Evil Rooster

[bobbi-j]

Um no I don't think so. All my other birds I can sit down on the ground and quite often do and they will just go about their business unless I call and there is food involved. I don't want to risk him actually hitting me in the face or worst case scenario one of the kids. He has had more than enough chances. It's time for chicken and dumplings.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I never buy the "he's just protecting his hens from me" way of thinking. It doesn't fly for any of my other animals, wouldn't fly with a rooster here, either.

In that case the next time your horse exercises his equine instinct by shying or bolting at a plastic Wal-Mart sack you are saying that you are going to whip out that hogs leg that you got strapped on you thigh and shoot poor Dobbin right between the peepers? It is your comparison and it is now your duty to justify it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

...There are nice ones, don't dink around with a mean one....

I never advised that you dink around with a rebellious rooster. However I did claim and I will stand by my convictions that humans create man fighting roosters with our own actions. Ever your grandchildren ripping and running around your coop or pens causing panic in the flock can set a rooster off and turn him into a man fighter.

I have yet to see a sheepskin on the wall of a roosters' waiting room so I must deal with the facts and say that roosters are not brain surgeons.

Roosters are quite basic, they only have 3 things on their minds. Those three things are sex, sex, & sex plus enough food and water or other resources to permit them to have even more sex. Never overestimate a roosters intelligence. They live their lives on instinct and instinct alone. We call dumb humans bird brains for a reason.

 

[donrae]

In that case the next time your horse exercises his equine instinct by shying or bolting at a plastic Wal-Mart sack you are saying that you are going to whip out that hogs leg that you got strapped on you thigh and shoot poor Dobbin right between the peepers? It is your comparison and it is now your duty to justify it.

I've sure been tempted, and my honey's offered more than once

But nope, a horse is too much investment. Roosters can be found anywhere, folks would pay you to take them. Plus, it's socially unacceptable here to eat the horse once you've shot it, and burying a horse corpse on my little acre swamp would be a logistic nightmare. I did take one to the auction the night he dumped me on the road in front of a school bus, though. Butthead.

If I had a horse physically attack me as the OP's rooster did, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't leave the property alive, logistics or not. If it did live to get in the trailer, it would be a one way trip to the big cat sanctuary. I know darn well a dog that attacked wouldn't be walking off the place, or any other animal. Yeah, it's a steep learning curve, but it also removes those genes from the pool.

When I look to purchase a horse, I look for one that's been domesticated and bred long enough to have some of those instincts bred down. I then train the horse to control their response to their instincts. I can't train them not to be afraid, but I can train them not to move when they're afraid. I buy stock-type horses, big heavy things. Not mustangs or more feral breeds/types.

Dogs, I go for labs, or generic big black dogs. Or purely ornamental dogs like my current pup. No pit bulls, no Dobermans, breeds like that that had aggression bred into them.

Same for a rooster, for me. When I look for a rooster, I choose breeds that have been long domesticated and those instincts have been dampened. I don't go for gamecocks or Oriental fighting-bred birds, I go for nice, heavy, boring farm birds. I train my cockerels (and hens) from the start to respect me and my space, just as I do with all my animals. Pretty much every animal on the place will respond to the verbal command "move" by getting out of my way. I say pretty much cause sometimes cats need a physical cue, also

. Oh, and the partially deaf pup needs a physical cue. Other than that, they're all trained to do it. Horses to hens. I've posted numerous times about getting a rooster to keep a respectful distance, no need to type all that again.

I firmly believe an animal that attacks a human should be dispatched. I just don't see a way around that. I'm not going to live my life in fear of a rooster, for heaven's sake!

 

[LilyD]

In that case the next time your horse exercises his equine instinct by shying or bolting at a plastic Wal-Mart sack you are saying that you are going to whip out that hogs leg that you got strapped on you thigh and shoot poor Dobbin right between the peepers? It is your comparison and it is now your duty to justify it.

A horse that is shying is definitely not the same thing as a rooster attacking you. It would be more akin to a stallion charging and trying to kill you in the pasture just because you are there and around his mares. Also a natural way for a horse to behave but I have to tell you if my horse every behaved in that way I would definitely put her down before she seriously injured or killed someone who meant no more harm than just visiting the pretty horses.

 

[LilyD]

I never advised that you dink around with a rebellious rooster. However I did claim and I will stand by my convictions that humans create man fighting roosters with our own actions. Ever your grandchildren ripping and running around your coop or pens causing panic in the flock can set a rooster off and turn him into a man fighter.

I have yet to see a sheepskin on the wall of a roosters' waiting room so I must deal with the facts and say that roosters are not brain surgeons.

Roosters are quite basic, they only have 3 things on their minds. Those three things are sex, sex, & sex plus enough food and water or other resources to permit them to have even more sex. Never overestimate a roosters intelligence. They live their lives on instinct and instinct alone. We call dumb humans bird brains for a reason.

And the long and the short of it as has been said before is that type of rooster who feels that he needs to attack every time we come in and are merely walking around our yard can not be allowed to live and breed more with the same genetic traits. My birds are free range and I'm sorry if you feel that makes me a bad person but I will not have a bad rooster in the yard that I have to watch every time I go out and feed or the kids go out to collect eggs. There are many others that are out there like the other rooster I have that will sit and relax with their humans around and are not threatened by the mere presence of humans in their yard. That's the kind of bird I would like to have around not one I have to be on guard for all the time.

