Evil Rooster

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Funny, you talking about getting a rooster from somewhere else and them being raised different than you raise yours. I'm having the same kind of situation, only opposite behavior. I got a 8ish month old Ameraucana cockerel, and he's just a little too comfortable being around me, for my comfort! I've also raised lots of roosters, and prefer them to keep a respectful distance from me. I don't handle birds, etc and my roosters usually stay a good 5+ feet away from me. This new guy is pretty happy being about 2 feet away from me, and it kinda freaks me out! He's never, ever once made ANY smallest sign of aggression at all, but it still makes me not pleased to have him so close. I know, a problem others wish they had, right? And I'm complaining about it....

Hope your hand is good, be sure it's cleansed well and keep a good eye on it. And enjoy your dinner!

I'm with donrae on this one. I'll pet hens, but I never tame roosters. I want them to always know that I am so far above their pecking order that they shouldn't even try. I've heard so many sad stories of people that hand-raised roosters only to have them turn on them as soon as they hit sexual maturity. So many behaviors that people see as "friendly" are really early aggression, like the cockerel being the "friendliest" bird and running right up to the human, when really it's the cockerel aggressively getting the grooming that he wants. Then the human grooms (pets) the cockerel, and grooming is a sign of submission from hens. After that the human lets the cockerel on their shoulder, giving him the highest perch... and then the human wonders why the rooster attacks them, when in the rooster's mind the human has told him over and over that he's the alpha, and he's just reminding them who's boss. Roosters don't attack out of the blue, there are little testing behaviors that the human maybe missed, so the rooster escalates.

Basically I just ignore cockerels. I don't try to pet them like I do pullets. When they are adults, they are comfortable with me walking next to them in the pasture or the hen house and run over for treats when they see me, but definitely would never come up for cuddles. They'll get within a couple of feet of me, but will move away if I move towards them. That's about perfect rooster behavior in my book.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.... One of the turkey poults had gotten loose from the pen and I bent to scoop it up as I headed in the door and that's when it happened.....

That rooster jumped up at my face attempting to spur me...

You go chasing a young fowl around your chicken yard like you were either a pedophile rooster or else a flying chicken killing varmint and then you get your feelings hurt when your rooster tries to hurt you.

Rooster was only doing what roosters have done for millenniums still unknown, that is protecting your hens. Then how do you propose thanking him? Why by chopping off his head and then dismembering his corpus delecti.

Am I the only human here who sees a problem in this approach?

 

[sigsauersean]

Human approach! Make a tasty supper from him! Lol

 

[Blammmo]

Chop, dismember and consume I say, any animal that attacks a human is an animal that needs to be put down, period.

 

[donrae]

You go chasing a young fowl around your chicken yard like you were either a pedophile rooster or else a flying chicken killing varmint and then you get your feelings hurt when your rooster tries to hurt you.

Rooster was only doing what roosters have done for millenniums still unknown, that is protecting your hens. Then how do you propose thanking him? Why by chopping off his head and then dismembering his corpus delecti.

Am I the only human here who sees a problem in this approach?

My way of thinking is, everything we do with any domestic animal pretty much defies "what they have done for millenniums". It's not my horse's instinct to let me ride on her back, but it's what's expected of her. It's not my dog's instinct to live in a house with members of other species, but it's what's expected of them. Same for pretty much any animal. 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.

 

[sueandthe6]

I had something like this happen to me over the weekend. I happened on a flock of 6 hens and a roo a week ago to the day. . the man I got him from told me he free ranged occasionally and when he did the roo would chase his kids but he himself never had a problem. I figured I would give him the benefit of the doubt and keep him. sat I was in feeding and he threw his spurs up and same as you- he got my hand due to quick reflexes. he got meaty part under thumb and wrist. both pretty deep. I am going to give him a second chance because I have them in a smaller run than he did temporarily, and have not free ranged at all. the consense here seems to be he should be stew but I am giving it one more shot once the bigger kennel is up and livable. if he hasn't had a change of attitude.. he will be doggie food.

