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

[horsejody]

My Rodney is fairly good, but he has his moments. When he chest bumps my leg, I say "tell it to the shoe," and boot him. Now he hates my white sneakers but likes me better when I have mud boots or dark shoes on. Even when he is being good, I can say, "tell it to the shoe," and he fluffs his neck feathers out and dances a little at my sneakers. Yes, he is a bird brain, but he's my little bird brain that I raised from an egg.

 

[Akane]

I haven't had an agressive rooster. I picked breeds that were known to be calmer to help avoid that. My japanese bantam roos have all been so nice. Then I have a big roo that is a mix of penedesenca x welsummer x maran who is a complete coward. I wouldn't trust him to protect anything but he definitely wouldn't attack a person. My little bantam EE x d'uccle roo so far hasn't shown any threat towards anything but does make lots of noise if you handle the hens so I'm keeping an eye on him.

The problem is a rooster bold enough to protect his flock is bold enough to protect it from a person. You pretty much either get cowardly roos who aren't good for much except hopefully becoming dinner before their hens get caught by the predator or you get bold agressive roos that will attack anything. There are a few in between but it's much harder to find them and to ever trust them.

Several people have said the friendliest roos actually turn out the most agressive. Roos raised as pets don't see people as dangerous so have no problem standing up to them. They may even see people as part of the flock and challenge them as another rooster or discipline them for being a hen that doesn't listen and follow the others. Roos that aren't handled and avoid humans are more likely to be too scared or have fewer reasons to attack a person. I dunno how often that holds true. None of my roos have been the friendliest and while not real scared of me would prefer to avoid me and not be picked up.

 

[Lilywater101]

I totally agree with AKANE just because you raise a chicken since it was little does not guarantee that it will be tame or safe, like Akane said perhaps the roo think of people as other chickens. You could always try to teach the roo to respect people but many times a agressive roo will not change in this case time to have some chicken soup!

Don't think that roo's who were not handled when young r dangerous I had roo's that were not handled much by humans and they turned out to be good roos they respected ALL humans even my three yr old sister if they saw her coming the roo would run away!

Basically right from the start since we first got the roo's we taught them that humans need to be respected and they got the message!

I think its pretty amazing when you can say that your roo respects a three yr old little girl.

 

[TXmom]

Our big Rhode Island Red roo occasionally gets an attitude problem, and then an attitude adjustment

I've taught both of my kids to NOT back down, NOT run away from him, but kick at him and/or chase him around the yard when he gets "cocky". Of course, mine are bigger...I don't think a 3 year old can adequately show him who's boss. My kids are actually better with him than I am...LOL They know that if he ever gets mean, he'll be soup, and they really don't want that.

I've heard Cochins are really sweet...

 

[onedozenphyllises]

Horsejody - that's hilarious!

I, for one, am always amazed at how much of a beating they can take and still keep coming back for more. I should rename mine "Timex". Although his current names, "Stew" and "A-hole" seem to suit him just fine.

If it helps anyone, I find the garden hose to be an EXCELLENT rooster deterrent. I can fight back all day long and he won't be the least bit put off, but he HATES the hose. It will send him packing every single time. I also tend to give him a good hard spray with the hose sometimes for no reason, while he's just minding his own business...just to remind him that I'M THE BOSS. He's actually bothered me less frequently since I started doing that.

 

[TXmom]

Quote:

 

[Cuban Longtails]

My cubalaya cocks and cockerels have never flogged me or any one in my family. Nor have any of my other oriental gamefowl, come to think of it.

 

[a2ms4chickens]

I would rehome your rooster. We have had several roosters, and most were non-agressive, but we had a couple who were more aggressive and would try to flog my DS.

We rehomed the aggressive ones and kept the most laid back rooster. He still takes care of his girls, but he has never been aggressive.

And all of our roosters have been RIR's. As a matter of fact, we just rehomed our 'Red', who is a large RIR. He is the best rooster! Took care of my hens, never showed any signs of aggression, but my girls were mostly bare backed. I have a lot of banty hens and he was just too big. I hated to see him go.

Good luck with your decision on what to do with your roo.

Angie

 

[Sunny Side Up]

We're assuming that you're giving full disclosure about your reasons for re-homing these roosters, that the folks reading & replying to your ads know it's a rooster that's been aggressive & has already injured a child. It would not be fair to pass on a problem bird without advance warning.

To answer your question, no, not all roosters flog. The ones I keep do not. But I am still careful when small children visit the yard and don't take the rooster's good manners for granted.

Since there really are barely enough opportunities for 10% of all roosters hatched to find positions as pets or flock husbands, it doesn't make sense to keep human-agressive roosters around. It's great that your little girl enjoys your chickens so much, and wants to take part in their care. You need a mannerly flock for her sake.

I wouldn't depend on the roosters to stand up & protect my chickens. Roosters are best at sounding the alarm when danger threatens, not at fighting off predators. You just need one who is alert, not one who is aggressive. Instead, provide hiding places for your free-ranged flock, and good fencing around your coops.

 

[JRT]

Well This is just my 2 cents worth and I may not hold true in your situation but it is what I have found to be true on my farm. With roosters you shouldn't make pets of them because at that point they have no fear of humans. hens is not so bad cause they are not so aggressive. When you make roosters pets they have always seen humans as not a harm to them so In my opinion the only way to fix this problem is to get rid of this rooster and let the other take over and not make a pet of it. I'm not trying to be mean and I am not a chicken expert this is just what I have found to be true in my own experiance.