Do all roosters attack kids?

[SpringChickens]

There is NO reason to tolerate an aggressive rooster! My first rooster was fairly middle of the road; he didn't ever attack us, but he would fluff up and act like he was going to. A raccoon (or something) got him one night, and our hens immediately became more social around us. We currently have 4 roosters, all over breeding age, and NONE of them ever act like they want to attack us or our DD. Someone even came to buy something we had posted on craigslist and she let her kids run around like lunatics and chase the roosters

and they still made no move to attack.

I do think handling matters, but not in the way that you are thinking. I think the less you handle your roos, especially when they are young, the more likely they are to behave themselves. I think that over-handling them when they are young can make them lose their fear and respect for people and that's not a good thing. We never pick up our roos unless we need to do something to them and they are all very well behaved.

Lastly, I think that breed matters... a LOT. We currently have a salmon faverolle roo and a buff orpington roo, both known for being sweet, kind breeds, and they are both sweet kind roosters. We also have two game bird X roos which we hatched and they are going to freezer camp shortly... (but they are very sweet).

Having an aggressive roo caused way too much stress in my life and if any of mine ever become aggressive, they are going in the pot ASAP. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I grew up on a farm many decades ago. We had a flock of free ranging chickens, including roosters. They were definitely not pets, but were treated as livestock. They were never held, fed treats, or anything like that. Practically all were raised by a broody with no close human contact.

There were five of us kids. We gathered eggs, fed the cows, horses, and pigs, gathered apples in their territory, and went about our business. The chickens' range was generally not where we were playing, but we did walk and work around them. To the best of my knowledge and memory, none of us were ever attacked by a rooster. If one ever had, we would all have probably attacked him back and went on about our business. Of course, we were not real young when we were doing these chores. I was probably about 5 when I started gathering eggs. My siblings were probably older when they started since big brother was already doing it.

I think one huge difference, other than the lack of a lot of human interference with them, was that they had lots of space. A lot of people don't have that. We did not play with them, chase them, or give the roosters any real reason to think we were threatening his flock, other than just walking through the area where they were.

I do not think that all roosters will attack kids. But I recognize it as a problem and I think that any rooster that does attack humans needs to go, especially if there are kids around.

 

[Hotwings]

My friend Freebie has a buff Orpington for a year now and he is not aggressive. Her first roo was a plymouth barred rock and he was aggressive.

 

[woodmort]

Some do, some don't and some attack everything--how they are raised has nothing to do with it. In 25 years I've never had an EE rooster that attack me or any human but that just may be the strain. As a kid I had a barred rock rooster that attacked anything including cars that came in the driveway and he was hand raised. You never know--pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[Lacey1988]

Most of the roos I had hated kids I guess cause their just everywhere well y'all know how kids are.....the only roo I might trust with a kid is a silkie.....I personally have never had a sweet one but I do know when it has girls MEAN when it doesn't its sweeter......People will just say cull it an get it over with I didn't kill my roo when people told me to cull him and he whined up saving my hens lives by sacrificing his self to a predator but its your call

 

[speckledhen]

You must make a distinction between small kids and adults. Kids, by nature, have sudden jerky movements and can be suddenly loud, startle even the calmest rooster. They make roosters nervous. NO small kid should be allowed around a rooster simply because of that fact (yes, some Silkies and the like may be lap birds with kids, but they are the exception to this thing). A rooster should never be human aggressive and my boys are definitely not, however, BIG exception here-I will never allow kids near my sweet boys because they do not act like adults and a small kid is the right height for a rooster to take out that child's eyes. Only takes once, too.

Here's a case in point: Today, my neighbor across from my driveway, 225 ft from my house, through the trees (can't even see her property from here in summer), has company for the holiday, which includes some young kids; some very LOUD young kids. DH came inside and said, "Those kids are making Isaac very nervous." I heard all their weird noises and they startled even me, since this neighborhood is not one with small kids unless someone's relatives are visiting. They actually sounded like some animal at first, until I remembered that she had company over there, so you can imagine that my roosters are on edge.

Think of a rooster as a bull or a stallion in a smaller package. Older, taller children can be taught how to behave around and handle chickens, including roosters, but until they are able to deal with a possible nervous rooster, IMO, they should never be anywhere that a rooster is without a barrier between them or an adult by their side.

 

[hennyannie]

I have had various roos in my flock over the years and some get aggressive others dont. Our currrent flock has one roo, an OEGB that is very tolerate of my kids.(Ages 6 and 10) He doesnt get upset even when they carry the hens around. I have also had some RIR roos that didnt get mean, and one BR that was the worst. Hope you find one you can keep around, they are good alarmist.





After reading Speckled hens post I thought I should add that my kids have been raised around all farm animals and know that no animal likes loud noises and chaos. They are really adultlike when they are around animals.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm very glad your rooster didn't hurt your son's eyes. It's true that roosters can be very unpredictable. Fortunately you you don't have too many qualms about sending a rooster to freezer camp.

I had OEG roos who had very little handling growing up and mostly tried to stay out of the way of people (mind you, we didn't have kids so I don't know how they would act around them). They were actually much better behaved than the 2 OEG that we did hand raise one year.

 

[yinepu]

We don't have kids.. but we have had people over who do.. though it's a rare occurrence.. so the "little people" should really set off our roosters.. they don't. We have never had a roo go after a kid. I have never held or spoiled these roos.. they are there to take care of their hens. Our 5 year old alpha rooster is a big baby towards people.. and he has never been touched. He was hatched out of one of the free ranger's nests and we have never laid a finger on him; yet he is very respectful to people, never ruffles his feathers at you.. never gives you the stink eye.. never drops his wing. So I think you would be fine in not handling the next rooster. Just keep an eye on him and if he starts to act up send him to freezer camp.

 

[khatar]

Perhaps you should get a larger breed, they tend to be more docile.