Agressive roo!!??

[MEchickenfarmer33]

I have a one year old Delaware rooster who has recently turned very agressive towards humans over the last month or so. There have been many incidents where he has came after myself and my brother and sister. The first incident was when my sister was swinging on her swing-set and my rooster ran under her and began jumping up and pecking her and really scaring her. even after my dad ripped my sister off the swing the roo continued to chase after her. My dad even threw a baseball bat at him and he still kept attacking her. strike one. Than he has pecked my brother and chased him multiple times ever since he was younger. strike 2. and today was strike three. when i let them out to free range he cornered me and began pecking and attacking me. i had to beat him 5 times with a metal egg basket before he finally retreated. Than after i gathered the eggs and tried to go back to the house he charged me and began attacking me once again. I had to hit him three times with a stick to deter him. he is on the verge of being shot or given away. Is this normal or should he be given away?? I have a 9 week old rooster that we were about to give away but this attack today has had me double guessing which rooster I should give away. my flock is 21 birds including two new 9 week old chicks (one roo and one hen). So should he be given away? or is this normal?

 

[sourland]

Given the fact that he is attacking all of your family, I would get rid of him and hope that the younger rooster turns out to be non human aggressive.

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

thanks for the reply!! thats what I was thinking of doing. anyone else think the same thing as we both do??? I mean I really like this rooster. hes a great protector and good husband to the hens, but my sister is terrified to even go out in our yard now. He has also charged our labrodoodle once when we were taking her for a walk. the roo came around the corner and chased us away. the new rooster is a sweety too

really nice barred rock rooster.

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

anyone? *bump*

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! He is just doing what a roo is porgramed to do...protect his flock...even from you and your family. We had one just like this and we tried everything and he never got any less aggressive. We eventually sent him to freezer camp and that solved it. Unfortunately the hormones kick in around 1 year and they can become aggressive/protective. Good luck!

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

Thanks for the replys!!! Anyone else have any other advice on what I should do with him!!????

 

[bluegiantsc]

I too have an aggressive rooster. He started when he was younger. He used to corner me and if I didn't feed him fast enough he would jump up and attack me. I read something on here that said they attack people because they think that they're dominant over the humans. In that article I read that you can do some things to try to become the dominant rooster in your flock. You can try to put him on the ground, in a submissive position like if a predator were to get him. Thats supposed to make them feel less dominant over you. But you have to get them on the ground WHILE he is attacking you.
Another way is to pick him up WHILE he is attacking you. Hold him close to you for a while, until he stops fighting you and just hold him, or walk around with him. If you put him down and he tries to attack you again, pick him back up and hold him again.

I've put my roo on the ground a few times before. The first time was in the middle of the night and I had to move him, he tried to get away and I put him on the ground and held him there for a few minutes until he calmed down. He didn't attack me for a while after that. The second time was when he got stuck behind his house against the fence of their coop, his wing was wedged in the fence and I had to get him un-stuck. He freaked out when I got him un-stuck and I put him in the ground again for a few minutes and checked his wing. He stayed on the ground until he stopped fighting me and I just petted him and told him it was alright. He hasn't come at me in a while, I can now go into the coop with him and have him not try to mess with me. I can also walk across the yard without him coming at me.

One more thing, hitting him isn't a good idea. I used to walk around with a stick and he didn't come near me with the stick. And he doesn't like the hose, so when he used to come after me, I would turn the hose on him.

Good luck with your roo, hopefully this helped a little.

 

[Tigertrea]

I have one that is getting aggressive also. My birds are only about 18weeks old and I just started letting them free range for a bit, some evenings, just before dusk. He had never been aggressive toward me but, my son (9yrs old) was on his swing and the roo started attacking him. All I had to do was step up to him and "stare him down" and he would leave my son be. But, when I wasn't around my poor boy got a pretty good scratch on his leg from the roo jumping at him.

I have 2 roosters. The one attacking is the one my son liked best. He told me...I think that one should be named "stew" mom because if he keeps attacking me that is what he will be. I'm so proud of my son! He has come to understand that the birds are more than pets, they are a source of food for us.

We had always planned on culling one of the roos but, had not decided which one. This incident decided it though. I will NOT keep an aggressive rooster! Since the incident with my son this rooster has thought of challenging me. He actually pecked at my leg yesterday when I went in the coop to check for eggs!

I saw somebody said it is not a good idea to hit them. I certainly did hit him! He got a good swat on the top of the head. He has not challenged me again since then. He doesn't shy away from me but, he keeps a "respectful" distance. Last night I was not feeling well and I wanted to put the chickens up for the night a bit early. I went into the run to shoo them into the coop. "Stew" was not pleased about going in. I could see in his stance he wanted to let me know just how unhappy he was. Instead he hung back until all the girls were in, gave me a squawk then turned and went in. (I then squawked back at him! LOL)

 

[bluegiantsc]

I saw somebody said it is not a good idea to hit them. I certainly did hit him! He got a good swat on the top of the head. He has not challenged me again since then. He doesn't shy away from me but, he keeps a "respectful" distance. Last night I was not feeling well and I wanted to put the chickens up for the night a bit early. I went into the run to shoo them into the coop. "Stew" was not pleased about going in. I could see in his stance he wanted to let me know just how unhappy he was. Instead he hung back until all the girls were in, gave me a squawk then turned and went in. (I then squawked back at him! LOL)

I only said don't hit them because birds have hollow bones and you can do a lot of damage to them if you hit them hard enough. But if you plan on culling him, then I guess it doesn't matter. hahaha. I've hit my rooster before too, so its not like I'm preaching; because I'm not, I've slapped my rooster in the face before. I had nothing else to protect myself with, but I felt bad afterwards because I didn't really want to hurt him, just get a message across. I mean if it came down to it, I would slap the crap out of him again if I had to. lol