Different take on rooster aggression

[Smileybans]

Recently i re-homed my bantam Cochin and with that came a new wave of aggression from my EE Fuzzy. I expected it but not so harshly. Usually I am able to curb him by pecking him back or making myself bigger. He wasn’t having it. So I looked up different ways to deal with him and stumbled upon this website. http://chickenrunrescue.org/filter/Care-and-Rehabilitation/Rooster-Behavior

This is what I took from that website that has been working for me:
“Tips to reinforce your Alpha role

- Establish a treat ritual- we use a shiny metal bowl that is a visual cue that brings them running with glee. This can be very helpful if there is a need to gather the birds up quickly in bad weather or predator danger.

- Hand feed, make a game of the activity. Chickens love to jump in the air for treats. A shared activity makes you a flock member.

- Let the hens feed first, then allow the roosters to join.

- Reassert your Alpha Alpha at every opportunity. Intervene if a rooster is confronting another rooster, pick him up and carry him or place him in a distracting situation that he will have to reason his way out of (like setting him down on a low perch or in tall grass. He will forget the dominant behavior he was engaged in.

If a rooster mounts a hen , interupt it. Place yourself deliberately between him and the hen and continue to counter each move he makes.

- Be affectionate with him- pick him up, sing to him talk to him, carry him around and show him things, stroke his wattle and comb, scratch his ears. If you nuzzle his comb, do so from the side- never facing him. His instinctive behavior to peck challenge will overwhelm him.
Pat him firmly on the wings while holding him. Pat him on the butt when you sit him down. Don't assume a submissive lower posture with him. His instinctive behavior to challenge or dominate you will overwhelm his
affection for you. This reinforces your realtionship of trust and understanding and strengthens your bond with your birds.

- Be a student of nature and spend time observing behaviors and what they mean:
Dancing and the dragging wing is a courting/herding/ dominance/testing gesture. Acknowledge, praise and appreciate the splendid performance but follow that by picking him up and reasserting your authority.

If he lunges or trys to spur you DO NOT react. NEVER strike back. Become a "tree". Stand still and then move slowly to pick him up and carry him to a place where you can secure him till he has calmed down or hold him in your arms. Do not put him down in an agitated state- wait till his pupils have normalized and his heart rate has slowed.”

I know many people here don’t tolerate aggressive roosters and I already told my husband if we can’t get him back under control he’s gone. But I also knew getting rid of a rooster would cause a wave of chaos in the yard. It’s only been two days of doing those tips and Fuzzy is back to avoiding me. No more testing pecks in the run and no more kicking in the yard. I’m sure he will always be an aggressive rooster but I’m willing to try and work with him, until he isn’t willing to work any more that is. He’s just doing what he’s programmed to do.

 

[DobieLover]

Recently i re-homed my bantam Cochin and with that came a new wave of aggression from my EE Fuzzy. I expected it but not so harshly. Usually I am able to curb him by pecking him back or making myself bigger. He wasn’t having it. So I looked up different ways to deal with him and stumbled upon this website. http://chickenrunrescue.org/filter/Care-and-Rehabilitation/Rooster-Behavior

This is what I took from that website that has been working for me:
“Tips to reinforce your Alpha role

- Establish a treat ritual- we use a shiny metal bowl that is a visual cue that brings them running with glee. This can be very helpful if there is a need to gather the birds up quickly in bad weather or predator danger.

- Hand feed, make a game of the activity. Chickens love to jump in the air for treats. A shared activity makes you a flock member.

- Let the hens feed first, then allow the roosters to join.

- Reassert your Alpha Alpha at every opportunity. Intervene if a rooster is confronting another rooster, pick him up and carry him or place him in a distracting situation that he will have to reason his way out of (like setting him down on a low perch or in tall grass. He will forget the dominant behavior he was engaged in.

If a rooster mounts a hen , interupt it. Place yourself deliberately between him and the hen and continue to counter each move he makes.

- Be affectionate with him- pick him up, sing to him talk to him, carry him around and show him things, stroke his wattle and comb, scratch his ears. If you nuzzle his comb, do so from the side- never facing him. His instinctive behavior to peck challenge will overwhelm him.
Pat him firmly on the wings while holding him. Pat him on the butt when you sit him down. Don't assume a submissive lower posture with him. His instinctive behavior to challenge or dominate you will overwhelm his
affection for you. This reinforces your realtionship of trust and understanding and strengthens your bond with your birds.

