HELP ME! MY ROO IS TRYING TO ATTACK ME!

[Cody19]

That won't fix my Demon. I used the football method, which only worked alittle bit. He's now pure evil.

Tried offering him some grass yesterday, & all he wanted was to try biting my hand through the gate.

I have a 14 month old rooster, he's a buff Polish named (David) Bowie, that's very good guardian of his flock and not rough on his hens. Some months ago he tried coming at me to attack me, I guess due to finally getting fully mature and his sex hormones kicking in. I immediately searched online and on YouTube on how to deal with an aggressive rooster and found this video by SSLFamilyDad titled "Dealing with an aggressiverooster- How to train a rooster",

and after watching it I went to the yard and when Bowie came to attack me I went after him to catch him, and did to him what's shown on the video after the 10 minute mark. I pinned him to the ground with his face down, holding his body with one hand and with my other hand on the back of his head and neck held his face on the dirt for about a minute or a while after he had stopped struggling, then picked him up, petted him and then released him. He ran away from me and for the rest of the day and the next few days he avoided being near me, moving away when I walked closed by to where he was. After a few days I guess he forgot why he should fear or respect me and he attacked me again, this time scratching my arm with his spurs, so again I went after him, caught him, pinned him to the ground, held his face to the dirt for a couple of minutes, then released him. After that he stayed away from me, moving away when I was near, and months went by with him not attacking me. But the fear faded again, and a few weeks ago he tried to attack jumping at me to try to get me with his spurs which are now very long, but on his 2nd attempt I was able to grab him as he jumped, holding him with both my hands to keep him from breaking lose, then I pinned him to the ground and held his face on the dirt for a while after he stopped struggling, before released him. Since then he hasn't tried attacking me, but I can walk by him without him immediately running away from me. Hopefully he won't try again, but as long as this continues to work and stop him from attacking me, at least for weeks or months, I'll continue to do it, as I don't want to rehome him. Other than those 3 times he's tried to attack me, and tried attacking my aunt (she stopped him with a broom) and her roommate (he likes to tease him), he's a really good, protective rooster.

I recommend to anyone with an aggressive rooster to do what's shown on the video (after the 10 minute mark) immediately after the rooster tries to attack, or any time during the day. Don't wait until nightfall and he's roosting, as he won't know why it's happening and chickens don'tsee well in low light, and after a night's sleep the next day he might forget why he should fear you. It might need to be repeated 2 or 3 times, and every person in the family that wants to be near the chickens might have to do it so that the rooster learns who he should fear and respect.

Here's my handsome Bowie
View attachment 2823113

I file down the spur a little on my silkie because it gets too long plus he could hurt one of the girls with it. I trim his nails a little at the same time since he doesn’t wear them down much while digging in the yard. I intend to do the same on my new Orpington rooster once he grows up. I learned my lesson when my huge Rhode Island Red rooster cut a huge gash in an Easter Egger while mating. She survived but unfortunately he sacrificed himself for his flock a few weeks later when a hawk flew into the area.

 

[McChooky]

We never allowed strangers or visitors around our chickens especially kids. No one carried the baby chicks around or the hens especially kids. Our roosters didn't feel threatened by any of us because we didn't pick any of them up unless they were sick or injured and our roosters never flogged us. We checked them for injuries and mites at night when they were on the roost not in the daylight

 

[KentuckyFriedChicken]

He's doing the same to me
He'll calm down hopefully

Oh sorry to hear... He is quite territorial and protective..

How is he and Kiwi doing?

 

[MysteryChicken]

I file down the spur a little on my silkie because it gets too long plus he could hurt one of the girls with it. I trim his nails a little at the same time since he doesn’t wear them down much while digging in the yard. I intend to do the same on my new Orpington rooster once he grows up. I learned my lesson when my huge Rhode Island Red rooster cut a huge gash in an Easter Egger while mating. She survived but unfortunately he sacrificed himself for his flock a few weeks later when a hawk flew into the area.

I tend to my rooster's spurs by trimming, or pulling once they get too long.

 

[Cadmansd]

My roo, which i raised from a chick, is a big fine black astrolorp. After about 6 months of so it is natural that they start getting aggressive. My chickens are free ranging and also have a 30yd pen that they sometimes stay in.