 

[LilyD]

I've sure been tempted, and my honey's offered more than once

But nope, a horse is too much investment. Roosters can be found anywhere, folks would pay you to take them. Plus, it's socially unacceptable here to eat the horse once you've shot it, and burying a horse corpse on my little acre swamp would be a logistic nightmare. I did take one to the auction the night he dumped me on the road in front of a school bus, though. Butthead.

If I had a horse physically attack me as the OP's rooster did, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't leave the property alive, logistics or not. If it did live to get in the trailer, it would be a one way trip to the big cat sanctuary. I know darn well a dog that attacked wouldn't be walking off the place, or any other animal. Yeah, it's a steep learning curve, but it also removes those genes from the pool.

When I look to purchase a horse, I look for one that's been domesticated and bred long enough to have some of those instincts bred down. I then train the horse to control their response to their instincts. I can't train them not to be afraid, but I can train them not to move when they're afraid. I buy stock-type horses, big heavy things. Not mustangs or more feral breeds/types.

Dogs, I go for labs, or generic big black dogs. Or purely ornamental dogs like my current pup. No pit bulls, no Dobermans, breeds like that that had aggression bred into them.

Same for a rooster, for me. When I look for a rooster, I choose breeds that have been long domesticated and those instincts have been dampened. I don't go for gamecocks or Oriental fighting-bred birds, I go for nice, heavy, boring farm birds. I train my cockerels (and hens) from the start to respect me and my space, just as I do with all my animals. Pretty much every animal on the place will respond to the verbal command "move" by getting out of my way. I say pretty much cause sometimes cats need a physical cue, also

. Oh, and the partially deaf pup needs a physical cue. Other than that, they're all trained to do it. Horses to hens. I've posted numerous times about getting a rooster to keep a respectful distance, no need to type all that again.

I firmly believe an animal that attacks a human should be dispatched. I just don't see a way around that. I'm not going to live my life in fear of a rooster, for heaven's sake!

Funny thing is I have a Doberman here as well lol. He goes out with the chickens every day and counts his birds it's the funniest thing. If he can't find someone he gets really upset. He's the sweetest lovebug.

I think roosters are the same thing and you can get a good one or a bad one no matter the breed. I just look for and allow to breed the roosters that I enjoy having around.

 

[Chilali]

I rarely have problems out of any of the roosters on the property here except for one, and the one is only still hanging around because we haven't found a buyer yet and his bloodline is too valuable to just dispatch him. The meanie is penned up so that he can't surprise anyone, though, so it isn't really a big deal either way. The other boys VERY rarely have their moments, but it doesn't take more than a gentle swat to remind them who the boss is and set them straight. If one of them ever actually tries to spur me, it'll be a different story... but when I say they have their moments, I just mean puffing up and charging with no attempt at spur involvement.

Even though some people may disagree with it, my grandfather and I keep a very strict clipped-spur policy here. I don't bother with my laying-breed roosters unless they show some sign of aggressive behavior, but we have four game fowl roosters on the property and even the nicest one of them can be a loose cannon sometimes... and nobody here is willing to risk those wicked spurs digging in. The level of clipping depends on the individual rooster, though. My sweet fellow that I rescued when he was young only has the very tips snipped just to blunt them, but the one aggressive fellow has his completely removed.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A horse that is shying is definitely not the same thing as a rooster attacking you. It would be more akin to a stallion charging and trying to kill you in the pasture just because you are there and around his mares. Also a natural way for a horse to behave but I have to tell you if my horse every behaved in that way I would definitely put her down before she seriously injured or killed someone who meant no more harm than just visiting the pretty horses.

We were not speaking about mares here, but rather about long ingrained or deep seated instinctive behaviors that can be attributed to the thoughtless actions of humans. Anyway, think you for your response, at least your answer is consistent and I appreciate that.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

And the long and the short of it as has been said before is that type of rooster who feels that he needs to attack every time we come in and are merely walking around our yard can not be allowed to live and breed more with the same genetic traits. My birds are free range and I'm sorry if you feel that makes me a bad person but I will not have a bad rooster in the yard that I have to watch every time I go out and feed or the kids go out to collect eggs. There are many others that are out there like the other rooster I have that will sit and relax with their humans around and are not threatened by the mere presence of humans in their yard. That's the kind of bird I would like to have around not one I have to be on guard for all the time.

Now before we begin let me make sure that you understand that the rooster gets half of his DNA from his daddy and the other half from his mama. DNA however is a complex thing and most traits are passed down through a complex chain of DNA not just one random gene here and there. Also many poultry traits seem to be linked to the parent of the opposite sex. For instance in the absence of certain genes the male side (if it is present) will for provide the DNA for a white eggshell.

Therefor it would make more sense to kill a rebellious rooster's mama as well as all his sisters, aunts, girl cousins, and daughters etc. because their contribution to the next male generation's DNA is the greater part of any future rooster's heredity. In other words what we got here is a simple case of misguided vengeious that will have little to no effect on the behavior of future generations of roosters.

I would so like to see a broad and far ranging poll asking the question of Back Yard Poultry Keepers if they would keep a strain of chickens that had been Genetically Modified in such a way that they possessed a pusillanimous dispossession.


One would think that after 7 or 8 thousand generations of domestication and with literally millions of macho roosters meeting an inglorious end at the business end of a chopping axe every year that roosters by now would display considerable progress toward acquiring a pusillanimous dispossession but that has not been the case.