Aggressive rooster attacked my sister! What should I do?

[Yard Farmer]

With all due respect to yours and other similar perspectives, please consider that while they are intelligent creatures (some say as intelligent as young children) they are a different species than us with a different social order and intelligence than us. They are also much smaller and more vulnerable than us, and instinctually protective. Maybe you wouldn’t want to end up in a soup pot either! For me I’ve found extending respect and kindness to them has helped with teaching them a different way to relate. Also learning more about how they communicate. It’s a work in progress.

Forgive me, but that is all completely irreverent.

God himself gave us dominion over all animals, fish, birds, etc. So we can choose what we do with them. (With that being said, I DO NOT believe in animal abuse of any kind.) In this instance, if you have an aggressive rooster it does not matter at all if it's a different species of not.
Aggression is aggression, no matter what kind of pretty frosting you put on it.
I dealt with mean rooster(s) for over 5 years from my flock and friends flocks, and one night my little brother was helping take care of my birds, this stupid rooster nearly took out his eye. I don't know about you, but that's straight up bull crap. Something that could've effected his whole life, that was completely unprovoked. So if you want to chance a serious injury that one of these birds can inflict on you, that's your choice. Like culling is mine.

Your projecting what your perspective of overreacting is onto an animal of a different species which is also more scared of you than you are of it.

If you see that as overreacting, then yes. I will side with them as well.
But for me, this is not matter of overreacting, it's a matter of cause and effect.

My perspective at this point is simply that human aggression and culling a rooster for their aggressive behavior isn’t always the only solution. There are ways to explore resolving these issues and living and working better with them, for those inclined and with more patience. If you’re farming them for meat that may be a different story. If your keeping them to be flock protectors and mates, or as family pets, it might be more worthwhile to consider what kindness and respect looks like to them.

That's good. You have your perspective, I/we have ours, no matter what others think.
But don't argue with other people who have come to their own conclusions about what to do with an aggressive rooster.

We're all here to help each other out here, not to just have conflict.

I hope you have a great rest of your day.

 

[oneoftheflock4]

Forgive me, but that is completely irreverent.

God himself gave us dominion over all animals, fish, birds, etc. So we can choose what we do with them. (With that being said, I DO NOT believe in animal abuse of any kind.) In this instance, if you have an aggressive rooster it does not matter at all if it's a different species of not.
Aggression is aggression, no matter what kind of pretty frosting you put on it.
I dealt with mean rooster(s) for over 5 years from my flock and friends flocks, and one night my little brother was helping take care of my birds, this stupid rooster nearly took out his eye. I don't know about you, but that's straight up bull crap. Something that could've effected his whole life, that was completely unprovoked. So if you want to chance a serious injury that one of these birds can inflict on you, that's your choice. Like culling is mine.

If you see that as overreacting, then yes. I will side with them as well.
But for me, this is not matter of overreacting, it's a matter of cause and effect.

That's good. You have your perspective, I/we have ours, no matter what others think.
But don't argue with other people who have come to their own conclusions about what to do with an aggressive rooster.

We're all here to help each other out here, not to just have conflict.

I hope you have a great rest of your day.

Thanks for sharing your perspective and opinions. We may disagree on some things and that’s okay. We aren’t all going to agree on everything all of the time. Hopefully we can learn from one another. We have points of agreement too.

Not arguing just sharing in conversation a different perspective. I’m sorry if that feels like arguing.

Hope you have a good day too.

 

[2 chiks n a roo]

I’m sorry, but it is not respect when anyone or anything including an animal is determining what you wear, how you act, how you talk, how you walk and if you don’t do what they want they attack you. That is the very definition of an abusive relationship no matter what the species the relationship is between. An animal that truly respects you does not ever come into your space unless you are allowing it nor do they threaten you unless you are acting like an active threat…and no bootcut jeans or the wrong shoes are not active threats. I had an ex who started to act like that too and he became an ex real quick. I don’t tolerate that behavior from any male any species. Let me give you an example, I am a horse person. My favorite horses to work with are the completely unhandled ones because they have not been allowed to have bad habits reinforced. I can take a horse from acting like a wild child and with a little work turn it into a respectful, calm and willing beautiful being. No whips, no physical force, because most of what I do is based off of understanding each other’s body language. I have people refer to what I do as “breaking” and I tell them “I don’t need to break a horse I just need them to trust me”. However, if I spend all of this time working with a horse and it still is acting aggressive then that horse does not respect me at all. I have watched people get seriously injured by horses that were “trained”, but never taught mutual respect and those are the ones that are even more dangerous than a wild horse. Because by catering to the poor behavior and giving into the demands you are actually reinforcing that the bad behavior is acceptable. When training any animal your “yes” behavior must always be a yes and your “no” behavior must always be a no. Otherwise those lines between right and wrong are blurred. When those lines get blurred that’s when an animal is the most dangerous. There is a big difference between an animal acting out of genuine fear and one being aggressive because they know you will sit there and take it.

Thank you for reinforcing my point about respect is earned not taken.. by way of trust.

