Aggressive rooster injuring humans

[Mysterywriter221]

Desperate family here looking for advice.

Our rooster (1 year 2 months) is a modern day velociraptor. He's given my dad a several inch long scar on his leg and I just got a puncture wound to my knee that is deep enough to make it difficult to move my knee. The hens all are missing patches of feathers from him pouncing on them and we're worried he may hurt them further. It's only gotten worse since we lost three of the hens to a raccoon over the last two days.

The problem is we love Cacciatore and can't stand the thought of losing half our flock so quickly (we had eight, now we have five). Has anyone here had any success with reducing aggression through castration? We've been going back and forth over whether to take him to the butcher or the vet so we can be safe.

Edit: He's been aggressive since he was a chick. When we bought them from Tractor Supply he was the only one who was pecking at the employee who pecked them out. He only got worse the older he got.

 

[chickens really]

Personally I would take him to the Butcher....Many docile Roosters to take his place.....

 

[21hens-incharge]

I agree. There are many non aggressive ones needing a home.

I have one headed the same way.

 

[centrarchid]

Butcher him. Get raccoon issue under control. Get a new rooster last. Then start learning how to work around roosters and to compensate from problems early.

 

[aart]

Ditto all of the above...
....and might want to go to the doctor for puncture wound,
infection is likely and very dangerous in a joint.

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC...sorry you're having troubles.

 

[DuckPro]

Desperate family here looking for advice.

Our rooster (1 year 2 months) is a modern day velociraptor. He's given my dad a several inch long scar on his leg and I just got a puncture wound to my knee that is deep enough to make it difficult to move my knee. The hens all are missing patches of feathers from him pouncing on them and we're worried he may hurt them further. It's only gotten worse since we lost three of the hens to a raccoon over the last two days.

The problem is we love Cacciatore and can't stand the thought of losing half our flock so quickly (we had eight, now we have five). Has anyone here had any success with reducing aggression through castration? We've been going back and forth over whether to take him to the butcher or the vet so we can be safe.

Edit: He's been aggressive since he was a chick. When we bought them from Tractor Supply he was the only one who was pecking at the employee who pecked them out. He only got worse the older he got.

I think first, go to the doctor for the wound, infection is at risk for your dad. Then Maythen maybe get a lovely docile rooster such as:
The Orpington
The australorp
The Wyandotte
The Easter egger
The Plymouth Rock
The Sussex
Any of these breeds are docile and beautiful. You might want to get a few hens too. (I'm not really keen on killing the rooster though.)

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The only thing that will make him tender to humans is a slow cook in crock pot.

The breed has little to do with aggression. The line of bird, where they came from, has a much larger impact on personality. Aggression can be bred out of a line and why breeder stock birds are almost always well behaved. Same effect can come from back yard flock over generations if the keeper culled all the jerks and only bred the well mannered.

 

[Folly's place]

How many injuries are you willing to tolerate??? He's way too dangerous, and useless as a flock protector, and way too old to castrate. He doesn't love you!!! Everyone has given you very good advise, and today would be the best day to remove him from your life. Get yourself to Urgent Care for your wound too. Mary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Cacciatore needs to become exactly that!

Seriously that rooster isn't going to reform. Do you LOVE him more than your hens AND your father? At this point he is causing harm to your family and your flock. That is just NOT acceptable!

I am not surprised your recent losses have made him worse. That's quite an upset and chickens are creatures of habit. He is likely as frustrated as you. What did HE do to protect your hens from said raccoon? If you decide to keep him, get your hens some saddles and your dad some umpire gear. Would you keep a dog if it kept biting you?

What have you done to correct your raccoon issue? Your other 3 hens might be gone tomorrow.

I will agree that breed of rooster does NOT equal docile. It will 100% depend on the individual.

Sorry for your trouble. It may be a difficult decision if you've never considered it before, but if you can't eat him.. there is no shame in letting him go where he can feed another family. All of us will die eventually, just some slower than others! We make sure our roosters are calm before we dispatch them. There is NO drama and it's over within moments. It's the circle of life. I'm not saying they have no fear, but it's no different than the fear they get when I catch them anyways.

You know what you need to do... you need to make a decision to protect your family before someone loses an eye when they are bent over doing feed or whatever. And if you can't do that, you've got no business having roosters! No judgement here, just the harsh reality.

Butchering isn't my suggestion for all. But not all have drawn blood. If not gotten under control, he may also mate your hens to death! Again, I know it can be an emotional choice. I wish you best in this difficult time. I hope you don't feel attacked but in a safe place where people share their experiences in order to help make the best decision possible.

One last possibility.. many people will keep a rooster pen as an option, which I do have. But attacking is a deal breaker! And if you want to have another rooster in the future, I would get rid of that boy before your family gets negative anchors. Took me a little while to get over the one bastard that kept attacking me and not be irritated when others crowed because the other guy crowed directly at me non stop. It's been a few weeks and I'm starting to enjoy the boys crowing again. But neither of them has ever given me the stink eye or indicated other aggression... yet.

ETA: another member looked into castration, and IF you can even find a doc to do it is like $500-700.

 

[lazy gardener]

Once a bird has reached breeding age, castration is very risky, due to the vascular system involved. It is likely to kill him. Any puncture wound, especially if caused by a dirty source (ie roo spur) is very dangerous. You risk a systemic infection. If that injury is near a joint, you risk infection of the joint, which can lead to bone infection, resulting in need for long time IV antibiotics (hospitalization/rehab center for duration of treatment), and possibly amputation. Get yourself to a doctor.

As for the roo, if he were trained at an early age, he may have never gotten to this point. He is not safe to be around any humans, and he is a huge liability to all people. Don't consider rehoming him. Do the responsible thing and euthanize him. Give him to a family who will benefit from the meat, if you don't want to go that route yourself, or take him to the vet to be euthanized if you can't do it yourself, or find some one to do it for you.