Big Bad Mareks

[2ndTink]

I have an Amish cross hen named Minnie Mouser...yeah, she loves to hunt mice and is better at it than our cats. I've had her in with the EF roosters twice and each time she has given me an egg that has gone into the incubator.

Minnie is a gold colored hen with some blue and white feathers interspersed with the primary gold color and each time her chick has hatched it has been a cockerel. Here's the funny thing. Both of her sons are white with speckled black breast feathers like a Fayoumi rooster, primary white bodies with light gold colored saddle feathers. Quite striking birds and they have inherited their mom's sweet disposition. The weird thing is that they both have/had pale yellow/white feet and legs like a Fayoumi are adorned with multicolored spots on their legs and feet. Neither hen or rooster have those spotted legs so....I lost the youngest one to a fox this past spring. RIP Scooter. He was just as sweet as his big brother and liked to drive our Border Collie hound mix dog crazy by standing over him and pulling out hairs on his tail and back. I just wish they had inherited their mom's verminating skills.

Yeah, I'm wondering too. I only bring in vaccinated birds due to the Marek's threat. So I won't breed the WLH girls to one of the Fayoumi boys until the spring of 25. Anticipation bites but if Pepper Corn and Scooter are any indication, the Fayoumi genes should predominate.

Minnie Mouser, I love it! I've had a few eat mice or rats but unfortunately no avid vermin eaters, that would be handy though. We have plenty to go around

Chicken genetics are a mystery to me, I only can wrap my head around the most basic color combinations. Your EF crosses sound really pretty and full of character. My EE rooster is mean but since we've kept him around for 3 years I hope to get some EE chicks from him this spring in exchange for tolerating his mean butt this long.

 

[microchick]

I've been lucky. My original EF rooster King Tut is just a timid sweetheart. I have seen him fight with another rooster a couple of times but if it gets too heated he gives up and retreats. His attitude is like, if you want the hens that bad, great, they're yours! I ain't gettin killed over them.

His two surviving sons, Moe and Curly are the same way. They just won't fight with the other roosters which means when I want pure bred EF birds I have to sequester them in their own pen to get fertilized eggs.

I've seen my bantam roosters go after the EF roosters and the EF roosters will retreat every time. Talk about death by a hundred pecks. Those little jerks will swarm a big rooster if they think he is moving in on the hens.

 

[2ndTink]

I've been lucky. My original EF rooster King Tut is just a timid sweetheart. I have seen him fight with another rooster a couple of times but if it gets too heated he gives up and retreats. His attitude is like, if you want the hens that bad, great, they're yours! I ain't gettin killed over them.

His two surviving sons, Moe and Curly are the same way. They just won't fight with the other roosters which means when I want pure bred EF birds I have to sequester them in their own pen to get fertilized eggs.

I've seen my bantam roosters go after the EF roosters and the EF roosters will retreat every time. Talk about death by a hundred pecks. Those little jerks will swarm a big rooster if they think he is moving in on the hens.

I can picture the bantams, oh my! fiesty little guys. That's interesting on your EF roosters and how mellow they are. I have two 5 mo old silkie cockerels who are starting to slam into my legs. I don't know if they will turn aggressive, but they rooster dance in a semi circle getting close to me then wham, right into my feet. It's hard to walk in the coop, I have a swarm of boys trying to impress me. I have too many boys but I'm now glad that no one wanted to buy them as I would have felt horrible if they carried Mareks to another flock. I really hope they all beat Mareks, they each have their own little character.

Here is my biggest camera hog and ham JetPack.

 

[microchick]

Pretty pretty boys! But don't take that crap off of them. They are challenging you like they would another rooster. I've watched mine do that to one another all the time and that's fine but do it to me and it sux being you buddy.

Next time one of them dances at you, grab him up fast, and dangle him by his heels for a few minutes until he settles down, then dangle him for a few minutes more. Then I tuck them under my arm arm make them experience the 'carry of shame' while I work around the coop. When they act contrite enough, I put them back down but if they repeat their behavior so do I.

I have one big rooster in the bachelor pen that I am at war with all the time. He's a gorgeous bird which is his one saving grace but he will go at me every time I have to pick him up.....which isn't often. Last spring I was carrying him by his heels (because if I actually carried him he would bite me wherever he could grab hold) up to the house to trim his spurs and the little (fill in the blank) reached over and grabbed the skin of my thigh and clamped down. Luckily I was wearing shorts because he clamped down hard and held on. I was yelling and whacking him up alongside the head and he was just biting all the harder and twisting. I didn't want to drop him as I was afraid he would cut my skin. My husband came running from the house, assessed the situation and wasted no time in giving him a good hard smack that made him realize that the heavy hitter had come up to the plate and he let go. I bore a bruise on my leg for about a week and a half.

