Aggressive Rooster, Help With Decision?

[lazy gardener]

I would cull. A cockrel that is a jerk, is likely to remain a jerk. I would not pass him off to an other flock owner. It's theorized that nasty roos beget nasty roos. Don't know if that's true or not, but assuming that temperament is an inherited trait, I do everything in my power to see to it that a mean roo doesn't get to play in the gene pool. That means, he stays here and gets culled instead of going to an other flock to breed.

 

[Dominique Fan]

I have to agree with give him some more time. Our first roo was a bit of a butt at 6-7 months. Told the misus if he didn't chill I'd have to cull him. And then suddenly he did a 360 and became the sweetest best roo till the coyote got him. Honestly were not going to get another one,but one of our hen chick's turned out to be a he chick. So we have Charles the Second now. So far he's calming down the older he gets. Hope it helps. You can always cull him later if he doesn't shape up and make Coco Van.

 

[Optiker]

Back in the late 70s when we were raising around 50 cornish-cross per year for the freezer, we also had a large plymouth rock rooster - spurs about 3" long, and weighed around 11 lbs when we finally culled him. The decision was made when he went at my 3-year old daughter with his spurs. That was the last straw! I was unable to catch him and eventually had to take my .22 rifle to him at about 50 ft. I'm not the world's best shot but got lucky with a single shot to the head. The soup wasn't bad, but the meat was inedible, but I did get some nice cape and saddle hackles for tying trout flies.
Optiker

 

[Lokibinian]

That's a very fair point! Thanks to both of you!

 

[dundee7]

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).

Keep the Rooster. It is all part of the experience. Right now you are not ready to part with the guy and that is the reason to keep him. Need a special pen or arangment? Fine, do it. I have and never regretted keeping Roosters I decided to keep. That is what I would do. ( flaps wings and crows and draws on the meershaum pipe)

 

[Lokibinian]

Haha, thanks for your answer!

 

[corisnest51]

One of my bantam ended up a room, a global laced Wyandotte....even before I knew it was a roo he got the name "Pecky" always after everyone else... even when they were bigger than him... this really annoyed me so I put him in timeout! By himself for a couple days. I had to do it once again after than and he's been great ever since.. of course they were only around 6 weeks r so... but it's worth a try,

 

[corisnest51]

Above should have read golden laced Wyandotte and roo not room

 

[chickengeorgeto]

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..... [T]oday, he is my BEST flock protector..... At six months old, yours isn't a rooster yet....

I'll second this post.

 

[redranger209]

I would put it in solitary for a few weeks. I heard this worked on bino the albino roo, but then again he moved too.