Cockerel behaviour towards child

[Chicalina]

I just thought I should reiterate, this is not an "aggressive roo" or a "bad'un" if such things even exist. It is an animal which was behaving perfectly normally for a cockerel. He is also a pet, so there will be no pot. And there is no reason to rehome him. He was protecting his flock not being aggressive.

That said, I don't leave my son alone with our family dog, because it is an animal and any animal can be unpredictable, so i am looking to improve the situation for his safety and the harmony of our home. Hence seeking advice here.

I shall be researching humane ways to trim his spurs as a first step. I've never done it before, so wish me luck! I just did a scaly leg mite treatment on him today, and he was so good.

 

[aart]

I shall be researching humane ways to trim his spurs as a first step.

You can just nip off the very tippy point then file with a nail file.
Do the same to his toenails too, if necessary.

 

[K0k0shka]

Cockerel has never, and would never attack me.

You don't know this for sure. Just because he hasn't in the past, doesn't guarantee he won't in the future. All you need is to step on him once by accident, and he can put you on his murder list just like that.

It's the child's behavior that needs to be changed here....

OP says the second incident was when the child was simply walking past the hens. That's not bad behavior on the part of the child. If simply existing in close proximity of the hens is bad behavior in this situation, then either the child should never be allowed anywhere near the hens (with a free range situation, and kid having grown up with chickens, this will be both impractical and very sad for the kid), or the rooster needs to either be confined or gotten rid of.

I have a 6-year-old, too. I also remember being a 6-year-old trying to collect eggs and being attacked by the rooster, developing a lifelong fear of roosters. If I was in your shoes, I would not keep a rooster at all. They're just too unpredictable, even the "good ones", because anything can set them off and change their minds. Unfortunately, I think you'll need to choose - either your kid can interact with the chickens, or you can keep a rooster, but not both.

 

[Sonya9]

If I'm honest—though I hate to cause hurt feelings—it goes way against my grain—I would butcher the rooster and if necessary, get another one. They're not hard to find. Or if it was a super-special show-boy, I would confine it with a few lady birds I wanted to breed.

Huh? The rooster only tried to scare the boy away from his terrified hens which is what roosters are SUPPOSED TO DO!

If the child changes their behavior this will likely work out fine and is a very good learning experience. Simply killing the rooster and getting another one (possibly a far more aggressive one) doesn't solve anything as it will likely happen all over again until the little man learns to handle himself around a flock.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The rooster may have been protecting the hens the first time around when kid was chasing them but OP said the rooster also attacked when kid was just walking by. IMO that is aggression and will likely get worse unless someone does something about it. Hopefully just working with the rooster will be enough. And hopefully he doesn’t decide to move onto anyone else.

 

[Chicalina]

Well, I have an update. Cockerel lifted up his feet to me today, when one of the skittish hens squawked next to me as I was giving them mealworms. I quickly pinned him down on the ground for a minute and told him off - this was an instinctive reaction on my part. I also had a week old chick in my other hand, so couldn't do any more. Then a few minutes after I had released him, and had time to think about it, I grabbed him and picked him up. He squawked and protested at being grabbed. I walked round with him in my arms for a good half hour. Talked to him and stroked him, as did my son. He was calm as anything and even dozed off for a bit. Then when I put him down, he was Mr Chilled.

I shall be keeping a close eye on him from now on, and perhaps doing the grabbing and carrying thing every other day for a while. He cannot be allowed to challenge my authority and get away with it. I shall involve my son in this too, so the cockerel is in no doubt where we are in the hierarchy. A couple of my hens are a bit nervous (and pecky with lower ranking hens) and he needs to chill out and not be on high alert to their antics. I can see that he gets wound up when there is a kerfuffle.

I may have to pen them up if this doesn't work, but that would be a bit sad for them because they love the space I have (and keep the grass down).

It is weird because in 2 years, he has never done this. I wonder if the brooding of eggs and chicks going on recently has affected his behaviour, because there is definitely some changes going on in the pecking order. Dominant hens on eggs are suddenly being picked on when they are let out for food/drink/exercise each day. Then they have to reintegrate back into the flock. Its all upside down right now.

I appreciate all of the advice I have had here, thank you.

 

[SueT]

in 2 years, he has never done this

If he's 2 yrs old, he's a rooster, not a cockerel, (which would be under 1 year.)
Sounds like you are taking positive steps.

 

[centrarchid]

Remove rooster's spurs, put heavy cloths on boy, school boy on how to behave around chickens, then have boy spend time around chickens with supervision.

I spend a lot of time outside with my kids. They interact with chickens, dogs and wildlife because no similar aged humans around. There are times when someone pushed boundaries, usually my kids. My aggression issues involve broody hens with chicks where the hen attacks if chicks messed with. More than once I had to work on getting parties to quit messing with each other.

 

[aart]

OP says the second incident was when the child was simply walking past the hens. That's not bad behavior on the part of the child.

Yep, and child was probably afraid from first attack, which 'spurred'(haha) the bird to keep the 'weird' human away.
Plus I meant overall the humans demeanor's must always be in check and aware of their own present and past behaviors and how they affect the animals.
Hard(if not impossible) for most kids, and many adults, to understand and apply.

 

[Sonya9]

It is weird because in 2 years, he has never done this. I wonder if the brooding of eggs and chicks going on recently has affected his behaviour, because there is definitely some changes going on in the pecking order. Dominant hens on eggs are suddenly being picked on when they are let out for food/drink/exercise each day. Then they have to reintegrate back into the flock. Its all upside down right now.

I was just talking about this very thing on another site, another poster and I both had broody hens with chicks at the same time and we both noticed more aggression among other birds in the flock.

It wasn't directed at the chicks but some older birds were getting more aggressive with other adult hens and acting out of character. Of course when we actually see it that means there is probably a whole lot more going on that we don't see.