Aggressive Rooster, Help With Decision?

[Lokibinian]

Heyo. Recently, I posted a thread asking why my rooster was acting so aggressive. (I still appreciate answers on that thread as well). Many people responded, the majority advising me to get rid of it. If I do get rid of it, I'll have to cull it, because I don't want to put an aggressive rooster in the hands of a possible rookie who has no idea how to deal with it.

I'm thinking long and hard about culling it, and it's no easy task for me to summon up my willpower to cull a chicken I raised from hand. Cornish X are easier for me, since I know from the beginning I'm going to butcher them. I try not to get too attached to my meat chickens, and I make sure they have a good and happy life, unlike the ones in those horrid factory farms. But this rooster in particular, well, I would hate to do it. For one, he's so beautiful. I've never seen a rooster with such shiny and fine plumage. The second, the one that really is getting me, is that I hand raised it, and it was part of my first ten unsexed chicks I ever raised about six months ago. I have a sentimental attachment to this six month old rooster, especially because I saw it grow as a small, three day old chick to this pretty rooster, not knowing if it would be a rooster or hen, not planning to butcher it AT ALL. I thought, with a glimmer of hope, all our roosters would be a bit docile. The rest are, but this exceptionally beautiful bird is not. Like I said, when I saw my first ten chicks, the thought of butchering one of them never crossed my mind.

Have any of you been in this decision? What would you advise me to do? The hardest part for me, is that I got attached this rooster without knowing I would butcher it one day, unlike my Cornish. Thanks for all answers. (By the way, I know this is something chicken keepers have to deal with eventually, it's just that I would love to know your experiences and/or advice. Thanks).

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I absolutely hate to cull or butcher any of my chickens. I'm a vegetarian, so I don't personally eat them, my husband does, but it comes with keeping chickens, and especially when dealing with roosters.

I never take it lightly. I always remember that they had a good life up to this point, as most male chicks don't live past the first few days, and that his end will be done humanely.

I never rehome because you never know what will become of them. The chicken doesn't know it's going to die, so it doesn't fear it. It's a part of responsible chicken keeping, and it's something we all must face at some point.

I have kept some good roosters penned separately until I need them, but poor roosters need to go, or those there isn't room for. My husband is going to eat meat no matter what, so it's best if he eats something raised humanely.

Most roosters are pretty. I would try again, this time taking a hands off approach to raising your next rooster.

 

[Lokibinian]

I agree, culling your chickens is not an experience to enjoy, nor take lightly. However, if it needs to be done, it's the responsible thing to do to make sure they had a good life and butcher it humanely. I agree with the rehoming as well.

Thanks for your time.

 

[adstowe]

I would cull it. I've had good roosters/cockerels and bad. I love having a rooster with my flock and tried to tolerate the bad ones, until they just pushed things too far. I'm less tolerant now. I don't expect a rooster to be my friend. I don't even handle them unless there is a need to. I simply expect them to respect my space. I do the "walk through him" thing on a daily basis and otherwise leave him be. I feel like some roosters are just hopeless and I'd personally rather have a good one than waste my time trying to fix a bad one. I wouldn't give or sell a rooster with a nasty attitude to someone else, unless it was someone I knew and they wanted it for the pot. Just my opinion. I keep chickens for eggs, but also because I enjoy having them. If one of my birds causes me to NOT enjoy having them, then it needs to go. There are far too many good birds out there to let a bad one effect your life.

 

[aprilamy2001]

Heyo. Recently, I posted a thread asking why my rooster was acting so aggressive. (I still appreciate answers on that thread as well). Many people responded, the majority advising me to get rid of it. If I do get rid of it, I'll have to cull it, because I don't want to put an aggressive rooster in the hands of a possible rookie who has no idea how to deal with it.

I'm thinking long and hard about culling it, and it's no easy task for me to summon up my willpower to cull a chicken I raised from hand. Cornish X are easier for me, since I know from the beginning I'm going to butcher them. I try not to get too attached to my meat chickens, and I make sure they have a good and happy life, unlike the ones in those horrid factory farms. But this rooster in particular, well, I would hate to do it. For one, he's so beautiful. I've never seen a rooster with such shiny and fine plumage. The second, the one that really is getting me, is that I hand raised it, and it was part of my first ten unsexed chicks I ever raised about six months ago. I have a sentimental attachment to this six month old rooster, especially because I saw it grow as a small, three day old chick to this pretty rooster, not knowing if it would be a rooster or hen, not planning to butcher it AT ALL. I thought, with a glimmer of hope, all our roosters would be a bit docile. The rest are, but this exceptionally beautiful bird is not. Like I said, when I saw my first ten chicks, the thought of butchering one of them never crossed my mind.

