Do all roosters flog? Mine just flogged my 3 year old.

[Andora]

Our Marans rooster has been hand fed and carried around by my toddler from a little chick. He has always been very tame. He's been mating and dancing with the girls for 2-3 weeks now and never shown any aggression towards us, until this morning.

My 3 year old was playing outside and the hens ran up to her to beg for treats. She was just standing there when the rooster ran up and started flogging her! She ran and he chased her and kept attacking. I had to kick him hard several times to get him off of her. She was only wearing a t-shirt and rubber boots, so her bare bum and legs and arms got some bloody gashes.

The last rooster we had also started flogging her, and we immediately rehomed him. But he was always very aloof, even as a chick, so I wasn't surprised. But the Marans roo has always been so tame. I guess hormones are making him crazy. I know he's just trying to protect his flock.

What would you do? We're getting ready to move to the country, where there are more predators. I want a rooster that will keep his girls safe from threats. But I don't want my daughter to be afraid of her pet hens or afraid to play in her own yard.

Should I get rid of him? We have three other roos of the same breed and age, I know one of them would step up to head roo position. Maybe one of them wouldn't be a flogging roo? But we didn't carry those roosters around as chicks like we did with the flogger...they aren't nearly as tame.

If I get her to work up the courage to give the rooster some good kicks with her boots any time he comes near her, do you think that would teach him who is boss?

 

[The Zoo]

My husband just said it right - when you have a child all bets are off.
I don't think a three year old would be able to get enough power behind a kick to really get a determined rooster off of her.
At your new place will there be a fence dividing the flock from where she will play?

 

[Andora]

Yes we're going to fence them in a large open pen. But we let them out to range everywhere sometimes, and she also loves to help care for the chickens. She proudly tells everyone that it's her job to let the birds out of the yellow coop and feed them treats each morning.

I could just rehome him, and hope another one of our roosters will step up and be a little more laid back. Are there roosters that don't flog? We had a buff brahma roo once that was so sweet, he never bothered my daughter. (And good thing too, he was huge!) Maybe it would be better to get rid of the mean roo and hope a less hormonal one comes along...

 

[horsejody]

Roosters and 3 year olds don't mix. There are some roos that can be trusted, but why take the chance? Even if a roo respects adult humans, they do not see small children in the same light. Toddlers are small, move irradically, etc. BTW with many roos pampering and petting them as babies doesn't make them respect all humans. It just makes them think people are part of the flock and they may feel the need to establish dominance once the hormones kick in. If you want a roo that will step up and flog predators that are too close to the hens, you will also probably have one that will step up and flog a toddler that is too close to the hens. You may not be able to have it both ways. There are ways to tame a rooster to behave around adult humans, but all bets are off around small children. Small children should not be left in the company of a rooster just as you would never leave them with any other uncut male livestock, such as a stallion, a ram or a bull. Animals don't reason the same way we do.

 

[gocrow77]

It's not easy to make a decision like this one. I have some silkie roos that try to chase my 10 year old son. I tell him to kick them and chase them away from him when they behave like that. They are tiny, but think they own the place. My nearly-bigger-than-him Light Brahma roo is a baby doll. It'sd not always the big ones that think they are all that, lol! I'm not scared for my son as you are and should be for your daughter though. But, just the same if they can't learn to submit to my son, we will be eating some silkies fairly soon - I have given my hubby the "go" to make us one of those plucker thingies that hooks up to a cordless drill. It's one of those "I don't wanna do it but I will" things.

 

[The Zoo]

I like you're blog!

 

[Andora]

I don't leave her alone out there with him loose...I was standing in the chicken pen feeding the baby chicks and she was about 20 feet away playing in her little play house minding her own business happily. Poor kid.

I think I'll just get rid of him. If I post him for free on Freecycle someone will come and get him and give him a good home most likely.

I want another brahma rooster. I think they are one of the sweetest breeds! I have some brahma/EE mixes in my chick pen that are little roos, maybe one of those will grow up to be sweet.

 

[AHappychick]

there are too many roos in the world to ever keep one that would hurt a child. put up a post looking for a sweet one good with kids (I find rumnpless araucanas to be really sweet) and send that nasty roo to freezer camp.

for you and dd

 

[Andora]

I just posted him on Craigslist. Hopefully someone will want him for their flock. Last time I posted a free EE on there I got like 100 calls in a matter of half a day, but a lot of people wanted him for cock fighting, which is horrible!

I hope one of my other roosters end up being more friendly. Do you think mean genes are hereditary? The father of my brahma/EE mixes was a very mean EE roo. I really hope one of the chicks is a beautiful big brahma looking roo. Right now they look like brahmas but instead of the columbian black pattern they have more of a barred black pattern on the wings and body, but not the head.

 

[onedozenphyllises]

I think Horsejody said it best. They don't reason like we do, they have tiny brains, and I don't think they have a gene for "meanness". They're just doing what they do. Some are more aggressive/protective than others. Some days my rooster is as harmless as can be, other days I can tell he has my number. Some days he makes me his personal project. I have NO idea what makes the difference, as I do the same things around him day in and day out. I do think he gets upset with me on days that I give them lots of scraps - HE'S supposed to provide the food, after all, not me!

We have an answer for roos that don't know when to quit, though. They get dispatched to the sweet hereafter. And I would never expect a three-year-old to hold their own against one. Those roos just keep coming once provoked.