Okay so I have a polish rooster, I have had him for almost a year now, and he should be two this summer. Within the past month he has gotten really REALLY aggressive, he has scoured my boyfriend, my dog, my boyfriends ten year old son, came after me but I typically catch him before I get spurred. But this morning really put me over the edge with him, my seven year old little sister was playing outside before school, and he chased her across the yard kicked her three times before I got to them he tried to follow her into the house before I stepped in and then he continuously came at me before he finally stood down. I've tried ignoring him, I've tried kicking him back, I've tried being kind to him, feeding him, petting him, I just don't know what to do I don't trust my two year old son outside with him, and I would hate for all the kids here to become scared of chickens. So do I get rid of him? Or is there a way to break this behavior? It breaks my heart that he may no longer be able to be part of my family, but I really don't know what to do. Any advice? :/
Since there are kids involved, I would recommend getting rid of him. There are several ways of modifying the human aggressive nature of roosters, but generally such animals can never be trusted.
Take him away from his hens & put him somewhere else. Then you can start training him. I've had 5 cockerels & not 1 would have dared behave badly towards me. Sadly, I was only able to keep one & now he is one of those roosters a child can dress up & put in a pram. What I do: If it crows - I warn it "NO". If it crows again - I chase it & give it a verbal "NO! QUIET!" If it keeps crowing - I catch it & smack it & bring it inside away from his hens. Don't mess about. People say its cruel to smack animals or children, but sometimes a smack is just whats needed to bring them back down to earth if they won't listen. Just remember he is a small animal, so don't smack hard, just enough to give him a physical jolt. And when its quiet I say "Good Boy" followed by treat.... just like a dog. Just by training them not to crow at times builds their respect. but your going to have a long battle ahead of you. That rooster should be in second position & you in first. But by the sound of it, over time he's been usurping your top position & you have not noticed. He also needs to learn you can remove him at any time from his ladies. Our rooster lives indoors of an evening which helps with his training. But you could easily do what I do with him outside. Just write down a set of rules, boundaries & (not mean or drastic) punishments (Yes, just as you would with a child) & stick with it. Remember, without his hens, he has no purpose, so use that to your advantage. Right now, my rooster is asleep on its back on my knee as I type...... Awwwww, who's a good boy then.....
I understand you get attached to a rooster you raise, but there are a lot of good roosters out there, way too many to put up with a bad one. From your description, that roster is a danger to kids as well as adults. I put people ahead of a rooster. It's not that unusual for a young cockerel to try you out one time to set his limits. If you are firm and set those limits he can be OK. But some roosters just won't learn no matter what you do. Even if you train him to not attack you, every person he comes into contact with will have to teach him to not attack them. I did that with a rooster once. I taught him to not attack me but he was still a danger to anyone else that came around. Like Sour, I would never trust that rooster again, especially around kids.
