Do i keep him?

[Iaseye]

Yea, that definitely sounds risky to let the kids be near this one. At the very least, keep the kids out of the pen for their safety in case he does turn (flying spur vs a short persons face is no joke). I'd probably go with the wait-and-see approach coupled with trying to dominate over him to see if the behavior can be controlled.

For breaking him, whenever your husband is near Robbie, have him walk right through Robbie every time (obviously try to not step on him, but make no concessions for Robbies personal space). I've also heard some success with simply grabbing the roo and parading him around in front of his hens to knock down his ego a bit.

Of side note - every family member that will be interacting with him will need to dominate over him to continue to keep him subdued. If he does turn violent and potentially has access to where your kids will be playing, it may be best to just get rid of him.

Yea and that one time violent moment is not what I am wanting to wait for lol that could be bad

 

[Folly's place]

No bird gets near my face! As he gets bigger, and maybe now, he's too close to human eyeballs, and a peck there can be devastating.
If you can find him a home now, preferably without small children, move him on.
It's easy to misinterpret cockerel behaviors, especially as first time chicken owners, and fail to see warning signs until that first attack.
Watch this guy, so you see what he's doing as he matures. And always walk 'through' him, not around. I toss treats on the ground, so my hand isn't available to be pecked. And I never back up to avoid a bird; I'm the giant who brings food, not a flock member!
Mary

 

[MysteryChicken]

RIRs have always been the worst breed, when it comes to aggressive cocks, I've raised too many growing up. Out of all the RIRs, we only got 1 friendly rooster. The rest always were human aggressive.

 

[Iaseye]

No bird gets near my face! As he gets bigger, and maybe now, he's too close to human eyeballs, and a peck there can be devastating.
If you can find him a home now, preferably without small children, move him on.
It's easy to misinterpret cockerel behaviors, especially as first time chicken owners, and fail to see warning signs until that first attack.
Watch this guy, so you see what he's doing as he matures. And always walk 'through' him, not around. I toss

No bird gets near my face! As he gets bigger, and maybe now, he's too close to human eyeballs, and a peck there can be devastating.
If you can find him a home now, preferably without small children, move him on.
It's easy to misinterpret cockerel behaviors, especially as first time chicken owners, and fail to see warning signs until that first attack.
Watch this guy, so you see what he's doing as he matures. And always walk 'through' him, not around. I toss treats on the ground, so my hand isn't available to be pecked. And I never back up to avoid a bird; I'm the giant who brings food, not a flock member!
Mary

Yes I can find him a home, so I have been the bold one the last few weeks letting him eat my bangs and take selfies with me. Niave of me to be honest. LoL

 

[Isadora]

Yes I can find him a home, so I have been the bold one the last few weeks letting him eat my bangs and take selfies with me. Niave of me to be honest. LoL

Don't worry about it. Anyone new to the chicken keeping world wouldn't think there was necessarily any problem with what you were doing. And really, if it was a mature rooster who was docile, I wouldn't have any problem taking selfies with him either. It's just he's in that hormone crazy phase where he could turn ugly real quick.
I had an Easter egg or cockerel who I really wanted to keep because he was gorgeous. I wasn't super handsy or friendly with him, but I did pick him up occasionally and went out of my way to be friendly to him. Yeah, he ended up trying to attack me and my 5-year-old son out of the blue one day. I'm just glad I was there because who knows how it could have turned out if he had attacked my son when he was alone.

 

[3KillerBs]

So is he at the hormonal stage now?

Yes, he's entering into that stage at this age and may not be out of it until the short days of winter (if ever).

If you decide that you want a rooster it would be better to get him next year after you've got experience with chicken behavior.

 

[Iaseye]

Don't worry about it. Anyone new to the chicken keeping world wouldn't think there was necessarily any problem with what you were doing. And really, if it was a mature rooster who was docile, I wouldn't have any problem taking selfies with him either. It's just he's in that hormone crazy phase where he could turn ugly real quick.
I had an Easter egg or cockerel who I really wanted to keep because he was gorgeous. I wasn't super handsy or friendly with him, but I did pick him up occasionally and went out of my way to be friendly to him. Yeah, he ended up trying to attack me and my 5-year-old son out of the blue one day. I'm just glad I was there because who knows how it could have turned out if he had attacked my son when he was alone.

I've raised him and the flock from day old chicks. I was supposed to have all hens, so when I ended up with some roos okay whatever find them a home but with Robbie he has solely been My favorite so it pains me that knowing you raise them from babies and are very handsy to turn out they will still turn on you ugh I can't take it I can't risk the kiddos

 

[Iaseye]

Yes, he's entering into that stage at this age and may not be out of it until the short days of winter (if ever).

If you decide that you want a rooster it would be better to get him next year after you've got experience with chicken behavior.

I really thought I had the behavior down but now I'm having jurrasic park vibes ESPECIALLY when he is eye balling me lol

 

[3KillerBs]

I really thought I had the behavior down but now I'm having jurrasic park vibes ESPECIALLY when he is eye balling me lol

They really are dinosaurs. Wait until you see them when they catch a mouse, a lizard, or some such thing.

I even saw a group of 3-day-old chicks gang up on a spider to tear it apart!

 

[Iaseye]

They really are dinosaurs. Wait until you see them when they catch a mouse, a lizard, or some such thing.

I even saw a group of 3-day-old chicks gang up on a spider to tear it apart!

Haha thanks I didn't need that in my brain