Another time Strutter (the biter's name) was beating up on a smaller rooster in the bachelor pen. I'd seen this behavior several times and got sick of it. At the time I was holding an empty gallon milk jug that I was using to fill water holders and I yelled at him and heaved the jug at him. I'm a pretty good aim and the jug bounced off Strutter who immediately screamed and ran like, ah crap, she's going to kill me. I must have chased that bird around the run and coop for ten minutes seeing how often I could bounce that jug off him with him screaming for his life and running like the devil himself was on his tailfeathers. From that point on the attacks on the smaller roosters eased off and Strutter learned to stay out of throwing range. For about a month every time he saw me enter the run he would scream bloody murder and run for his life. He's about 5 years old now and has settled down a lot. He will eat out of my hand now without drawing blood and we have an uneasy truce between us.

The point is. Don't take that crap from a rooster because it will escalate. There is acceptable rooster behavior and unacceptable. Yours are showing unacceptable and you need to show them that you are the biggest baddest rooster around and they need to give you the respect you deserve.

 

[TwoCrows]

Pretty pretty boys! But don't take that crap off of them. They are challenging you like they would another rooster. I've watched mine do that to one another all the time and that's fine but do it to me and it sux being you buddy.

Next time one of them dances at you, grab him up fast, and dangle him by his heels for a few minutes until he settles down, then dangle him for a few minutes more. Then I tuck them under my arm arm make them experience the 'carry of shame' while I work around the coop. When they act contrite enough, I put them back down but if they repeat their behavior so do I.

I have one big rooster in the bachelor pen that I am at war with all the time. He's a gorgeous bird which is his one saving grace but he will go at me every time I have to pick him up.....which isn't often. Last spring I was carrying him by his heels (because if I actually carried him he would bite me wherever he could grab hold) up to the house to trim his spurs and the little (fill in the blank) reached over and grabbed the skin of my thigh and clamped down. Luckily I was wearing shorts because he clamped down hard and held on. I was yelling and whacking him up alongside the head and he was just biting all the harder and twisting. I didn't want to drop him as I was afraid he would cut my skin. My husband came running from the house, assessed the situation and wasted no time in giving him a good hard smack that made him realize that the heavy hitter had come up to the plate and he let go. I bore a bruise on my leg for about a week and a half.

Another time Strutter (the biter's name) was beating up on a smaller rooster in the bachelor pen. I'd seen this behavior several times and got sick of it. At the time I was holding an empty gallon milk jug that I was using to fill water holders and I yelled at him and heaved the jug at him. I'm a pretty good aim and the jug bounced off Strutter who immediately screamed and ran like, ah crap, she's going to kill me. I must have chased that bird around the run and coop for ten minutes seeing how often I could bounce that jug off him with him screaming for his life and running like the devil himself was on his tailfeathers. From that point on the attacks on the smaller roosters eased off and Strutter learned to stay out of throwing range. For about a month every time he saw me enter the run he would scream bloody murder and run for his life. He's about 5 years old now and has settled down a lot. He will eat out of my hand now without drawing blood and we have an uneasy truce between us.

The point is. Don't take that crap from a rooster because it will escalate. There is acceptable rooster behavior and unacceptable. Yours are showing unacceptable and you need to show them that you are the biggest baddest rooster around and they need to give you the respect you deserve.

I totally agree on the unacceptable rooster behavior, it's imperative to keep ourselves safe around our boys and earn their respect through special training techniques. Be careful holding a bird upside down however, if they have liquid in their crops they can easily aspirate on this liquid if it comes up, they don't know to hold their breath.

 

[2ndTink]

Pretty pretty boys! But don't take that crap off of them. They are challenging you like they would another rooster. I've watched mine do that to one another all the time and that's fine but do it to me and it sux being you buddy.

Next time one of them dances at you, grab him up fast, and dangle him by his heels for a few minutes until he settles down, then dangle him for a few minutes more. Then I tuck them under my arm arm make them experience the 'carry of shame' while I work around the coop. When they act contrite enough, I put them back down but if they repeat their behavior so do I.

I have one big rooster in the bachelor pen that I am at war with all the time. He's a gorgeous bird which is his one saving grace but he will go at me every time I have to pick him up.....which isn't often. Last spring I was carrying him by his heels (because if I actually carried him he would bite me wherever he could grab hold) up to the house to trim his spurs and the little (fill in the blank) reached over and grabbed the skin of my thigh and clamped down. Luckily I was wearing shorts because he clamped down hard and held on. I was yelling and whacking him up alongside the head and he was just biting all the harder and twisting. I didn't want to drop him as I was afraid he would cut my skin. My husband came running from the house, assessed the situation and wasted no time in giving him a good hard smack that made him realize that the heavy hitter had come up to the plate and he let go. I bore a bruise on my leg for about a week and a half.

