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

[EAST TEXAROO]

I would have chicken soup tonight if it was my roo. I am constantly outside with my kids chasing and bulling my rir roo and even let the kids throw water baloons at him to show who is the boss. I had bad experiences as a kid with roos and they need to know who the boss is.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:

 

[Metanoia]

I just want to disagree with all those that day roosters and children don't mix, or roosters tamed from chicks are bad. You can get some lovely roosters raised from chicks!!

As a kid I would carry our rooster around and he was a big sook of a thing. He was raised from a chick, was great with his flock and learnt that being lugged around by me usually led him to some juicy treats, so he loved the attention.


In this case you may need to get rid of the rooster, or you may have to do some work on him to retrain him. Supervision sounds like a key here. Be close to your child at all times. But then with a 3 year old you should be supervising closely with animals at all times anyway...

One thing I don't agree with are things like turning the hose on him, excessive kicking, etc... all this sort of thing will do is make him worse. I have seen what turning a garden hose on a bird does and it is not pretty. He's an approximately 80 year old corella and has to be caged carefully so he can be cared for without interaction.

 

[write2caroline]

My friend was just telling me about her Rooster attacking her 7 yr old son. She saw it and grabbed a 2X4 and let him have it. She didn't intend to "take him out" but she did. So they (got rid of the evidence) had him for dinner! If a sweet lady like my friend can battle a mean rooster and be alright with eating him. I think I can do it too. (been playing mafia wars on face book - having some fun with the phrases)

Caroline
Jax FL

 

[Cockadoodlezoo]

We had the same problem with our Production Red Roo and our BO roo with my 4 year old *who is now 5

* The Production Red was always aggressive, even with us and we were collecting eggs when he jumped her in the coop. Luckily he didn't give her more than a scratch, but immediatly took a trip to Crockpotville. Then about 6 months later my BO roo, who was a tame bird, flogged my daughter while she was feeding the hens scratch. He drew blood when he did it and met Mr. Freezer not 5 minutes after. When it comes to the kids you just can't take chances. We had been right there with her both instances. Some roo's just get onery. We still have a banty roo and some young ones coming up but the kids come first

There is a ban on Floggers at my place

 

[Judy]

I just scanned through this and didn't see the answer to one question, about whether this meanness is inherited. It is definitely believed to be inherited by many experienced folks on here.

No mean roos allowed here.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't think anyone is saying that ALL roosters are a threat to children, just that they have the potential to do harm and can be unpredictable, especially to children. The roosters I keep are very well behaved around humans, and my children are old enough that I don't have to monitor them constantly around the flock. But when other, especially younger, children come to visit I make sure I don't leave them alone there together.

I think this behavior is part nature & part nurture. There seems to be tendencies among certain breeds to be more aggressive than others. But of course there are exceptions and we've seen enough photos of young children pushing RIR roos in baby buggies to know that. Sometimes frequent kind handling of chicks can influence them to be more docile as adults. Other times it just irritates the bird and he grows up to be more wary than he would have been if left alone. I'm certain that rough, unkind treatment can turn even the most gentle rooster into a wary aggressive one.

As I tell my children, it's not a matter of an animal being "bad" or even "mean", it's more of a defensive tactic made by a fearful & wary bird. People who do lots of carefully planned breeding of chickens would be better able to tell us how much this behavior is an inherited trait.

But to answer the original question: No, not all roosters will be aggressive towards you and/or your 3-year-old. Find another rooster among the many many many others available. Don't put up with aggressive behavior from a rooster. And to be safe, monitor your young children when they're around your animals.

 

[lauralou]

I am so sorry that happened to your daughter! God that's awful!

A friend of mine had brought her grandson to our house recently. The child was maybe 2 or 3 years old. I'm not good at guessing ages because I don't have any children...

Anyway, one of our young roos came running up with the hens, begging for treats, and I almost freaked out. He has never shown the first hint of aggression, but the simple fact was, he was as tall as the child! It really scared me and for no good reason, other than the possibility of what he could have done to that little boy.

Nothing bad happened. At all. But still, I was terrified of the possibilities.

Please keep your precious daughter safe from any and all roos!

And give her a hug from me.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

My RIR rooster Rusty is such a sweetheart.

He's bitten me only once in his entire life. Just ONCE. That very day he was introduced to Mr. Black Croc and his little red rear end was a'hurting.

And he hasn't bitten me since.

Also my neighbor came down with her friends little boy to see my new baby chicks and Rusty just took one look at him and encouraged the hens to move to the run.

I would just introduce that rooster to Mr. Axe and Mr. Stew pot to show that unless he behaves himself he'll be dinner.

 

[nnbreeder]

None of my Oriental Games have ever showed agression to me or anyone else. In fact it is quite the opposite, they are always underfott when you are trying to do something and they are around.

My Naked Necks are much the same too. But both breeds will fiercely defend a nest or chicks.