Ameraucana Rooster question(s)

[cheekallison]

In April of 2012 my family was given a rooster that we were told was a game. The man who gave the rooster to us told us that he was the meanest in his lot. Apparently the rooster's great times how ever many grandpa was a very successful fighting cock, but that is way beside the point. Any death within our coop makes me bawl my eyes out, so the thought of fighting roosters is beyond inhumane to me.

We later found that he isn't actually a game breed, but an Ameraucana-mix.
This is a picture of him from about May of last year.

Anyway...

Is is normal for Ameraucana roosters to be aggressive??? And I don't know what sort of life he had when we got the bird and I know that a rooster is what you make him.

This rooster tries to flog anyone who walks by his lot. On the flips side he is quite the gentleman to the hens that we put in with him (which is a lot coming from a rooster.) Is there any way that I can calm the beast down without loosing an eye or sustaining a puncture wound??? I want to breed him, but I don't want to get attacked.


Thanks,


Allie

 

[donrae]

I'm just wondering why you took a rooster that was "the meanest" in the first place?

At this point, I would say his behavior is pretty well established and he's not going to change easily, if at all. Roosters in their prime often would rather die than be dethroned, so to speak. You can read the multiple threads on dealing with aggressive roosters, but most folks have not been successful with retraining a roo.

Also remember temeperment is inherited, so you'll probably not want to hatch out any of his babies.

 

[Mrs. K]

No, he is not going to get nicer, and yes he will try every opportunity to get you or any other human that come by and may cause serious injury.

This is like keeping a mean dog, it is a danger to the community. He is pretty, but I am not living my life afraid of any rooster. He needs to be culled,

If you cry you eyes out when something dies, think how you would feel if he got a child. Even a child that was not suppose to be there, should not be attacked by a rooster. It is too dangerous.

MrsK

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'm just wondering why you took a rooster that was "the meanest" in the first place?

At this point, I would say his behavior is pretty well established and he's not going to change easily, if at all. Roosters in their prime often would rather die than be dethroned, so to speak. You can read the multiple threads on dealing with aggressive roosters, but most folks have not been successful with retraining a roo.

Also remember temeperment is inherited, so you'll probably not want to hatch out any of his babies.

Absolutely. Why would you want to breed a rooster that is the meanest? I don't believe that it's true that "a rooster is what you make him." Sure, you can make a rooster mean by bad treatment, but do a search for "aggressive rooster" or "rooster attacked me" here on BYC. Read those stories about roosters being pampered, treated like pets, liking to sit on people's laps or shoulders, and then one day it's like a switch flips in their brains and they start attacking the person who loves them.

Temperament is absolutely inherited, so if you breed from this you're perpetuating the problem no matter how kindly you treat his offspring. Find a new rooster. Think of it this way--every day there are hundreds if not thousands of roosters that have good temperaments that are being culled just for being roosters. Why not adopt one of those and save a life? If you put an ad in the Buy-Sell-Trade section here on BYC and look on Craigslist, you'll find tons of ads for free or cheap roosters. Your rooster, unfortunately, is probably only good for freezer camp.

As far as your rooster being a gentleman to the ladies--that's actually the rule rather than the exception. The majority of roosters are decent to the hens. Don't think that his kindness to the ladies is a mitigating factor for his behavior. An EE rooster can cause serious injuries even to adults, and can take out the eye of a child. I have a friend with scars on his back and shoulders from a rooster that attacked him as a child. He had to have stitches.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Sorry, but I agree with the above posters.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Is is normal for Ameraucana roosters to be aggressive???

Yes, eat him. He's not even one I'd advise giving away, he's already shown too much aggression to humans. I hate waste, so kill and eat him is my advice. If you can't bring yourself to eat him, kill him and bury him or toss him out with the trash.

Regardless of your personal attachment to him, think of how painful it will be when you get sued because he attacks and injures someone else, especially if that someone is a child. You could lose everything over this roo.