I've been an equine educator and equi-therapist for over 35 years, you're preaching to the wrong quire

He's a cochin, super cute but super-fast when he runs at

He's a cochin, super cute but super-fast when he runs at you

Funny .. I've never seen one of them, I'll google some pics later.
When he runs at you do you run back at him? Rhodey never runs at me unless I've got treats, he skips rather than runs, but when its time for him to go to his bed, he runs away lol

 

[cassie]

I agree. Can you tell me how to help my sister earn his respect?

Aggressive roosters are just not worth fooling with. Don't bother. Your crockpot is your friend.

 

[fuzzi]

That's not true. I care very deeply for my birds, but as someone who was attacked as a child multiple times by an aggressive rooster, I will not tolerate agressive males. I am not a chicken, I am the Provider of Feed and Shelter. I am not a part of his flock, and the birds either learn to respect my presence or they do not stay in the gene pool. After a few years of removing aggressive birds, I now have an extremely small amount of aggressive temperaments, including through puberty, even with the males.

A bird that is focused on going after you is not looking for real threats during that time.

There are so many good tempered males that are looking for a new home, there is no reason to tolerate one that you have to bend over backwards for. When you make it so limited in what you have to do in order to not be attacked, you also limit what can be done if you cannot care for your birds for some reason. As an owner, you are responsible if your animal goes after someone on your property. What if you end up in the hospital or some other long stay and need someone to suddenly stop by to feed and water?

Thank you.

I'm fairly new to chickens, about 18 months this time though I did have a flock about 30 years ago. I had a good rooster then, and had a good rooster now, until January. The successor flogged me, cut me on the face, was rough with broody hens, and I culled him after he attacked his own chicks. I have his last offspring on trial, a 3 month old cockerel. If he wants to be aggressive beyond what I am willing to tolerate due to his age he will take a dirt nap next to Daddy.

The routines people have described here to not trigger an attack from their rooster reminds me of what women sometimes do with passive-aggressive men. I don't think anyone should purposely try to ellicit an attack, but no one should have to tiptoe through life to avoid a conflict.

In the last couple of days my cockerel has decided to attack my feet and skirt when I enter the run. I don't respond, I ignore him and I don't change my habits or my attire. He can get used to me or he'll not live.

 

[fuzzi]

I’m sorry, but it is not respect when anyone or anything including an animal is determining what you wear, how you act, how you talk, how you walk and if you don’t do what they want they attack you. That is the very definition of an abusive relationship no matter what the species the relationship is between. An animal that truly respects you does not ever come into your space unless you are allowing it nor do they threaten you unless you are acting like an active threat…and no bootcut jeans or the wrong shoes are not active threats. I had an ex who started to act like that too and he became an ex real quick. I don’t tolerate that behavior from any male any species. Let me give you an example, I am a horse person. My favorite horses to work with are the completely unhandled ones because they have not been allowed to have bad habits reinforced. I can take a horse from acting like a wild child and with a little work turn it into a respectful, calm and willing beautiful being. No whips, no physical force, because most of what I do is based off of understanding each other’s body language. I have people refer to what I do as “breaking” and I tell them “I don’t need to break a horse I just need them to trust me”. However, if I spend all of this time working with a horse and it still is acting aggressive then that horse does not respect me at all. I have watched people get seriously injured by horses that were “trained”, but never taught mutual respect and those are the ones that are even more dangerous than a wild horse. Because by catering to the poor behavior and giving into the demands you are actually reinforcing that the bad behavior is acceptable. When training any animal your “yes” behavior must always be a yes and your “no” behavior must always be a no. Otherwise those lines between right and wrong are blurred. When those lines get blurred that’s when an animal is the most dangerous. There is a big difference between an animal acting out of genuine fear and one being aggressive because they know you will sit there and take it.

This

 

[NeoHomesteader]

For a backyard chicken, small flock, in a suburban area. I agree with most of the posts above. For larger flocks, I would train it. A chicken willing to attack a person it thinks is a threat, is also going to attack predators. It might not win, but should create enough a ruckus to get you out there to scare off whatever is trying to get into your coop.

 

[NeoHomesteader]

... I had a good rooster then, and had a good rooster now, until January. The successor flogged me, cut me on the face, was rough with broody hens, and I culled him after he attacked his own chicks...

To be clear, I was referring to an aggressive rooster, not a bad one. If it attacks chicks and nesting hens and stuff, then its just bad and has to go.

(I did not realize there was 8 pages of this thread. Jeesh. I am sure what I said has already been said)

 

[FrostRanger]

For larger flocks, I would train it. A chicken willing to attack a person it thinks is a threat, is also going to attack predators

Nope, human aggression is separate from protectiveness. There are perfectly nice roosters who will protect his girls with his life and there are extremely human aggressive roos who will leave their girls to the wolves. Whats more if a rooster is wasting time attacking the bringer of food, he's not keeping an eye out for real dangers. He will also still father aggressive chicks so you may wind up with a headache of a flock if you aren't careful

 

[fuzzi]

To be clear, I was referring to an aggressive rooster, not a bad one. If it attacks chicks and nesting hens and stuff, then its just bad and has to go.

(I did not realize there was 8 pages of this thread. Jeesh. I am sure what I said has already been said)

No worries.

My cockerel gave up attacking my feet and skirt after about three days of being ignored. I don't see anything aggressive in his behavior towards me right now.