Beautiful Rooster- but Mean and Agressive

[novice sue]

:does anyone know what to do with an aggressive rooster? i dont want to eat him-cant give him away( afraid anyone who gets him will fight him) He is beautiful but i think dangerous. Ideas- magic cure?
Please help- must do something soon

 

[emvickrey]

I only have one suggestion and you already said you don't want to do it. I had a Silver laced Wydonette roo that was just beautiful but he turned mean. He would go after my grandson everytime he saw him. So I gave him permission to do what he had to. He got out his BB gun and shot him right thru the eye and killed him. We had him for supper.

I hated loosing such a beautiful bird but I will not have any animal that we feed and take care of attacking any of us. Well, for that matter any animal going after us.

I have been working with a young roo that has a tendancy to try to be mean. I catch him and carry him around by his legs with him upside down for a little while around the coop. It always puts him in his place. I just hope it continues to work. He is still young yet.

I do the same thing with any other of my chickens that act mean. Its that or Jail. They have to live in a cage just big enough to hold a perch and food and water for a few days. And the cage is located inside the coop. I have an EE that was trying to commit henocide on the younger pulets in the coop and in jail she went for 3 days. She had to lay her eggs in there too. She is a new bird now.

I don't know if my tactics will work on one that is already aggressive but you can give it a try. Catching him may be a huge problem.
I don't want to have to kill anymore if It can be helped

 

[Elite Silkies]

I learned this from another BYC member. Get you squirt bottle. It works for my Rooster.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
I've used the water hose to keep a hen from bothering a pullet in the yard. A squirt bottle is a good idea.

 

[Kev]

Do something every time he attacks, pick him up, sqirt, turn on water hose, use a rake to chase him around to show who's boss. There are NO magic cures. Especially if your rooster is genetically aggressive enough not to be deterred permanently.

If that does not work.. either he attacks again or just seems to be 'good' for a while but then suddenly attacks someone.. well that is the thing about having livestock- the necessity of culling.

Give him to someone who will eat him, if you really cannot do the deed yourself. There are plenty of people who look for unwanted roosters/chickens simply to eat. This might be sad to you, but this will avoid the fighting concerns plus remove him from the flock and stop him from being mean to anyone.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

This site http://shilala.homestead.com/roosters.html has excellent information for life with a roo or 10 roos.

 

[novice sue]

thank you EmVickory, Cammy and Kev.
of course you are right about safety. will try water sprayer and jail, then do the right thing if those ideas dont work . quickly. thank you.

and thank you to all the people on this most helpful site.

 

[tiki244]

Those type are usually the best breeders too. Whenever he attacks you, spin him around till he gets dizzy and he probably wont attack again for another week. He shuld eventually get the idea. Dont let him mate any girls when you are around either.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I feel this is always important. I don't even let the less dominant ones mate next to me.

 

[mlm1965]

If you can catch and hold him for a while is what I would try first. I have a friend of mine who does that with his every so often when he acts like he is going to attack. But he has to do it every so often. It is just in their nature to protect the flock, but you have to show them that you are the boss!