Help, my rooster attacks!

[chooks4life]

Quote: Whoa, I'd have necked him and started his bleeding for soup immediately... On the spot!

I find it kinda disturbing that your daughter would accept being attacked by a domestic animal as her own fault. All she did was handle another domestic animal, not even harm it. It's not like you're running a zoo of wild animals, these are domestic animals and must be handled, and are descended from millions of domestic animals, the vast majority of which received some level of handling and interaction with humans. I'm quite surprised you and your family have shown these violent and unreasonable animals such patience.
Quote: Glad you think so. Anyone who keeps and breeds a violent rooster is increasing the chances of humans being maimed or killed by violent roosters. They're a terrible slur on the good roosters everywhere. Thankfully some people judge a breeding male by his merits, not make excuses for his aberrant mentality and violence.

EDIT: I have tried many methods of dealing with vicious roosters. None worked long term. The only thing these roosters had in common was being descended from violent roosters who were bred despite attacking humans. They were reared by different people, with totally different husbandry methods, some handled, some not, all of them also reared with roosters who never attacked humans. But the sons of the violent ones turned violent without provocation. I eradicated mine, and keep only good males, and none of the hundreds of offspring I've bred from these good roosters has attacked any human or hen. I find it quite aggravating to visit someone and be warned that I will be attacked by their 'gorgeous' rooster who 'looks after the hens so well' --- and I'm not supposed to defend myself?! No.

 

[ChickSter99]

You're exactly right that I'm not running a wild zoo. My daughter is only 10. She loves her chickens and had just that same week lost her cat to the neighbor's loose dog. I could see where she was coming from. Just so you know, dumplings are on the menu. I'm finished with us having to be on our toes all the time. We have only had chickens for a year, so we're still learning. I have since done some research and the Cochin and Brahma are supposed to be the "nice" roos. I know there are bad apples in every bunch. We have hatched both but are unsure of the genders as of now. I don't know if it makes any difference or not but these two roos are hatchery roos. Do have a suggestion for a roo that would be good? We had heard Australorp and obviously that didn't work.

 

[V-NH]

My frizzled silkie hybrid rooster attacked me over and over again today when I tried to remove a sick hen from the coop. I kicked him away several times and he just kept coming back. I was never really alarmed by it, but he also can't fly at all so I wasn't worried about damage above ankle level. Still, I am strongly considering culling him because I do plan to breed my chickens. He's also been really violent while mating with my hens lately. I was really excited to see what I would get by crossing a frizzled silkie to a white leghorn though.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: I firmly believe it is not the breed, it is the strain, and therefore the breeder of the last few ancestors of the animal in question. I have kept many breeds and tried many husbandry methods and have not found any breed to have read the book on themselves, nor written it. Recent ancestors is the most relevant bit to watch concerning breed. Doesn't matter how nice his great great great great great grandfather was. The breeder's mentality is the most important thing of all to watch, since if he came from violent stock, they know, since they did it, and violence won't be the only bad thing they bred in since it is symptomatic of a dangerously skewed breeding discipline. Your best bet for getting a decent rooster it to carefully 'vet' the breeders.

You mentioned you're new to chooks, and I wish you all the best with that. About hatchery chooks, I've sworn off them, more trouble than good, but that doesn't mean you won't get some decent ones. Mass breeders are more likely to judge a male by type than nature when it comes to making the cull or breed choice. Not all do. I would recommend you learn more of the hatchery breeding criteria and their opinions on males to have an idea of whether or not you can expect violence.

I think in time you will come to see that certain look in the eye that shows a rooster intends violence. It shows before he even hits puberty. You'll notice something oddly amiss about his behaviour, sort of recognition that you are a much stronger area of interest to him than you ought to be. You can see the same look in a dog's eyes when it intends harm; in fact the dog breed I have seen most often give off the same piercing indirect glare combined with the palpable aura of pending violence is guard-trained rottweilers and pitbulls. This isn't a slur on those breeds of dog, I've met very nice ones of both, but when it comes to the brooding emanation of danger, the worst roosters have that same menace to them. I guess 'intent to kill' sums it up. Many dogs that bite don't intend to kill. Most roosters who attack on the other hand do intend to kill.

Before buying any rooster, have a good long relaxed chat, sorta aimlessly, with the breeder, to find out their stance on animals regarding subjects like instinct, training, possessive or territorial behaviour, permissable behaviour to each other and to humans, males and their social place and duty, heritable behaviour, their opinion on testosterone and its actions, and anything that might lead you to obtaining in a peaceful manner the answer to the main question: would this breeder keep and breed violent males? Many people are deceptive about it because they feel guilty or worry about people's reactions or something. It's best done in a non judgmental manner of course.

