children and roosters

[Buster]

Quote:
My salmon faverolle rooster is very gentle. I have a two year old and a four year old and they follow him around all the time. He's never done anything threatening at all to them, yet he will stare down cats if they come in the coop. He also only seems to crow a lot when there are strangers around.
I just got an 11 month speckled sussex rooster today. It is too early to make a recommendation for him but he seems nice so far. I refuse to have roosters around that will hurt my boys.

 

[farm_mom]

We had a buff orpington rooster who free ranged with our 2 and 4 year olds without a single incident. He was a wonderful rooster. A great protector of his harem, but never tried to attack any of us. My son would even try to chase them w/o any incident. Good luck in finding another rooster.

 

[CUDA]

Each rooster is different in my opinion. You can't judge them by breed, only by the individual birds themselves. Good luck, and trim those spurs just to be safe!

 

[tazzy]

I would definitely remove an aggressive roo from your home since you have small children. I am not a chicken expert (yet!) but my mom and dad grew up on farms and my dad still has a scar under his eye where a rooster spurred him when he was four years old. and my mom tells the story where she once had a big rooster chasing her and she had to climb a tree to keep it from attacking her. (in the old-fashioned method of handling aggressive, roos, my grandmother made chicken and dumplings to fix that problem!)

 

[Terik]

Hi all. My plymouth rock rooster chased after my 9 year old grand daughter.. Jumped up to try to get her arm . then i smacked him and said NO. Then he wanted to fight me... What is je thinking
I thought her jacked same color as them .. Confused

 

[bobbi-j]

I decided to send him down the road today after he got me, too. However, does anyone have suggestions for a more docile breed? I have only heard from one person that dark brahma are better.
wendy

I'm glad you are keeping your childrens' best interest in mind. Some breeds can have more tendencies toward gentle roosters, but each bird is an individual, and some don't get the memo that they should be nice. I would not keep an aggressive rooster with small children around. Not even with spurs removed. Why would you want your kids to be scared of going out in the yard? Or possibly ruin the joy of chicken keeping for them forever? Do you want to breed and raise your own chicks? That's really the only reason you NEED a rooster. If you want an alarm system, a dominant hen will often fill that role if a rooster isn't present. If you really want a rooster, just keep trying. Look for adult roosters being sold or given away, instead of getting a cockerel that will be a hormonal teenager. If you get one that doesn't work, get rid of it and try again. And again, and again until you find one. But don't put your kids at risk.

 

[Spartan22]

Hi all. My plymouth rock rooster chased after my 9 year old grand daughter.. Jumped up to try to get her arm . then i smacked him and said NO. Then he wanted to fight me... What is je thinking
I thought her jacked same color as them .. Confused

Hi! I think you’ve posted on a very old thread.
Roosters will protect their flock and will fight anything that he perceives a threat to her hens including you and will even die for them. Roosters and children are normally not a good mix either since kids can get harm pretty bad by over zealous protector. I got an 11 month old rooster that I hatched and raised w/ 10 hens since day one and he attacked me few times in the last months that I’ve fed them and gathered eggs even when I’ve scared him pretty bad that I thought I killed him when I kicked him pretty hard when he attacked me when my back was turned away. So I have some kind of love/hate relationship with him since he’s a good rooster doing his job yet my kids and my wife can’t get close to his area.

 

[bobbi-j]

Hi! I think you’ve posted on a very old thread.
]

Thanks for that out, Spartan22. I usually check, but forgot this time.

@Terik -
It's a good idea to start a new thread when asking a question. People are more likely to check out a new thread than look at an old one.
Sounds to me like you need to keep the rooster locked up when your granddaughter is present, or find him a new home. You don't want him to hurt her and ruin her experience with chickens. Not to mention the possibility of infection if she gets a puncture wound from those spurs. (Imagine if she were wearing a t-shirt instead of a jacket.) If you want to keep him, and your granddaughter is wanting to be around the chickens, you may want to have her try the method described in this link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-aggressive-bird.1151032/page-5#post-19320385 (post 47)