as smart as geese, but it should be possible to train them if you invest the time and effort.

Someone who has trained turkeys is going to have to tell how they did it. I've not had any problems with my turkeys.

 

[Pele]

Being "friendly" isn't how you train poultry to respect you. He will have to learn that you are tougher than he is and that you have no fear of him.

His behavior is well established and might be difficult to train out of him. But at least you know why he was for sale.

I have purchased "aggressive" ganders and as soon as they learned that the behavior was not going to be tolerated, they quit doing it. Turkeys are not nearly as smart as geese, but it should be possible to train them if you invest the time and effort.

Someone who has trained turkeys is going to have to tell how they did it. I've not had any problems with my turkeys.

x2, poultry are like children, they'll get away with whatever they know they can get away with.

Sitting still and letting him bite you is a BIG submissive message to him. You're telling him "So sorry, you're the boss, I do what you say, let go when you feel like it, sir." Big mistake, and I'd be surprised if he didn't eventually try to mate you (no unfortunately I'm not kidding).

Don't tolerate it. The next time he does this, immediately either hold him to the ground (make him submit to you), or, put your arms out as wide as they go, and slowly walk towards him. He'll display at you, but back off when you get too close (you're bigger). If you believe he's truely violent, wear padding when you confront him in case he tries to spur. Keep walking him down, as long as it takes, until he gives up displaying at you and facing you. It will help if you don't have hens around when you do this, so he won't have any cheerleaders to show off for.

It's possible, as Oregon Blues said, that he's beyond training at this point. If so, he's a turkey and therefore automatically delicious. Start over with a new tom that isn't a nightmare.

 

[Barred Rock Man]

Quote:
When I said I was being friendly, I meant I like him and would like to keep him alive. I am training him to respect me. I have also never backed down, but I also never get aggressive with him. Also, he was only for sale because his owner was moving.

 

[coffeekittie]

Ugh, hope this doesn't post twice....

Really aggressive birds are dangerously hard to change. If you want to keep trying, you are going to have to be assertive, going on aggressive.

I did this with a couple roosters who tried to dominate me, and it worked:

Never ever let the tom get away with even the slightest bit of aggressive behavior. Each and every time he does something, respond as a previous poster said and act like a larger and tougher bird. I would run at the offender, growling (lol, the neighbors thought I was nuts) and hissing and stomping....if I got the chance I'd grab him by whatever body part I could, wrestle him down and hold him there, growling. I'd make him stay there until he stopped struggling, then dump him on his back and turn around and walk away. If he responded by attacking again, I'd repeat until he stopped. One time I ran a rooster down for about 10 minutes before I got ahold of him! Panting and sweating and swearing and growling...Hee, my neighbors KNEW I was nuts. It worked, though. With a turkey, you have to ensure you get the wings under control while doing this to avoid getting injured.

The point is, male critters have pecking orders that include you. You have to do what it takes to stay at the top, or take the chance of having a bad actor in your flock.

BTW, I'm a petite woman, so seriously, watching me act that way was very amusing for all around!

Take care!

Parker

 

[Oregon Blues]

Barred Rock Man, I really like my poultry and because I am so fond of them, one of the things I do to keep them safe is to firmly teach them to have lovely manners.

Bad natured and aggressive poultry eventually ends up in the stock pot. Birds that are pleasant to be around get more privileges and more attention. They get more freedom of the yard and people will hang out with them more. My birds have a much better life because I am stern about manners and about what is acceptable behavior

If I ever have to re-home them, it will be easy, because they have such nice manners. Re-homing attack birds is very difficult.

 

[PekinBantam]

Ugh, hope this doesn't post twice....

Really aggressive birds are dangerously hard to change. If you want to keep trying, you are going to have to be assertive, going on aggressive.

I did this with a couple roosters who tried to dominate me, and it worked:

Never ever let the tom get away with even the slightest bit of aggressive behavior. Each and every time he does something, respond as a previous poster said and act like a larger and tougher bird. I would run at the offender, growling (lol, the neighbors thought I was nuts) and hissing and stomping....if I got the chance I'd grab him by whatever body part I could, wrestle him down and hold him there, growling. I'd make him stay there until he stopped struggling, then dump him on his back and turn around and walk away. If he responded by attacking again, I'd repeat until he stopped. One time I ran a rooster down for about 10 minutes before I got ahold of him! Panting and sweating and swearing and growling...Hee, my neighbors KNEW I was nuts. It worked, though. With a turkey, you have to ensure you get the wings under control while doing this to avoid getting injured.

The point is, male critters have pecking orders that include you. You have to do what it takes to stay at the top, or take the chance of having a bad actor in your flock.

BTW, I'm a petite woman, so seriously, watching me act that way was very amusing for all around!

Take care!

Parker

Hehe, lol...

I do the same thing...

 

[scrambledmess]

Our tom is no in lock up because of aggression. I could probably train him to respect me. But I have 5 human kids who run my yard as well. Too dangerous for him to run loose and no chance of everyone earning his "respect" in the pecking order.

 

[frank53061]

I was raised up on a farm and it does not make a difference what kind of animal it is if you don't prove to them that you are the alfa it will try to dominate you Roosters Toms Bulls and even dogs partly to do with there hormone's.

The level of aggression that the animal has towards you has to be matched or raised in an intelligent way and even when you have proven your dominance you will be tested from time to time by some animals.
This is mother nature.

If an animal is not taught by its owner how it fits in the pecking order and its to much for the owner it becomes a burden and that should be done away with in some fashion give away sold or eaten.

I don't want to sound harsh but humans are for the most part the higher evolved animal.