 

[Mrs. K]

He really won't change his attitude, it really has nothing to do with surroundings, or even learned behavior. He is not acting cranky cause he does not like the new digs or the lack of free ranging. He is trying to establish a pecking order, and wants you to be underneath him.

The thing is after a rotten one or two, you get to thinking, well they are roosters, and that is how roosters are...... but I got a darling pair right now, never give me any problem, treat the girls right, no recent losses to hawks or eagles...... the hens are happy, with hardly a feather out of place. And I did get them from someone else....

I am with Donrae, I don't snuggle my hens or roosters. ( I do talk to them) and I like them to step out of my way and keep a space between us. And even though I have liked the way these have acted when the grandchildren come around, I still keep a wary eye on them when I have the kids around. Kids do stir up roosters, but no kid on my place is going to pay with scars for that.

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

MRs K

 

[bobbi-j]

You go chasing a young fowl around your chicken yard like you were either a pedophile rooster or else a flying chicken killing varmint and then you get your feelings hurt when your rooster tries to hurt you.

Rooster was only doing what roosters have done for millenniums still unknown, that is protecting your hens. Then how do you propose thanking him? Why by chopping off his head and then dismembering his corpus delecti.

Am I the only human here who sees a problem in this approach?

OP said nothing about "chasing a young fowl around the chicken yard" - there is a huge difference between that and "bending over to scoop up" a stray poult. OP also mentioned that the rooster had started going for her legs previous to this attack. Rooster was flat-out attacking his human, and for that he should be thanked by "chopping off his head and then dismembering his corpus delecti." This is a dangerous bird. Unless, of course, OP wants to train him not to attack by sitting out among the chickens and letting him repeatedly attack until he figures out the efforts are futile. That's OP's option, of course. Here, he'd be beheaded, dismembered and eaten.

My way of thinking is, everything we do with any domestic animal pretty much defies "what they have done for millenniums". It's not my horse's instinct to let me ride on her back, but it's what's expected of her. It's not my dog's instinct to live in a house with members of other species, but it's what's expected of them. Same for pretty much any animal. 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.

Agreed. I won't let my dog bite someone because he's "just protecting his territory".

I had something like this happen to me over the weekend. I happened on a flock of 6 hens and a roo a week ago to the day. . the man I got him from told me he free ranged occasionally and when he did the roo would chase his kids but he himself never had a problem. I figured I would give him the benefit of the doubt and keep him. sat I was in feeding and he threw his spurs up and same as you- he got my hand due to quick reflexes. he got meaty part under thumb and wrist. both pretty deep. I am going to give him a second chance because I have them in a smaller run than he did temporarily, and have not free ranged at all. the consense here seems to be he should be stew but I am giving it one more shot once the bigger kennel is up and livable. if he hasn't had a change of attitude.. he will be doggie food.

I hope you don't have kids for this rooster to chase and potentially attack. I'd eat it myself, rather than waste it on the dog.

He really won't change his attitude, it really has nothing to do with surroundings, or even learned behavior. He is not acting cranky cause he does not like the new digs or the lack of free ranging. He is trying to establish a pecking order, and wants you to be underneath him.

The thing is after a rotten one or two, you get to thinking, well they are roosters, and that is how roosters are...... but I got a darling pair right now, never give me any problem, treat the girls right, no recent losses to hawks or eagles...... the hens are happy, with hardly a feather out of place. And I did get them from someone else....

I am with Donrae, I don't snuggle my hens or roosters. ( I do talk to them) and I like them to step out of my way and keep a space between us. And even though I have liked the way these have acted when the grandchildren come around, I still keep a wary eye on them when I have the kids around. Kids do stir up roosters, but no kid on my place is going to pay with scars for that.

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

MRs K

Agreed!