- Be a student of nature and spend time observing behaviors and what they mean:
Dancing and the dragging wing is a courting/herding/ dominance/testing gesture. Acknowledge, praise and appreciate the splendid performance but follow that by picking him up and reasserting your authority.

If he lunges or trys to spur you DO NOT react. NEVER strike back. Become a "tree". Stand still and then move slowly to pick him up and carry him to a place where you can secure him till he has calmed down or hold him in your arms. Do not put him down in an agitated state- wait till his pupils have normalized and his heart rate has slowed.”

I know many people here don’t tolerate aggressive roosters and I already told my husband if we can’t get him back under control he’s gone. But I also knew getting rid of a rooster would cause a wave of chaos in the yard. It’s only been two days of doing those tips and Fuzzy is back to avoiding me. No more testing pecks in the run and no more kicking in the yard. I’m sure he will always be an aggressive rooster but I’m willing to try and work with him, until he isn’t willing to work any more that is. He’s just doing what he’s programmed to do.

Most of these actions are exactly what I do/did to tame my aggressive boy.

The standing still while he wails away at your legs is actually easy to do. When you know you have issues with a rooster, you need to ALWAYS be prepared for battle. I always wore jeans and boots into the pen when first rehabbing my boy. He'd start wailing away and it would actually make me laugh because of the look on his face when I did nothing more than stand there and then start slowly walking into it. He was so confused!

One thing I do very differently than the above quoted advice is to give (or at least try to give) most of the treats directly to my rooster to dole out to his hens. He takes the treats the most gently of them all. That makes me a non-threat to him. 'I'm not trying to win your hens over with all these nice treats. I'm giving them to you so you can give them to your girls and show them what a great guy your are.' After I finish morning chores each day, they get a handful of raisins. They all know this and are waiting for me at the door when I come out, my rooster right up front.

I can now walk out there in shorts with no worry about an attack. He still gets attitude problems which are accompanied by the seasonal red leg flush (horny feet) so I know how to deal with him when that happens.

Beating and abusing your rooster into submission is not humane. Either work to rehabilitate unwanted behavior or humanely euthanize the bird and have him for dinner.

 

[Smileybans]

Most of these actions are exactly what I do/did to tame my aggressive boy.

The standing still while he wails away at your legs is actually easy to do. When you know you have issues with a rooster, you need to ALWAYS be prepared for battle. I always wore jeans and boots into the pen when first rehabbing my boy. He'd start wailing away and it would actually make me laugh because of the look on his face when I did nothing more than stand there and then start slowly walking into it. He was so confused!

One thing I do very differently than the above quoted advice is to give (or at least try to give) most of the treats directly to my rooster to dole out to his hens. He takes the treats the most gently of them all. That makes me a non-threat to him. 'I'm not trying to win your hens over with all these nice treats. I'm giving them to you so you can give them to your girls and show them what a great guy your are.' After I finish morning chores each day, they get a handful of raisins. They all know this and are waiting for me at the door when I come out, my rooster right up front.

I can now walk out there in shorts with no worry about an attack. He still gets attitude problems which are accompanied by the seasonal red leg flush (horny feet) so I know how to deal with him when that happens.

Beating and abusing your rooster into submission is not humane. Either work to rehabilitate unwanted behavior or humanely euthanize the bird and have him for dinner.

I had read so many things that were opposite this. So I was surprised when it worked. All the other stuff I had read was to act like another rooster. That roosters only understand contact and to peck him back. To act bigger until he backed down and walked away. That all worked in the beginning but then it didn’t. This way feels better and works faster.

The look on Fuzzys face when I stopped fighting him back was priceless. He was so surprised that he didn’t know what to do besides back down. I wear big rubber boots into the yard so he has yet to really hurt me. I have yet to implement a treat schedule yet because I haven’t found a healthy snack for them. They love bread but I know it’s not healthy. I’ve tried the raisins but only some like it. Fuzzy loves corn and bread. Anything else he looks at me like “what is this crap?”