i am raising my first flock too -- i got REALLY attached to my Cuckoo Marans rooster (Clucky), who was my favorite bird out of my 28 bird flock. i loved him right up to the moment he attacked my two year old son & left a big, bloody scratch & spur hole in his face. i caught Clucky & wrung his neck right then & there. For a month, every time i looked at my son all i could think about is the fact that i had several "warning" attacks from Clucky that i chose to overlook because they were on my or my husband...the guilt i felt was soooo much worse than the pain that i had imagined feeling if i had to kill one of my birds. since then, i have an absolute no aggression policy in place. i cannot imagine feeling that horrible again