You can check out the other males on their property. Do they believe the only safe male is a desexed one? Do they believe a male's nature is inherently violent? Do they have to show aggression to control their animals? Maybe ask them what to do if a rooster attacks you or sizes up to you. Any of these questions should give you an idea of what sort of breeding criteria the rooster you buy from them had his ancestors selected for in terms of behaviour. I have been attacked by both large and small roosters and the only common factor between them was their respective breeders keeping violent males to breed. (Both were show breeders and couldn't see past how beautiful they thought these vicious roosters were, and their offspring). There is no breed that is safe, your best chance is to learn to spot the warning signs in both breeder and rooster, and act quickly to be rid of both. A lot of these breeders aren't bad people, they're just misinformed and often favor an animal's rights over a human's. A bit like that person who contributed a photo of a rooster to this thread saying 'if you kill a mean rooster, you're the mean one' --- I'm sure their intentions are not harmful, but if they do keep roosters, I bet they are beaten daily by them, and life is miserable for them and their other animals because of their beliefs. I would never buy from them.

Quote: Without being able to fly, he can still jump quite high. While I was attacked while standing by a leghorn male who went for my face, he didn't use his wings to jump that high; he only employed his wings to slow his fall back down after I slapped him away, and as soon as he hit the ground he jumped right back at my face. I'm not short. But he didn't need to fly to jump to reach my face.

The silky rooster I was also attacked by, at another person't place, did more damage. He had soft and loose blunt spurs which wobbled, but he did deep bone and tissue bruising. The scratches were pretty deep but the bruising worse. His owner is attacked daily by him. A rooster who is violent to you and your hens is distressing two groups too many. If you cross him with a leghorn you will get something that can take that violence to your face. The longer legged gene seems more often inherited than not. I've crossed silkies and leghorns. You'll get some pretty ones but I eradicated the whole lot due to both mental and physical defects, namely violence and leucosis.

I'm glad to hear you too aren't going to breed him. I think some people just need to see a video of a rooster getting stuck into a toddler. I've seen it on video, it's horrific, the child can do absolutely nothing to protect themselves. Over here toddler deaths by roosters aren't uncommon. A rooster can pack an enormous punch behind even soft spurs; it's like the eagle being able to apply a tonne of crushing power per talon point. It's like being bashed with a hammer with nails in the end. You won't feel the stab wounds until later, because the sheer force they are delivered with is temporarily numbing. If he's directly stabbing, that is. Some just gouge, which isn't really any better. Those who say anyone who kills a mean rooster is the mean one needs to see the descendants of their 'saved' rooster maiming, disfiguring, or killing a toddler. That's the reality of such 'nice' people's animal keeping habits' impact on the world.

 

[one old chick]

My only advice is attempt to become his freind dont eat him. Right now he is the mean one. If u eat him ure becoming he mean one.
Good Luck!



i have a three month old rooster i raised from a hatchling that has now started to fly out of the pen at me, charge me from behind the wire, watches everything i do and every step i take around my barn, my hens cannot come out of the pen because he has already left the hens while free ranging to find me and and attempt to fly up at me feet first so i had no choice but to kick him in mid air and knock him to the ground. . i have never kicked an animal in my life until that moment and the guilt i felt was overwhelming. i thought it would be the end of the behoviour but it wasn't and with heavy heart h ave decided for the good of all to send him off. there really is no alternative for this bird that i have loved and nurtured for past three months. i cannot give him away because i know in my heart he will only get worse as he gets older and could potentially hurt someone and they would kill him out of anger. i cannot give him to an animal shelter without disclosing his behaviour so they won't want him (he's a people attacker) , so unless you want to come and take him home with you do not make those of us feel worse for the decisions we have to make.

 

[one old chick]

I am not a chicken, or rooster expert.

I have chickens because I really like them, enjoy having them runn around the yard while I am outside. I also love having my friends and their children, wander among them and enjoy them. I try to maintain a happy and healthy flock.

When I started last year I bought 20 chicks and ended up with 2 Roosters. One was a comet and the other- 2 weeks younger- is a Partridge rock. The comet was head man, really took amazing care of the girls. He did chase away the other Rooster from his hens, but no real fights that I ever saw.

