Aggressive Rooster

[Matilda Belle]

I recently acquired a very beautiful rooster (in my avatar). After settling in, he is becoming aggressive towards me (spurring). He only spurs me when I touch the hens. Otherwise he is okay with me being around. I’m currently working on him to hopefully fix this behavioral issues. My question is...will his chicks be aggressive too? Is aggression something that passes down genetically?

 

[igorsMistress]

Some people think so. The problem is that you're touching HIS hens. If you don't he may leave you alone. Or not. He doesn't have a behavior issue. He thinks you're competition and his job is to mate with those girls and pass on his genes.

 

[CindyinSD]

It does seem to be a thing that can be bred out, so I expect it can be bred in as well. Some of it though, can be in the way the rooster is raised. From what I've read here, it can invite aggression to become too familiar with young cockerels. I'm not sure we can know what a rooster "thinks" but the theory goes that the roo sees its keeper as part of the flock and perhaps in this case, a rival for his hens.

I guess if he were mine I would keep him, so long as there aren't young children involved. I'd definitely remove his spur caps. There are plenty of youtube videos and also advice on the forum as to how to do it. They say it doesn't hurt them, and the videos I've seen do suggest this is true. They grow back, but often are less sharp, and can be removed again.

Aside from socialization, many people comment upon finally giving in and processing, that they've found the testes of aggressive roosters to be larger than usual. This would likely be a heritable trait. I think some of this may come of breeding for a set of characteristics that do not include demeanor. Hence (maybe) your beautiful, aggressive boy. You can simply add a calm personality to the list of traits you value and eventually maybe have gorgeous but peaceful roos.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Thanks. I definitely don’t want to get rid of him. He was expensive, he’s beautiful to look at and good to the hens, and I don’t give up that easy. I do understand it’s normal for him to want to protect the hens even from me. Like I said, I’m working at getting him to trust me with the girls.

 

[Chicken101-07]

I think aggression just passes into chicks if the breed is known to be agressive ,I have American game hens and a mixed rooster ,they are really nice with me,the chicks especially the males that have more similarities to the hens are really aggressive while the chicks that have more similarities to the rooster tend to be nice but I think that you just have to gain the trust of your rooster,highly doubt he will pass on the aggresiveness to the chicks.

 

[Folly's place]

How old is he? I wonder if the previous owner was moving a jerk on, without full disclosure?!
If he's trying to hurt you, at least be aware that he's thinking bad thoughts, and is dangerous.
His offspring will vary in temperament, very likely, and it will be necessary to evaluate the cockerels very carefully, but that's true always anyway.
If you are determined to raise offspring, do that, and then eliminate him before he does real harm. Can you return him? If yes, what a great idea!
Mary

 

[Matilda Belle]

He’s 2 years old and he’s been to many different homes already. I am his 4th home and I have a pretty good feeling he has spent most of his life in a small cage. This probably should have been a red flag but I was (and still am) stunned by his beauty. I’m not going to get rid of him at this point. I really want to work on him. The bright side is at least I don’t have to worry about the hens as much with him there. I know he’ll protect them. He just has to learn to trust me.

 

[CindyinSD]

He's probably not going to learn to trust you, but maybe. I would take off the spur caps and like I said, I'd probably keep him, at least long enough to make some pretty babies.

Those spurs can HURT. When I was a kid we had a rooster that HATED my dad, but Dad liked the rooster. He had been kind of coerced into taking him from a man for whom he was building a home. This guy's kid had hand raised him from a chick but the parents wouldn't allow him to keep it any longer... hmm... I wonder why...

My dad made sure Roger the rooster had everything he needed. One time, Roger disappeared. Dad went out, searched and searched until he found him, brought him home bleeding and scalped of his beautiful tail and back feathers. Dad nursed him back to health. It was a long-time before Roger could go back out. Dad was so gentle with him. I was furious, though I don't remember saying anything about it. That rooster was horrible to my dad. It would jump out of hiding as he walked by (shirtless on a hot FL day), attacking with spurs, claws, wings--for what? This was always his behavior. Dad never got angry. He said it wasn't Roger's fault. He was just a bird.

I expect he was right, but I didn't like the bleeding lacerations across his back and chest. Roger never attacked anything or anyone but my dad, and he had absolutely no provocation for this mad hatred. Maybe your rooster will learn, but ours never did.

So yes, certainly keep him and breed him for his beauty if you like, but don't give him a chance to hurt you, because he will absolutely do it if he can. After all, he's just a bird. Not his fault. Still dangerous all the same.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Thank you for sharing that story about your dad.

For now I’ve trimmed his spurs. They aren’t large to begin with, but I took what I could off. I’m going to try and make this work since I’ve only had him for a short time. If he gets out of control, I’ll reassess. But I have to give him a chance.

 

[Folly's place]

There are some good articles here about managing difficult roosters. @Beekissed has an excellent one, and there are others.
You might get him to respect your space, and never turn your back on him, or bend over in his presence, but he will challenge every individual human he meets.
Mary