Hi ;)

[AdaBeth]

I'm AdaBeth and I'm new here (well yea because I'm posting in introductions!) I am a newbie to chickens and raising! I have one Rhode Island Red (I believe from looking at pictures Roo and a small black hen. Robert and Cutlet! My Roo absolutely hates me!! He loves my hubby!!!! He will try to attack me (only me) when out of his pin which is mobile because of this, but only when my hubby isn't home or is out of sight! I feed and water them, I move the pin (would rather let them completely free range but don't like being jumped on!) Any ideas how I can make friends with him?? Lol

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Sorry about your roo! The best way to tame a chicken is to hand feed them and talk to them. Start by standing near him and talking. Then after a few days scatter food around you while still standing and talking. Later squat down and scatter food around you while talking. Finally, hand feed him while talking.

You may want to also check out our learning center for lots of other helpful info.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Best of luck and glad you joined!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Mean roosters are very difficult to deal with and usually there is no way to tame them down. It is their natural instincts to protect their hens. And they can cause great bodily damage. Never let children around mean roosters.

Here is a tread on working with mean roos. Keep in mind, some roosters are not fixable...https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...succeeded-in-retraining-an-aggressive-rooster

Good luck. Chickens should be enjoyable to keep. No one needs to be constantly looking over their shoulders on the look out from the rooster. If you do decide to keep him, remove his spurs.

Welcome to our flock!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

I'm sorry your rooster is so mean. Sometimes, you can "tame" an aggressive rooster by acting like a dominant chicken would around him. Don't let him breed any hens in front of you, let other birds eat before he does, randomly knock him off of a roost, and if he attacks you, pin him to the ground for a while. Those actions should help get the point across that you aren't afraid of him, and that he better change his behavior.

However, many times a rooster is just mean, and nothing can change that. In such cases, it is usually best to cull the rooster to avoid future injuries to you (or other people, children, etc.) and to avoid letting him possibly pass his aggressive tendency onto offspring.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

You've received some good advice from the above two posters.

Good luck with your rooster!

 

[drumstick diva]

Time for bad rooster to go bye bye. There is never a good reason to keep a bad rooster. So many deserving roosters can't be placed and end up on the table. While yours gets to torment you. If you keep him he will be overbreeding your one(?) hen until he severely damages or kills her. A rooster can handle 10 hens. If you don't intend to hatch eggs you really don't even need a rooster - hens lay eggs just as well without one

 

[liz9910]

x2 on drumstick diva's advice....I would get rid of the rooster and get some more hens. Good luck to you.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! X3, might be time for no roo or another roo, it is close to impossible to rehabilitate a roo who has made a habit out of attacking people.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, AdaBeth. Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm sorry about your aggressive rooster. The other members have given you some good suggestions to try to break him, but I can tell you from 50 years experience, it is very difficult to break an aggressive rooster. I agree with drumstick diva; there is no reason to keep him. You don't want to risk him injuring someone (like putting out an eye), especially if there are any children around, and you don't want to breed that kind of aggression into your flock. The only reason that anyone really needs a rooster is for fertilized eggs and the recommended ratio of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens as too many roosters will be very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. I currently have 25 hens and no roosters, and I get loads of eggs without all the aggression, fights, non-productive mouths to feed, crowing in the middle of the night, over-breeding and battering of hens that does along with having roosters (especially too many). My hens are stress free and enjoying life without roosters around to make them miserable. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in dealing with your rooster.