All of a sudden- Aggressive Rooster

[Mrs. K]

Most of us, keep the first rotten rooster way too long, just wishing he'd be nice. We make excuses for his behavior, the dog, the color of shoes, the... whatever.

Truthfully, you have an aggressive rooster. He will 98% of the time get much worse. Inexperienced people vastly underestimate the violence of a rooster. People can get seriously injured.

He has given you your warning, training is mostly ineffective or effective for a very small amount of time or for one or two people. Does your child have friends over? This could be a real liability.

Get over the 50/50, and remove this rooster from your set up. This, as AArt says, 'where the romance of keeping chickens meets reality.' In reality, he is an entire male animal, and few can be trusted. Once they have been aggressive, there is a stronger chance they will always be aggressive. They tend to attack children first, then women and then men.

Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

x2!!! Move this guy on, preferably to someone's freezer. How can you be sure that no child will get close to him? Gates get left open, things happen, and he can do serious damage; he's a real liability, in the legal sense.
We had a horrible first rooster, and kept him too long, and then tried to reform a few aggressive cockerels, and it's just not worth it!
And spurs are only part of the issue, at this point he hardly has any anyway.
Polite roosters are great, not the other kind.
Next spring raise a few cockerels, and see if one turns out for you. Or get a nice rooster from a good flock (way more dangerous from a biosecurity standpoint) and enjoy having an actual asset for your more mature hens.
Mary

 

[BeyondBlessed]

I appreciate eveveryone help so much! After much prayer and thought- we have decided to rehome Rooster. The unpredictable nature of him has made it to where even if he was good for a year.. we never know when he would turn his back on the kids again. The chickens were purchased with the mindset of the kids being involved. With Rooster in there.. we wouldn't ever be able to have the kids in there.

Thank you all for your feedback and knowledge.

 

[Mrs. K]

Trust me, he would not be good for a year... he probably is not going to be good for a week. Set a time limit on the rehoming idea. Often times it is quite hard to do. Offer him free and do not ask what people are going to do with him, not your problem.
If you cannot re-home him, do dispatch him. Come here for help. To be honest it is a good lesson for your children too: "No one deserves to be abused."

If you can't eat him, (and many cannot) then just bury him. Plant a rosebush.

Mrs K

 

[BeyondBlessed]

Update: Today- "Rooster" was picked up by a family with 100 hens and no other Roosters. Theirs recently passed away and they needed another. They don't have kids, so it worked out wonderfully.

 

[trudyg]

Mrs K, I agree with you. We always told the grandkids that mean roosters are sent to 'freezer camp'. They didn't understand what we meant until one pecked the 3 year old's toe (painted purple, of course, so our fault, really). But, she cried, I picked him up and put him in the cage. Several days later, here she comes afraid to meet him and I said, oh, no, he's in the freezer. Well, her eyes lit up & she finally understood. That Sunday, he was dinner and she ate more than usual, every bite was 'he was bad'.

 

[cassandrapettersson]

If you want your children to be able to safely tend to the chickens by themselves, then honestly, best not to have a cockerel/rooster at all. Yes, there are some good ones that are perfectly safe with kids, but many of them are unpredictable and can seriously injure a child. IMO it's not worth the risk.

How are they able to 'seriously injure' a child?
I understood if you let a baby just sit inside a chicken coop with a rooster, but like 6+ years old.. for example?

Idk I grew up being fought by multiple 'mean' roosters

 

[SCMommaHen]

How are they able to 'seriously injure' a child?
I understood if you let a baby just sit inside a chicken coop with a rooster, but like 6+ years old.. for example?

Idk I grew up being fought by multiple 'mean' roosters

My soon to be on the grill roo aims for the head. From behind he gets the legs. But from the side he goes for the head and has jumped high enough to scratch my shoulders and I'm 5.11. I've removed his spurs but his claws still draw blood. A child could lose an eye.

 

[cassandrapettersson]

My soon to be on the grill roo aims for the head. From behind he gets the legs. But from the side he goes for the head and has jumped high enough to scratch my shoulders and I'm 5.11. I've removed his spurs but his claws still draw blood. A child could lose an eye.

I did not know roosters were cappable of that! That's terrifying, I no longer want roosters... I'll just make my chill one immortal

 

[Folly's place]

Our first little bantam rooster, also a total jerk, would leap up to adult eyeball level at every opportunity! Also, puncture wounds are not good anywhere. We only keep polite roosters,we learned.
Mary