Help me convince my husband....

[tmayk]

that we need to say goodbye to our rooster!... also please help convince me.

Our 1 yr old Maran roo has gotten aggressive. The poor guy has been through A LOT! He lost his entire first flock (that he was raised from a chick with) to predators. He survived a bear attack for goodness sake; From which he got an injured leg and became known as the "pirate rooster" due to his severe limp. He has now lost half of his second flock as well and the remaining hens from this flock have just started laying. So I can understand his aggression and I am truly attached to the noisy guy...

But, I have two kids and he attacks them! He went after my 1 year old when she was in the yard and has now gone after my 3 year old twice. He doesn't show any aggression toward my husband at all, but the guy HATES me. I mean he really really dislikes me. I do not fear him at all when I am alone, but when I am trying to wrangle my toddlers in the garden I do feel nervous that he will go after them and I am sure he senses this. He jumps at me through the fence and if i swat at him or shoo him away he just continues. He even tried to get after me today in the window of the coop when i was opening up the door for the morning.

My kids dont understand why they can be in the chicken run anymore and why their "pet rooster" is mean now.
I couldn't stand to eat the guy now, as he was raised as a pet and we are attached to him, but i think we should relocate him. My husband wants to keep him, says that we just shouldnt let the kids go in the run ( we put them in an enclosed run to protect from predators after so many loses) but I think that is sad and I miss socializing with the hens!!

What do you all think?? its obvious right? the boy should go.
Edited to add; thank you all for your input. You solidified what I already knew to be true. I will be posting up a flier at the feed shop to relocate the Roo. If he doesn't find a new home soon then he will have to be put down. A spring approaches and the kids will be in the garden more and wanting to interact with the hens more we just can't risk his aggression being taken out in them! I don't need to convince my husband anymore. He said he didn't realize it worrie me so much and that when i lay out all the incidents of Roos aggressive tendencies there really is no denying that he is a danger. He agrees we should give it a short amount of time to see if we can find a new home for the guy and if not then he will put him down... Also I posted (post #8) that the rooster is completely locked away from the children at this point and has been for some time now. I'm rather looking forward to being able to comfortably interacted with our sweet hens again without any worry for the children.

2nd EDIT- Update; We found a man in our area who rehomes roosters. We are dropping Phillbert off tomorrow.

 

[fried green eggs]

I feel sorry for your rooster but, When it comes to a rooster that has started going after your children... You need to get rid of him Yesterday! Your kids are too young to be dealing with a rooster especially a mean one. What if he gets one of your kids in the face or they lost their eye sight because of him? Sometimes the best thing is not easy but, must be done! Some of his aggression maybe because he is in pain so you might be ending his suffering too.

Be Strong and Do what you have to do, to protect your kids.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The roo will try to sneak up on you and spur you (maybe get you in the eye when you are bending over one day).

He needs to be put down. Hey, been there, done that. Only my youngest child had blood drawn first.

There are roos that are sooooo nice- hold out for one of those!

 

[redsoxs]

I agree with ChickensAreSweet. There are plenty of nice birds out there. It isn't worth injury to your children to keep him around any more than if this was an aggressive dog or cat. It's kind of sad but I think it has to be done.

 

[Mrs. K]

I really would hesitate to have a rooster, any rooster around children that small. They are prime targets.

And really, one can tell a child and expect them to mind, but sometimes they make a mistake of judgement, and should they pay with their eye sight or a terrible facial scar for the rest of their lives because they forgot and went too close to the roo?

The thing is, you have had several warnings, you have been lucky so far, but the bird needs to go ASAP. Put it on Craigslist and don't ask any questions.

Pet roosters seem to be the ones that get the meanest. They are not the least bit afraid of you, and you are not of them, and add a bunch of hormones, and it is a surprising situation, often time so surprising that you don't want to believe it, but once he starts attacking, he is not going to quit, and you really should not let your children in the yard until he is gone.

The hens will lay just fine without him, and the kids won't be afraid to be with them.

A lot of roo's have ruined chickens for kids.

MrsK

 

[donrae]

Honestly, I don't care what he's been through. I really don't think he does, either.

I do know the ONE place on earth a child should feel safe is their own home. I completely fail to understand why any person keeps any aggressive animal, period. And any animal that attacks my child is shot. I'm not sure how you'd justify keeping an animal that attacked a child....how would you explain that to the kid? "We loved the rooster more than we wanted to keep you safe?" Sorry if I'm coming off too strong, but I'm quite passionate on this topic. Last roo that attacked my son was shotgunned on the spot.........not even enough left to eat. And I was just fine with that!

 

[15shenyl]

To bad, I my self have never delt with a mean rooster, my 3 were the sweetest little things in the world. I had to give them away to a friend because I didn't want any chicks. I was so sad, but I look at it that I can go and visit them and im getting 3 new female chicks to replace the roosters. I know it's hard but you never want a mean rooster, our friends keep there roosters unless they get mean, than they sell them. You also don't want to worrie that every time you and your family go out that you will be atacked, it's not worth the risk.

 

[tmayk]

Thanks for all of your replies!! For the record we NEVER entended to have a rooster at all, he was one of our sexed chicks from the feed store lot. And he is completely locked of from the children at this point and has been for some time now so the kids are not in danger o him when they play in the yard... With that said I still agree with you all! Maybe just writing it down helps solidify it, you know. He really does need to go!
Goodbye Phillbert!!

 

[SJ]

TMAYK, you have a ticking time bomb.
This is the "old yeller" tale and we all know how it has to end.
Its sad but you know if it isnt a child it will be you with a spur under your skin. Nice roosters are out there. Dont let emotions for one bird ruin a love for a species.
IMO If a roo is a man fighter he won a place at dinner.