As the comet matured he started to become aggressive, as you describe. I started by yelling at him, then at times I waved a stick at him. I then read all I could find on getting along with / handling an aggressive Rooster. The details are all above - how bad the rooster was- and how to fix it--I see all of your experiences were like mine.

I also loved the way he took care of the girls. I knew that he was only doing what he was supposed to. I have never ordered the execution of an animal.

In December- he was 10 months old- he attacked me so swiftly and with such force that to this day my shin has a sore lump. I forget what the Dr said it was. I never saw it coming and do not know what he did to created a golf ball size lump on my shin bone and draw blood through 2 layers of clothing. I was merely waling into the house with a handful of eggs, with the chicks following me looking for a treat. Things changed. I was afraid to turn my birds free if there was a chance of anyone coming over. I actually became afraid- for so far no reason- to go into the coop with him. My family was walking around with sticks, in case. Now he was not an attack bird- just unpredictable.In fact, I often hand fed him However, my little barnyard had changed....

End of story- he is gone! I am so relieved I was able to make the decision to pass him on to a friend who made soup. NO REGRETS!

I am an animal lover, but this was the best decision for me, my family and my chickens. It took me 2 months past the attack to actually eliminate him from my flock, but my advise is do not let a Rooster take away all the pleasure of your chickens!

thank you for your post, i too am having to make this same decision with very heavy heart. i raised my boy from a hatchling but at three months old he is so aggressive he has already searched me out to fly at me feet first. stalks my every move around my barn he is almost obsessed. i did hold him as a hatchling and am still able to pick him up without him becoming aggressive when he gets himself into trouble. outside of that he's constantly out to get me. i realize it's because i feed his hens and him and he sees me as a threat. i have tried to set the food up without him seeing me so he can pretend he found it for them but it hasn't done much good and now since my hens have started to lay eggs he seems to only be getting worse. i too feel my decision is for the best my hens haven't been out of the pen for three days because of him. i don't know if i will get another rooster, it really is luck of the draw. years ago i had a little cochin rooster, sweetest little man you ever saw. thank you again for your post.

 

[NWalker87]

UPDATE: We have not gotten rid of or killed our demon like rooster, as i said previously killing him will be an absoute LAST resort. We have since built a large indoor/outdoor enclosure for him and "his hens" along with a separate indoor/outdoor enclosure for our very friendly new roo (that was dumped off in a church parking lot located in a neighborhood) and "his hens and turkeys". We no longer allow any of them to free range unless we are home and working outside. A fox killed two of our hens before we were able to shoot and kill him (with permission from the game warden), and where there is one fox there is a whole pack of foxes (our property is connected to a nature reserve). So we have not had any more predator issues since April, and the mean roo is still pals with my husband, so for now all is peaceful on the Walker homefront

 

[mithious]

Roosters are the ones that pass most of the genes to the chicks...so if you breed this Roo to your flock, you will be perpetuating the aggression in your flock!!! Just another thing to think about....

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Roosters are the ones that pass most of the genes to the chicks...so if you breed this Roo to your flock, you will be perpetuating the aggression in your flock!!! Just another thing to think about....

Not that I disagree with the basic advice here, don't breed aggression into your flock... but there's nothing magical about rooster sperm. The male still contributes 50% of the genome, just like any other sexually-reproducing creature. It's just basic biology.

 

[mithious]

I know I have only been on this forum for a month or so, but have been raising chickens since I was 2 years old with my Daddy, and we bred some too. Take a white hen, cross it with any barred roo, and you get barred chicks...the aggression is passed on also...take an aggressive roo, breed to a docile hen, you get aggressive roo's.

I'm no biologist, nor do I claim to be an expert on breeding or raising chickens. I just know what we did, back in the 60's through 80's with my Daddy and the breeding programs my Daddy experimented with and the results we had, which I named above. So my conclusion is the roo passed the genes on....

Some of the heritage birds for example, are the same chickens we had back then, I believe, and you can see the genes that the breeder chose, from the roo's, in the whole flock. Yes, we did get a few exceptions, but the rule was always cull the aggressive roo's and never ever breed them as they would, almost always, pass the aggression on to the whole lot of roo's...

I have been attacked as a child by a few aggressive roo's and it was not a good thing!!! My Daddy dispatched them immediately! We always picked the most docile, to us humans, and to their hens, roo's to breed and they would occasionally throw an aggressive roo, but more often than not, all were docile, yet good protectors of their hens from predators....

Experience has to count for something? Even if I didn't go to college for biology! What I posted was my own experience with my Daddies flock and breeding experiments that I was a big part of working with also.