HELP!!! My BUFF ORPINGTON rooster attacked me! What do i do?!

[jed2012]

Okay, so, a couple of days ago, I went out to play with my chickens. I let them out of the coop for a bit to roam, play, etc., I come to my BUFF ORPINGTON to play with him, (I was dumb to do this since chickens dont play around like a dog would, also, my rooster is well known to attack shoes, thinking they're a threat

) so, being dumb, I headbutted him softly, I look up, and I see him jumping at my in the air spurs first! Next thing I know, my face is on the ground, i felt like i got scratched on the face and bonked on the head.

I played cool slowly walking to the house to tell mom, as to not make neighbors think I'm a wimp (in reality I was screaming, not crying... yet... calling, "MOM!!!! THE ROOSTER ATTACKED ME!!!" (no answer) "MOM!!!?".
I ran into the house, got to my mom and let all my tears out. I said, "Mom! The rooster attacked me! :'( Am I bleeding?!" I let her look at my face where I felt the scratch. She said, "It's red, but it's not bleeding, just wash it with hot water and some soap, you'll be fine." Then, I showed her the back of my head, now starting to sting. Her eyes grew big, she said, "Oh my gosh! There's blood running down your head. It's dripped onto your undershirt! Take a nice bath and scrub the gash."

(The next day) So, feeling angry, after a while of brooding and seething, I thought to myself, "That stupid rooster! I'll teach him to hurt me (That may be a bit dramatic, but whatever)! I'm gonna CUT off his spurs so he can't hurt me (At the time, I didn't know you could just crack off the layers with a plyer)!

" The day after that, I took off his spurs and figured out I could crack them off.

Does anyone have any comments, questions, concerns, advice, etc.?

 

[bobbi-j]

So many of the "my rooster attacked me" posts come from people who hand-raise and treat their roosters as pets. So, for advice, I would say treat your rooster like a chicken and not a dog. Most roosters instinctively know that their "job" is to protect the flock. They are the flock boss in their eyes. When you play with your rooster, hand feed him or whatever, he sees you as an equal or less than equal. In other words, he was trying to dominate you. Don't let him do that. If you can, keep your distance, and make him keep his. Frankly, I wouldn't keep him around at all since he has a history of attacking shoes. Why? Because that behavior could escalate to flying up and attacking a small child. I don't know how old you are, but think about what he did to you. How much worse could it be for a toddler? If you have neighbors, friends or family that come over and he attacks someone and causes and injury, you would be liable if they decided to sue for damages.

 

[salt and pepper]

Mean roosters taste good.... just saying. But honestly, this time, he was just doing his job, and since you touched him on the head, he probably thought of that as a dominate attack, and he was asserting his position, don't play with him, and you could probably go without any incidents.

 

[donrae]

Roosters just plain aren't pets. If you can live with him not being friendly and a pet, give it a try. De-spurring him isn't going to change his behavior, though, and they can still do some impressive damage with just the claws.

It sounds to me like you're young enough you just want to play with your birds, and have them be pets. I'd advise to get rid of the rooster.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I agree with all the others. Roosters simply are not pets. I would re-home this rooster since he's already attacked you, and clearly doesn't respect you. Then think long and hard about whether you actually need a rooster. If you really, really do, the next time, don't tame the rooster. No hand-feeding, no playing, no petting. He should move away from you if you move towards him, and not want to be touched.

A BO is a big bird, that can do real damage esp. to a small child. Don't take the chance.

 

[jed2012]

I agree with all the others. Roosters simply are not pets. I would re-home this rooster since he's already attacked you, and clearly doesn't respect you. Then think long and hard about whether you actually need a rooster. If you really, really do, the next time, don't tame the rooster. No hand-feeding, no playing, no petting. He should move away from you if you move towards him, and not want to be touched.

A BO is a big bird, that can do real damage esp. to a small child. Don't take the chance.

I do need a BO rooster, im breeding BO's

 

[jed2012]

Roosters just plain aren't pets. If you can live with him not being friendly and a pet, give it a try. De-spurring him isn't going to change his behavior, though, and they can still do some impressive damage with just the claws.

It sounds to me like you're young enough you just want to play with your birds, and have them be pets. I'd advise to get rid of the rooster.

Yes, I can't say my age, but I am a young teenager. I used to feed him and give him extra treats as a young fowl before he was an adult. I guess I shouldn't have done that.

 

[chickenlover237]

I have the same issue as you, seemingly nice rooster at first, giving him lots of treats when he was a baby, then when he gets older starts attacking, I still haven't solved this issue with my rooster.

 

[CherishHolland]

There is an awesome thread on here about dealing with aggressive roosters. Lots of comments on how others handled theirs. Worth the reading in my opinion. Good luck and hope you heal up nicely.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...succeeded-in-retraining-an-aggressive-rooster

 

[can you hear me now?]

Its been my opinion that roosters will be roosters. Many times over I see post of people saying their rooster attacked them even though be had been so sweet before. Once they hit a certain age they feel the need to assert dominince. I have a ten year old now that thinks it is okay to pet our full grown BO rooster. I discourage it since we are his third owner. He first one had troubles. The second just needed the extra room and now we have him until I can give him to a neighbor. He sure does t lime me but he does keep his distance.