Help i need to know about roosters

[Arcane Araucana]

Quote:
Well put, should be tacked up on every brooder/coop where there is a rooster as well as made required reading for all newbies!!

I agree & I think it should be made one of those sticky memos at the top of the behaviors subject/topic.

I copied it, pasted it into a word document, printed it and stuck it to the refrigerator! Great stuff for us newbies.

 

[Beekissed]

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I'll tell you what I did with a roo that I had....a very huge fellow, biggest roo I've ever seen in my life!

He was the lesser roo to my old RIR for awhile, but one day I came home and knew instantly that things had changed. He had challenged my much smaller but older roo and had won sometime during the course of the day. How did I know this? He bred a hen right in front of my RIR and nothing happened. He was crowing more and had a more confident strut to his stride. He even walked towards me as I went to the coop.....and he suddenly attacked my egg basket.

Up until this day I hadn't had to school this roo....he had already been schooled by the RIR and I ruled the RIR, so everything was good....until this one day.

I fended him off temporarily with my basket and reached into the coop for my roo stick and I waited....he came back and I thwacked him across the back~these sticks are very lightweight and make more sound than fury~he ran but I could tell he was just not convinced.

I proceeded to enter the coop and I waited...he stuck his head into the coop...and proceeded to enter the coop. THWACK!!! Stick to the tail feathers...right on the fluffy parts! An unexpected attack from nowhere~just like his earlier attempt. He couldn't get out of that coop fast enough!

Again, the poor cocky thing stuck his head in the door....THWACK! Right against the pop door facing and right in front of his face!

He never attempted another attack after that and I kept up my training for a few more days....but he never relapsed. Always walked a wide berth around me after that and never entered the coop when I was there. The training I followed up with in the few days after consisted of running a few steps in his direction when we were out in the yard~just enough to make him run away. Waiting around the corner for him to walk by and lofting him with my foot right under the tail feathers. He hit the ground running!

The unexpected attack is a boss roo's MO...that is how they operate. It doesn't have to hurt, it just has to surprise and terrorize. I've never seen a lesser roo get hurt by a top roo in all the years I've kept chickens....after the first few surprises, the lesser roos know enough to run away when approached.

Of course, I've only ever free ranged, so my birds have this luxury...to run far away and stay away. In a penned world, I'm sure they have to fight now and again because they can't escape it.

My niece owned this roo's brother and he tried their defenses and won...was the terror of the yard. They finally had to gang up on him, get him down and cut off his head off with pruners! They hadn't called to find out what to do and they didn't have much experience with chickens.

I finally culled this roo from my flock but not for aggression towards humans or animals....he was just so large that he was injuring my hen's when mating. Loss of feathers and wings dragging from sprains...it wasn't worth it to have the biggest roo in the land.

When we processed him, I found the source of his libido...his testes were ginormous!!! Big as a human's! And his offspring had the same traits. Poor thing was just hormone driven to be a breeding machine.

Hope this helps! Just always be consistent in your training...every opportunity spent with your animals is a training opportunity. Keep your eyes open...train this roo while your child is present. Show him your training techniques and let him participate. Pick up your roo and let your boy hold him and lose his fear of the roo, but not the respect. Explain to your boy about the roo's mind and why you are training him this way. Teach him to walk confidently into the coop and run at the roo if the roo doesn't leave his area...provide him with his own roo stick for confidence.

Always monitor interaction between the child and roo, be close enough to intervene, be vigilant but not afraid, be matter of fact and be assertive. Stand your ground if the roo approaches~I know this is hard, but do it anyway~have long pants on, nice sturdy shoes....give him a full frontal kick if he gets too close. Lunge at him and chase him a few steps every time you get near him.

I've never had to do this behaviour for more than two days to get results...lasting results. I don't have to carry a stick with me or look over my shoulder. I just KNOW where he is at all times, just like you do your children.

 

[GwenDellAnno]

Thanks Beekissed. That makes the most sense of anything I've seen here. I did challenge him a few times, but obviously not consistently enough (he kept coming back for more and I gave in and left ~ oops!!!) So obviously now he thinks, he's boss. I'll need to set him straight on that one. If your roos and their change in status are any indication, it sounds like it's never to late to work on this!!! Thanks again for your insight into rooster dominance behavior.

 

[sheilawagner]

Yes Thanks for the insight into how a roo thinks and behaves, now we know what to look out for.

So far, if my White Rock roo tries to peck me, I actually peck him back. I use my finger and I go peck him and say, "No you don't!" and he scoots away. No problems so far. I have to keep doing that, so they understand, I am the alpha around here. In that sense, dogs and chickens are alike, they need to know who is the boss.