attacking rooster

[maderuyck]

I bought six Welsummer chicks last summer and raised them up proper. We now have five hens and one mean rooster. When he first attacked me I had no idea what to do. I was so surprised I took out my phone and started filming. I thought this was a novelty and something that was worthy of youtube. Fast forward two weeks and I am seriously contemplating how to get rid of him. From what I've read, a rooster can't be rehabilitated. But he's good to his hens so I've tried a couple approaches including the "chicken whisperer" route where you hold him down until he submits. Nothing has worked. He is constantly trying to sneak up on me and launch his three pronged attack which involves both feet and his beak. Oh, and he crows constantly. We free range the chickens several hours a day and the rooster does such a good job of taking care of his ladies. He is good to them in every way. Herein lies my dilemma. We also have a dog who the rooster ignores and the dog returns the favor. I am worried that the rooster might take a run at our dog and peck his eyes. Any suggestions????? Do roosters attack dogs?

 

[Miss Lydia]

our one mean rooster never attacked our dogs, but we don't let them stay around for long either, we have 2 roosters now and both are very well behaved never have offered to attack us. It would be freezer camp for him if he lived here.

 

[Autumnchicken]

Stew pot. Thats what I did!

 

[ModestMouse]

I haven't had too much luck raising a friendly full size rooster. I had a nice bantam rooster once, and I think my next rooster might be another small bantam breed.

Anyhow, I've been warned by a couple of people that rooster scratches can cause really, really nasty infections. If you or the hound get scratched, keep an eye out for infection.

 

[Saltysteele]

my dad bought 3 barred rock hens, 2 RIR hens and 2 barred rock roosters several weeks ago. i believe they're a year or so old.

same thing as here, the dominant male is AWESOME to his hens. he attacked my dad a couple times until my dad put him in his place (can't say here, as it would probably not be very approved of). since then (a week ago) he has been good as gold, makes a wide patch around my dad, doesn't bother him. the 2nd rooster never bothers him.


today, i went in to gather the eggs for him, as he and my mother were away for the day and he doesn't like to leave the eggs in there longer than he has to (one of the BR's is very broody, and he's trying to break her of that).

my daughter likes to collect the eggs; she's 6, so not a toddler, but still don't want to send her in alone with these roosters. dang good think i didn't! that dude charged me, swatting my legs with his wings and scratching with his legs. i was wearing an old set of scrub pants, and due to the thin material, it was not a pleasant experience. he got a swift boot. as we went more toward the eggs, the broody hen was sitting on a couple and started making some noise. he started coming at me again, gesturing and bounding. i took my hat off and swatted his head with it, he kind of stood back. however, the whole time, the second rooster was also gesturing at me (he never bothers my dad).

my dad has been planning on taking care of the dominant rooster, but i told him if he does, the second rooster will just fill in the vacancy.

are all barred rocks like this? i just acquired some light sussex coronation cross several days ago, and that rooster doesn't even think about challenging me. when i enter the pen, he's off hiding under the coop. he is protective of his hens, too, though. i'm hoping it's not just because it's a new pen/environment. are sussex easy to get along with?

edited to add: we've always had chickens, except for the last 8 years or so. we have never kept roosters, though, these are the first. i've got some chicks that i'd like to keep roosters from (americauna, black australorp and cochins), so i'm hoping this is not a general problem with roosters

 

[johny]

Kill him, tomorrow morning.
Let him sit in the refrigerator over night and you can have a nice roast chicken for easter Sunday.

 

[MyThreesome]

Your situation sounds tough. It would be hard to "off" one of your hand-raised birds. One of my three hens is a Welsummer, and according to the breeder I bought her from, the Welsummer roosters are especially nasty. He's had to kill several or risk having serious beak wounds to his calves (he received one of these and that was the end of that roo). Maybe he'll just have to give up breeding Welsummers! I have heard of very gentle (but still noisy) roosters of other breeds, however. Sorry about your dilemma!!

 

[Komaki]

Dumplins!

 

[EELover]

It is very easy to find a rooster that is good to his hens and good to you. Not all BR's are mean. I bought a bunch of BR's straight run and ended up with 8 hens and 9 roosters. I killed off the mean ones and kept the good one. I just show them that you are the head rooster. They get a swift kick if they try to charge me and I also crow and flap my "wings" at them when I get mad. Roosters are like that by nature and you have to show them who is boss. If you can't tame him, get rid of him.

 

[cafarmgirl]

So if I read your post correctly he's not yet a year old right? I'm assuming you raised him along with the others last summer.

In that case he is really just coming into maturity and he is trying to show his dominance. My rooster did the same thing to me. He was a wonderful, friendly bird...until he matured and started acting like, well, a rooster! Like your's he is really good with his hens though so I was hesitant to get rid of him.

We have long since come to an understanding and he is now respectful of my space. I still don't trust him and I don't turn my back on him but he is decent with me. I did not use any inhumane treatment to accomplish this either. I simply carried a barn rake with me and when he acted like he wanted to come at me I ran him off, and kept running him. Up and down the pasture and all around until he was running scared. I never hit him with the rake, just used it to push him the direction I wanted. And then I stood there and kept him separated from MY hens. Not HIS hens, MINE. He did not rejoin them until I allowed him to.

A few rounds of this, along with a tune up once in a while, and he is quite decent. If he is in the barn area when I go out I make him move away. Every time I'm around I make him move. It just reminds him who is boss.

It really comes down to whether or not you want to keep him and if you want to spend a little time on him. If he's good with the hens then it's probably worth a try. If it doesn't work or he keeps getting worse in spite of it well then I'd say off with his head.