Attacking Rooster....H E L P ...... Please

[grizzlys_girl]

We have had this rooster since he was 6weeks old. The last couple of days we have been letting them out of the chicken coop to roam around the yard. Now the rooster is attacking myself and my daughter who is 3. I have added a pic to show you what type of rooster he is. I told my partner that it's probably because he is protecting the six hens in a larger area... outside the coop. Is this going to continue or is there away to put a stop to him attacking without the usual dinner plate option? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

With a rooster it is usually a dominance/pecking order situation. Many times this can be cured by you establishing dominance over him. The best way that we have found is to give him a swift boot when he comes after you. It may take a few times for him to get the message. Dont use a stick or something of that nature because that only establishes dominance by that object. Once he starts respecting you then carry your 3 year old with you and if he comes after you while holding the child then boot him some more until he learns that she is also dominent over him. If that does not work after a few times then its to the dinner plate. Our roosters will try to change the pecking order around her about every 4 months or so. A quick boot returns them to sanity. We have 17 full grown roosters and dont have a problem out of any of them. But yes we have had to send a few of the past ones to the plate.

 

[mxpres]

with a three year old in the family,take no chances,,he is a beutiful bird but dangerious.butcher him or re-home him to someone else

 

[artsyrobin]

check the link in my sig line- it is a dominance thing, so you need to establish yourself as top roo....

 

[Luvmybob]

I love my roo but if he EVER turned on my 1 yo I wouldn't even think twice to chop off his head and eat him---Thankfully he loves me and my 1 yo, he runs up to me and her doing his cute little dance and trying to feed the two of us---not so much my older kids 12 and 9 and my husband BUT they tease him so I just turn my head at that---He tried to mate with me once and it scared me so I smacked him HARD enough to fall back( when he came up at me )and then I chased him screaming NO U DID NOT JUST DO THAT~ to the point of him turning so skinny he looked like a fuzzy stick running around---show him who's boss don't show any fear around him, he will pick up on it...

Good Luck!!
Dana

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:

I agree 101%. There are many many many other beautiful roosters available in the world, many of them with more gentle dispositions & better manners. Even then you'll want to monitor your little one closely whenever she's around the chickens. But there's more potential for injury -- a serious disfiguring one -- with a roo who is already showing aggression.

A nice long soak in simmering broth will make even the meanest roo turn out nice...

 

[Nostalchic]

We used to use the "boot" method when we had roosters in the past, but after reading on this site, I have found that it works BETTER to establish dominance by grabbing the rooster immediately (any way you can, by the tail, the leg, the wing, however you need to do it!) when he makes ANY aggressive move, and tucking him under my arm, and carrying him around for 10 or 15 minutes. When he went after my husband, my husband got to carry him around for 15 minutes. When he went after my farrier, my farrier tucked him under his arm for a little bit... I was preemptive with my little neighbor, had her carry him around BEFORE he got a chance to attack from the rear (which they do! watch out!) There are a number of good links if you search "aggressive rooster" that can help you to understand this. It is natural dominance behavior, and most roosters will display it at some point, some won't ever give up, but many if not most will. It's important to be assertive and very clear about who is boss - they can hurt you!
I want to add that some roosters may be "mean" and some "sweet" but I think that ANY rooster will display what we consider to be behavior problems if there aren't clear indications that you are at the top of the flock pecking order, and mean to stay there, just like almost any dog will develop some problems if there isn't an assertive presence to take the role of leader of the pack. It may be largely our behavior that determines the outcome of this, message being: don't try to be a friend to the rooster, be a boss. You can be a friendly boss, though, right?

 

[acbear93]

We had a BR rooster that totally turned mean, and would actually charge us across the yard, and he ripped a few pairs of jeans while giving him the boot. With small children in our family, ages 4 and 5 at the time...we gave him the ax the moment we could get a hold of him...best tasting soup ever....

Sure is a beautiful photo of him though!!

 

[mulia24]

i must admit he's a handsome roo, but in case he's attacking his master, then, he must be placed inside a cage for himself only forever or served for dinner. just like mine.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Eat him.

Roosters are too easy to come by to tolerate one that might endanger your three year old.

.....Alan.