Fed up with Fred the Rooster!!

[Jmamachick]

Hi, i'm from Virginia and new to the chicken world. We started our chicken family this past March with 6 Buff Orpingtons and 6 Araucanas. We received them at a day old so the Buffs are 6 months and the Araucanas are just a week younger. The Buffs are very sweet chickens and we have one that loves to just hang with us and follow us around. The Araucanas were not very friendly as chicks, they hated to be picked up or touched. We didn't do a lot of picking them up as they would run away from us. They are more friendly now with us at 6 months old then when they were just days old. Our of all our chickens 1 of the Araucanas grew up to be Fred the Rooster. He's beautiful. Bright maroon, yellow and gray colors. He has all the colors of all the chickens and is just a really pretty rooster. About 2 months ago (when he was about 4 months old) he started attacking me and my husband. I literally had a boxing match with him. I did check out Backyard Chickens site to get some information about Roosters. For the last 2 months we have been picking him up, walking around with him and then putting him down. Every single day we have some kind of interaction with him to try and help him realize that we are not the enemy. After a month of picking him up, he was very aggressive to my son and to me again that we started Plan B. Plan B was turning him upside down (as I read on this website) and letting him hang until he calmed down and then lifting him back up and walking with him for about 20 mins. I have been doing this for 3 weeks. Its still not working. He seems to be getting more aggressive and comes at me no matter where I am.

My next step is start spraying him with pepper spray everytime I come around him so he may get the hint and move away and not come near me.

Any suggestions would be great. I was also thinking about trading him in for Buff Orpington rooster (if a Buff rooster would be nicer to have around).

If it doesn't work out for Fred, he will be dinner!!!

thanks
Janet Franklin

 

[chickenturner]

An old timer once told me to hit a bad bird upside the head with a broom handle if he was attacking you. After that he shouldn't give you any more trouble. Sorry to be blunt but those old farmers know a lot about raising birds.

 

[Jmamachick]

Not blunt at all. I need all the advice I can get! My husband actually (2 days ago) punted him into the woods because he went after him for nothing. I thought that would have made him realize not to attack, but nope it didn't. So hitting him in his head while upside down is not a problem for me!

Thank You for your suggestion! I will let you know if that worked!

 

[Percheron chick]

The first question should be why do you want a rooster? Fred doesn't sound worthy of trying to work with and attacking a child buys him a one way ticket.
There is no guarantee that a different rooster will be any different. When you change the members in a flock, you can change the entire dynamics.

I think not having a rooster in the beginning is the smarter way to go.

 

[nwfl]

There are some good threads about teaching a rooster who is boss. Making yourself bigger and not turning your back. I haven't had to hit one yet but blocking with the feed pan and water jug, and throwing my body into crazy positions while blocking have come in handy. I have had some evil roosters that turned out nice.

 

[NBarnes]

Too many genuinely nice roosters looking for homes to suffer a mean one to live. Fred's best use in this world is in a crockpot, if that's his attitude towards things.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

As nwfl mentioned, there are some good threads on here that discuss how to teach a rooster who is boss.

Having had some roosters that were not the nicest in the bunch, as well as roosters that went from being a puppy dog to being outright mean almost overnight, my experience has been that they do not learn. As I have three kids, I can not take any chances and those roosters have all gone to freezer camp, especially since I do not want those genes past on to future generations. I now have a rooster who may be a little on the skittish side, but he respects me and keeps his distance. I will take that over a lap chicken turned attack chicken any day.

I say, invite that roo to dinner, and find yourself a well mannered roo if you really need one.

 

[Jmamachick]

I really appreciate the responses that I have received from everyone. I'm very happy I posted my issue, it's good to get more advice.

 

[nwfl]

Trailrider330 is right, there are plenty of nice free roosters out there If you are wanting a good boy. I like a peaceful flock and breed my nice healthy roosters for well adjusted birds...All trouble makers go in the pot.