Biting roosters

[terence]

Hi all,

Recently, my roosters seem to have gone completely nuts, and are inexplicably more aggressive.

I have 2 Cornish Rocks (1 rooster, 1 hen), 6 Rhode Island Reds (1 rooster, 5 hens), and 3 baby Silkies (1 rooster, 2 hens?).

The RIRs and the Silkies share an 8 x 16 enclosure in the yard, and the little Silkie rooster runs the show. Even though he's tiny, he pushes the others around.

The Cornish Rocks have free run of the rest of the yard, which they share with some Muscovy ducks.

Lately, both the RIR rooster and the Cornish Rock rooster have shown a tendency towards biting. I was setting down a waterer for the Cornish Rock the other day, and he bit my hand.

Yesterday, I was holding the RIR rooster, and he bit my brother-in-law for no reason (that I could discern).

What gives? Although the Cornish Rock has always been skittish and not really cuddly, the RIR rooster used to be super-tame and allow me to sit with him in my lap. Now he squawks when I pick him up and seems awfully unsettled.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Terence

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

How old are they? Mine were great until they hit adolescence. Then they turned into terrors. Grrrr! They are just sticking around until the latest set of babies grows into functioning roosters. These two are a pain in the tushie!

Rooster Red has a great page on rooster aggression. Do a search (see button on the blue bar above) and check it out. It is very helpful.

Good luck!

 

[Lollipop]

If these 2 guys are mature, I would say it has to do with mating urges.(spring time, you know). Doesn`t mean they are trying to dominate you, just that their juices are flowing. I wouldn`t call them aggressive unless they hit your leg. Over the years, I`ve noticed this seasonal thing with roosters.

Question about the pair of cornishxrocks. Are you keeping them for breeding purposes? If so, you would be better off eating he rooster and breeding the hen to the RIR rooster. Hybrids, never reproduce like kind. ........Pop

 

[terence]

Hi,

I don't actually know how old the Cornish Rocks are; we were given them with the ducks and they already looked as they do in my little photo to the left.

My guess is that they're due for slaughtering if that's what we're going to do with them. (Mostly, the hesitation is that I don't have experience with this and don't want to mess it up, having taken his life for nothing.)

Certainly, in the case of the Cornish Rock rooster, he's been more aggressive generally, towards the hen and even towards the ducks. (He bites their necks if he believe they're after "his" food, etc.)

The RIRs are maybe 12-16 weeks, so not quite old enough for eggs, but possibly old enough to want to mate? And, he's probably stressed a bit by the little Silkie taking out some of his neck feathers.

Thanks,

Terence

 

[chickenpearl]

I would give it some time, but if you can't walk in or out of their area without getting attacked, it's time for them to go. I had a Polish crested rooster that just kept getting more aggressive--I still have a scar from where it attacked my leg (and this was years ago). He was probably about 1.5 years old by that point. After that, I sold it to someone who probably had him for dinner...

That being said, I've had 6 other roosters at other times and none of them ever became that bad.