 

[LilyD]

You go chasing a young fowl around your chicken yard like you were either a pedophile rooster or else a flying chicken killing varmint and then you get your feelings hurt when your rooster tries to hurt you.

Rooster was only doing what roosters have done for millenniums still unknown, that is protecting your hens. Then how do you propose thanking him? Why by chopping off his head and then dismembering his corpus delecti.

Am I the only human here who sees a problem in this approach?

First off I was not chasing the young turkey poult I was opening the door to the greenhouse where he was housed and HE ran up to me to be picked up. I merely was moving him so I wouldn't hit him with the door on the way in which I have done hundreds of times since they have gotten here. They won't stay in the pen I put them in so they are always loose inside the greenhouse.

Secondly I have had many roosters in the past. I raise them from chicks and they are all hand tame and friendly. I have people from the age of one years old up to 80 years old that come to my house and the first thing they want to do is play with my chickens. My roosters have never been aggressive to people but are very protective of other things such as hawks, dogs, cats etc that get into the yard and don't belong. They will even tell me when someone pulls up in the driveway.

I don't feel that the roosters job is to protect the hens from everything. He needs to understand that I and all other humans are supposed to be here and that it is not acceptable for him to attack us at all. Any animal be it one of my chickens, ducks, turkeys, horse, cat, or dog that does not show acceptable behavior will not live on my farm because I cannot tell the kids "oh no honey you can't go play with the animals because they might be mean today. As they come into their hormones if they act up at all (running at me with intent to be mean rather than to get treats or displaying) they get schooled and learn that that is inappropriate. Usually this is all taken care of while they are about 8 weeks and just coming into their hormones and by the time they are bigger they already know I am boss and so are the other humans. I do not feel it is wrong of me to expect to be able to go into my yard and do my chores or play without getting injured and I won't keep a bird that will try to do so.

Donrae, Walking on Sunshine ~~ I actually find the opposite. I actually want to be able to put my hands on my rooster so I can check him for things wrong and make sure he is healthy, not too skinny or too fat, no lice, mites, frost bite etc. I don't treat them like they are pets though and they are not petted and coddled like I would my dog or my cat. From the time I get them as day old chicks we work on expectations. When I call to them whether they are hen or rooster I like them to come. I teach this with giving treats after I do the chick, chick, chick call. This is behavior the lead rooster would naturally exhibit with his brood. I also want them to settle down and relax if I do pick them up in case I need to help them with something. I teach all my birds how to step up and how to relax in my hands from the time they are chicks. That way if they get caught in the fencing, or in the case of one of my broody hens, fall behind the hay bales and I need to rescue them I am only fighting with the object not with them as well. I also want them to be gentle and friendly to everyone.

The other rooster I have now is a Light Brahma and the kids can go in the coop with him, pick him up and he will go limp like a dishrag. The younger kids will come in and feed him treats and he will pick them off their hands gently and feed his girls with them. When I call for the chickens he will come too and if I am throwing out treats he will feed his girls and will help call them in so they can get the goodies too, but he is never aggressive to people. This rooster actually saw the way the other rooster was behaving and came closer as I was being attacked. He jumped at the other rooster the second time he jumped at me and I couldn't quite catch him as if he was even trying to protect me. But once I had my hands on the rooster he settled right back down and began rallying the girls to help settle them down too. That's the kind of rooster I want. One that understands humans are okay so I can send the really little kids out to collect eggs and not worry they might lose an eye or some other body part when they run out ahead of me.

 

[LilyD]

Unless, of course, OP wants to train him not to attack by sitting out among the chickens and letting him repeatedly attack until he figures out the efforts are futile. That's OP's option, of course. Here, he'd be beheaded, dismembered and eaten.

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.

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

I agree totally I have 6 new 4 week old baby boys in the greenhouse with the turkey poults (separate pens of course) and they are all sweet and wonderful. The trouble will be deciding on which two to keep since I will feel bad getting rid of the other 4.