Another time Strutter (the biter's name) was beating up on a smaller rooster in the bachelor pen. I'd seen this behavior several times and got sick of it. At the time I was holding an empty gallon milk jug that I was using to fill water holders and I yelled at him and heaved the jug at him. I'm a pretty good aim and the jug bounced off Strutter who immediately screamed and ran like, ah crap, she's going to kill me. I must have chased that bird around the run and coop for ten minutes seeing how often I could bounce that jug off him with him screaming for his life and running like the devil himself was on his tailfeathers. From that point on the attacks on the smaller roosters eased off and Strutter learned to stay out of throwing range. For about a month every time he saw me enter the run he would scream bloody murder and run for his life. He's about 5 years old now and has settled down a lot. He will eat out of my hand now without drawing blood and we have an uneasy truce between us.

The point is. Don't take that crap from a rooster because it will escalate. There is acceptable rooster behavior and unacceptable. Yours are showing unacceptable and you need to show them that you are the biggest baddest rooster around and they need to give you the respect you deserve.

I had been scooping them up and holding them when they do that but not upside down. I've read that silkies can injure their legs easily, so this morning I scooped the boys up and just held them on their back in my hand, one hand under their back and one hand on their chest, they didn't protest much, but once I set them down they did keep their distance. Maybe this will work on the fluffs.

The two that dance at me got it, then one was feeling his oats and dancing at the other birds and running into them so he got picked up too.

My 3 yr old EE roo is a flogger, he's a nasty bugger, I can't safely get close enough to pick him up. He's been on the brink of chicken gumbo many times, but the hubby loves him so he's still here. I might get some chicks from him and part ways this summer though... I've carried shovels and frying plans to parry off his attacks, a good soaking with the hose is effective but I don't do that if it isn't hot out.

I've thrown stuff at him, but I'm a terrible aim so it's not very effective at rooster control Fiz Bang has a wicked forceful kick, he has left bruises on me several times and I heal slowly so it will take 4 to 6 weeks for the bruise to go away.

 

[2ndTink]

I totally agree on the unacceptable rooster behavior, it's imperative to keep ourselves safe around our boys and earn their respect through special training techniques. Be careful holding a bird upside down however, if they have liquid in their crops they can easily aspirate on this liquid if it comes up, they don't know to hold their breath.

I used to work with horses, I learned a lot from a guy who studied under Ray Hunt and Buck Branaman, I wonder if I could roundpen a rooster? maybe bust out the lariat and do some foot work?

 

[TwoCrows]

I used to work with horses, I learned a lot from a guy who studied under Ray Hunt and Buck Branaman, I wonder if I could roundpen a rooster? maybe bust out the lariat and do some foot work?

It's a good thing horses don't really know they can kill you. I took on a wild horse of approximately 4 years old many decades ago from one of these wild horse round ups. What a wonderful experience, this Stallion was a looney bin but oddly enough not all that difficult to tame. He was my love up until his death at 30 years old.

I wrote an article on taming these bad boys as did @Shadrach you might glean some techniques from these articles...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/dealing-with-and-taming-aggressive-roosters.74600/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[microchick]

Good point, @TwoCrows and thanks for pointing that out. Luckily I've never had that happen with Strutter.. and unfortunately that is 'usually' the safest way to carry that bird because otherwise you are going to get bit and sometimes cut by him if you carry him in your arms.

But the laying on the back works well with the bantam boys. They seldom challenge me though.

@2ndTink, take care that he doesn't catch you with a spur. I've had that happen and it takes them forever to heal not to mention the pain and the threat of infection.

 

[2ndTink]

It's a good thing horses don't really know they can kill you. I took on a wild horse of approximately 4 years old many decades ago from one of these wild horse round ups. What a wonderful experience, this Stallion was a looney bin but oddly enough not all that difficult to tame. He was my love up until his death at 30 years old.

I wrote an article on taming these bad boys as did @Shadrach you might glean some techniques from these articles...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/dealing-with-and-taming-aggressive-roosters.74600/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

I will read these after work!

Mustangs are sure special ❤ I've been around a few but never had one. I've had a few untouched yearlings and 2 year olds, and honestly, once they're ok with you they seem to be a lot easier to work with than the spoiled brats who think humans are another friendly horse.