Has anyone ever actually succeeded in retraining an aggressive rooster?

[Farmer Viola]

As for your regrets for reacting without thinking when he bit you, and pinning him when chasing him ( if it helped calm him down, then it helped and that's that )- don't hold onto your guilt or regrets, because it will hold you back from making important decisions in the future. This is, ultimately, your bird and not mine- I'm not seeing his immediate behaviour, so I'm unable to judge when general rules apply and when special rules apply- that's up to you and your judgement. You will always know your pet better than anyone else, even if that person is an "expert" in something. Also, animals don't hold grudges- they react to you as you are AT THAT MOMENT, so if you're holding onto the past, they'll register that and react to you differently than if you just interact with them in a here-and-now manner. Animals tend to give people clean slates at each new interaction, and it's the people's reactions that determine how that animal will react to them.

I am taking this advice to heart and moving forward confidently.

I already feel more at ease around him, and I think he does around me, too. Today, I caught him with very little freaking out. He knew it was coming and was pacing the fence, but I just slowly picked him up and he didn't jump or flap like normal. it was a wholly uneventful pick up. he is also taking treats right from my hand and then turning and giving them to the girls, which just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside

Quote: Can you tell me exactly how you correct the wing dance?

Here are the actions I have/can employ thusfar:

• pick up/football hold - forwards for good boy, backward for bad boy.
• head tap - only able to apply this if I am already holding him
• catch + pin - neck to ground - only did this once - when should it be used, specifically?

This being my first rooster, I can't quite comprehend what crowing "means" so your explanation was very helpful. I sometimes see him face all 4 cardinal directions and crow each direction, so I theorized it was him notifying everyone else that this was his territory. most of the time he just chatters quietly to me or the hens, but I am going to focus more on when and why he crows.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

I just disagree with the wing-a-ling dance by charging the bird, but just a little bit. Just enough to throw them off and go, "Oh! Hey! What's going on?" Millan's description of correcting a behaviour is "redirecting their attention", so you don't need to do much- just distract them from what they're doing. If a rooster wing-a-lings near a rooster that is higher in dominance than the dancing rooster, he'll charge the dancing rooster, maybe bump into him, but really all they do is throw each other off.

I only use the head-pinning when my roosters do something VERY wrong- biting, scratching, charging, kicking, etc. It's not something I do often any more, especially now that I'm more comfortable with my flock and established with them.

Crowing is done out of two reasons- 1.) dominance; 2.) distress. Dominance crowing happens in the morning and evening, and periodically throughout the day. It says, "I'm here! This is my territory! How are things on your edge?" If your flock had more than one rooster, the other roosters would then echo back, saying things like, "I'm here! Things are well and uneventful here!", or "I'm here! We are having a hard time finding food and water over here! Help!" It's a bit like Marco-Polo, but with a bit more information passed between parties. Alternatively, submissive roosters will crow when upset throughout the day, and ALL roosters will crow to alert certain dangers throughout the entire day and night. Some submissive roosters crow to say, "I saw something scary! Come help me, Dominant One!", or they'll be alerting that they don't know where food, shelter, etc. is. If you had a flock of both roosters and hens, some roosters follow hens around and help them nest, then when the egg is laid, the hen makes her "egg cackle" noise to alert the rooster she's done, and her rooster will crow to alert the other roosters for help escorting this lady back to the flock and thus to safety. Roosters crow at odd noises, unusual lights, strange sights, etc. It's almost all distress-based.

 

[Farmer Viola]

I just disagree with the wing-a-ling dance by charging the bird, but just a little bit. Just enough to throw them off and go, "Oh! Hey! What's going on?" Millan's description of correcting a behaviour is "redirecting their attention", so you don't need to do much- just distract them from what they're doing. If a rooster wing-a-lings near a rooster that is higher in dominance than the dancing rooster, he'll charge the dancing rooster, maybe bump into him, but really all they do is throw each other off.

I only use the head-pinning when my roosters do something VERY wrong- biting, scratching, charging, kicking, etc. It's not something I do often any more, especially now that I'm more comfortable with my flock and established with them.

Crowing is done out of two reasons- 1.) dominance; 2.) distress. Dominance crowing happens in the morning and evening, and periodically throughout the day. It says, "I'm here! This is my territory! How are things on your edge?" If your flock had more than one rooster, the other roosters would then echo back, saying things like, "I'm here! Things are well and uneventful here!", or "I'm here! We are having a hard time finding food and water over here! Help!" It's a bit like Marco-Polo, but with a bit more information passed between parties. Alternatively, submissive roosters will crow when upset throughout the day, and ALL roosters will crow to alert certain dangers throughout the entire day and night. Some submissive roosters crow to say, "I saw something scary! Come help me, Dominant One!", or they'll be alerting that they don't know where food, shelter, etc. is. If you had a flock of both roosters and hens, some roosters follow hens around and help them nest, then when the egg is laid, the hen makes her "egg cackle" noise to alert the rooster she's done, and her rooster will crow to alert the other roosters for help escorting this lady back to the flock and thus to safety. Roosters crow at odd noises, unusual lights, strange sights, etc. It's almost all distress-based.

So helpful, as always. Thank you, Oly Chicken Whisperer!

 

[Farmer Viola]

not mine, but recently found this video of the nicest rooster and had to share

her other 2 roosters:

 

[scratch'n'peck]

not mine, but recently found this video of the nicest rooster and had to share

her other 2 roosters:

Wow, thanks for posting that; it is so adorable. I watched one of her other videos right afterward of her hugging one of her other roosters. Yikes, I must resist watching multiple cute chicken/ animal videos or a could be sitting in front of the computer for hours.