Now, you do have to learn yourself not to be so afraid of your roo, or else this behavior just gets enforced. Mine would always come in to attack me, i would forcefully push him away with my foot, (don't kick) and throw some good scratch down. After a while he would only try attacking me if my back was turned to him or if i didn't have food. Then it turned into a game, i would turn my back to him, he would come in, i would turn around and he would walk away like nothing was happening lol.
It also helps that my 13 year old daughter has no fear around my chickens and handles them everyday and mothers them. She will pick every one of them up including the roo.
Chickens are smart and yours is playing the part of alpha, so you must show him otherwise, a little tough love and food to bribe him goes a long way.

 

[KingD]

Oh sorry to hear... He is quite territorial and protective..

How is he and Kiwi doing?

Yes they're doing great!

 

[FoxySonia]

My roo, which i raised from a chick, is a big fine black astrolorp. After about 6 months of so it is natural that they start getting aggressive. My chickens are free ranging and also have a 30yd pen that they sometimes stay in.

Now, you do have to learn yourself not to be so afraid of your roo, or else this behavior just gets enforced. Mine would always come in to attack me, i would forcefully push him away with my foot, (don't kick) and throw some good scratch down. After a while he would only try attacking me if my back was turned to him or if i didn't have food. Then it turned into a game, i would turn my back to him, he would come in, i would turn around and he would walk away like nothing was happening lol.
It also helps that my 13 year old daughter has no fear around my chickens and handles them everyday and mothers them. She will pick every one of them up including the roo.
Chickens are smart and yours is playing the part of alpha, so you must show him otherwise, a little tough love and food to bribe him goes a long way.

That is great. After the third time of me showing my rooster Bowie that I'm the boss, he hasn't tried to attack me. I never showed fear to him, the 3 prior times that he came at me to attack, I immediately went after him and grabbed him, holding him down on the ground with his face on the dirt, until he stopped struggling. No hitting, no kicking, no screaming or yelling needed, just grab him without fear and pin him down to the floor, hold his face neck down until he stops struggling, then after about a minute let him go. It might need repeating a couple times more, but eventually he'll learn not to mess with you, that he needs to respect you as the boss/alpha.

Here's my handsome 14 month old rooster, Bowie, keeping watch.

I need to trim his spurs, they've gotten too long and unfortunately he injured one of my Wyandotte hens on the leg, one of his spurs punctured the leg and I didn't noticed until a week ago when I spotted the infected wound. Poor hen also has bumblefoot so I've had to do surgery to remove the bumble on swollen foot. I don't know if she'll survive, she needs injectable antibiotics which I don't have. I live in NYC and can't afford to spend over $600-1200 to taken the hen ro a bird specialist. I'm doing what I can for her, 20-minute Epsom salt soaks, 10-minute Tricide-Neo soak (spent $82 for 100g), antiseptic spray and triple antibiotic ointment before wrapping leg and foot with vetwrap, but sadly not seeing any improvement. I might make a post about her.

I'm going to get a dremel rotary tool with hss wood cutting disc to cut his spurs, as some videos on YouTube show, in order to prevent any injuries to the rest of the hens. I'm also buying silicone spur covers that wrap around the legs to cover the spurs.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I'm thinking we could cage him. We have a large dog cage. Would that anger hime more?

No, that usually calms them...til you reach in to his space.

 

[Cadmansd]

For spur removal here is an easy trick you can look up, microwave a potato in a microwave until hot and done, put potato on spur 3 min until soft, do NOT touch skin! Channel lock pliers on spur and twist, it should pop off. Feed potato to roo.

 

[FoxySonia]

For spur removal here is an easy trick you can look up, microwave a potato in a microwave until hot and done, put potato on spur 3 min until soft, do NOT touch skin! Channel lock pliers on spur and twist, it should pop off. Feed potato to roo.

Thanks but I rather use the no blood method, using a rotary tool with wood cutting disc to cut the spurs sheath and bone, leaving 1/4". The heat of the cutting took categorizes so stops the cut spurs from bleeding. Anyone interested in seeing how this is done, search "bloodless method of spur removal" on YouTube.