Have any of you been in this decision? What would you advise me to do? The hardest part for me, is that I got attached this rooster without knowing I would butcher it one day, unlike my Cornish. Thanks for all answers. (By the way, I know this is something chicken keepers have to deal with eventually, it's just that I would love to know your experiences and/or advice. Thanks).

i had a real nasty aggressive rooster, he would chase me down and jump my arms. as much as i didnt want to i couldnt put my kids in danger as well so i had my husband take care of him

 

[Lokibinian]

I see. I understand your advice, and it's appreciated. Thank you both.

 

[AllynTal]

.... I thought, with a glimmer of hope, all our roosters would be a bit docile. The rest are, but this exceptionally beautiful bird is not. ...

How many cockerels do you have? If he's only about six months old, he may just be an obnoxious teenager. In a group of unsexed chicks I got a while back, I ended up with eight cockerels. One of them was very obnoxious, attacking me and attacking the other cockerels. He was the first one in the group to get an infusion of testosterone, and he was a bit of a bully. I had to be quite assertive with him to get him to behave with me and today, he is my BEST flock protector. (In my avatar, he's the rooster in the foreground.) At six months old, yours isn't a rooster yet and if you really like him, I'd be thinking more about what to do with the rest of the cockerels to alleviate his 'competition' and maybe he'll calm down a bit.

He's being an obnoxious teenager. If it were me, I wouldn't give up on him yet.

 

[Lokibinian]

I have two cockerels, one is a barred rock or some sort of mix. They're in a run with nineteen pullets. Thank you for your advice, I will definitely weigh the consideration of the rush of hormones. Your answer is appreciated!

 

[FlyWheel]

I put cull as you have no other choice for "get rid of". There are people out there who could care less if the rooster is mean or not, you could put an add in the local paper or of various feed and other chicken related stores. Just be sure that you do state that he is a mean rooster and not to be bought as a pet! He may still end up delicately basted and browned. But at least you won't know about it.

But I would definitely get rid of him, especially if you have a nice rooster or are planning on getting one, as they WILL pick up his bad habits. Trust me, I've been through that particular meat grinder enough times.

EDIT, I just realized he's still young. If so you have a better chance to insure he know that you and yours are "hands off". But as they mature if it becomes apparent that you have one mean and one nice, then my former suggestion still stands: Get rid of the mean one ASAP.

 

[Bluechick2u]

Heyo. Recently, I posted a thread asking why my rooster was acting so aggressive. (I still appreciate answers on that thread as well). Many people responded, the majority advising me to get rid of it. If I do get rid of it, I'll have to cull it, because I don't want to put an aggressive rooster in the hands of a possible rookie who has no idea how to deal with it.

I'm thinking long and hard about culling it, and it's no easy task for me to summon up my willpower to cull a chicken I raised from hand. Cornish X are easier for me, since I know from the beginning I'm going to butcher them. I try not to get too attached to my meat chickens, and I make sure they have a good and happy life, unlike the ones in those horrid factory farms. But this rooster in particular, well, I would hate to do it. For one, he's so beautiful. I've never seen a rooster with such shiny and fine plumage. The second, the one that really is getting me, is that I hand raised it, and it was part of my first ten unsexed chicks I ever raised about six months ago. I have a sentimental attachment to this six month old rooster, especially because I saw it grow as a small, three day old chick to this pretty rooster, not knowing if it would be a rooster or hen, not planning to butcher it AT ALL. I thought, with a glimmer of hope, all our roosters would be a bit docile. The rest are, but this exceptionally beautiful bird is not. Like I said, when I saw my first ten chicks, the thought of butchering one of them never crossed my mind.

Have any of you been in this decision? What would you advise me to do? The hardest part for me, is that I got attached this rooster without knowing I would butcher it one day, unlike my Cornish. Thanks for all answers. (By the way, I know this is something chicken keepers have to deal with eventually, it's just that I would love to know your experiences and/or advice. Thanks).

I have seen Craigslist posts offering up an aggressive rooster for someone else to kill or keep as they wish, if somebody has no children and needs a jerk rooster to guard their flock, and they don't mind his aggression, maybe this would be an option. Or somebody who wants to eat an older rooster (some recipes can only be made with these) and is accustomed to killing them and wants to be sure they were raised well. Just a suggestion, in the end you'll have to decide what you're most comfortable with.