HELP! I have 1 rooster and 2 hens... all nearly a year. This poor rooster has a story. He and 1 hen were fine with me and everyone until the hen got attacked and killed by a rogue dog. Then he spent about a month with no hens. He was extremely friendly and visited the neighbors. I could pet him and call him to come...all good. Then I felt sorry for his lonely soul and got 2 more hens...Well now I have a problem. every time I'm in the yard, he might be over by the barn but he comes sneaking up on me and gets int hat 'I'm gonna get you' pose. I have now taken to carrying a broom or muck rake just to walk around. This is ridiculous.... I have already had some whopping fights muck rake in hand but that booger is still on the prowl for me... Do I have any alternatives???? My other concern is that he is now walking by the road where people often stop...It's a matter of time before someone complains.... or worse, gets hurt... and then I have one question about crowing...he crows nearly constantly.. is that normal... 3AM, 11PM.. if a horse moves in the barn we know about it.... If he's walking around we now about it... In the last minute he's crowed 15times... it doesn't really bother me much bu I have heard the neighbor mention his interesting choice of crowing hours...luckily my tenant doesn't care and he lives over the barn... and Yes, he's been attacked too..as have my dogs.... but not the cats or the llamas or the ponies....this is a quandary... Being driven crazy by a deranged roo....... Thanks for your expertise and help!
If other people are in danger of being attacked, I don't think you have much choice but to eliminate him one way or another. There are methods advocated for retraining an aggressive rooster, but to be perfectly honest, most do not work. When a bird gets an idea in its head, it's pretty much there to stay. A situation here that is too long to explain made my formerly very sweet year-and-a-half year old rooster decide I was to blame for his problems. No matter what I did, on occasion, he would rush me or bite me. It wasn't often but the last time, he flogged me and came back at me for a second round and then he was gone. There was no changing his mind.
Thank you.... I just found someone to take the Evil Roo, Mr. Featherfoot.... and she is aware of his disposition... go figure Now all I have to do is grab him this evening when he's roosting on the stall wall... and pop him into one of the dog cages..... He just proved he's really got to go, he stalked me to the house and circled it for about 10 min before he gave up to go find the girls. girls are easier... Only one more day of the rake at my side........by-by baby...... I'm feeling better already...... Thanks! PS Love the nice doggie.... nice roo...whop!
I think you definitely did the right thing by getting him off your property. I think that there are a lot of training principles that can work, specifically if you get them early enough in their development. But i'll give a meanie about two chances - and that's it. I refuse to be afraid to walk around my own yard. If he doesn't take the hint, he's dinner. Plain and simple. Now, on the same token, my darling, trustworthy, flock rooster, Rocky, who is wonderful and perfect in every way, pecked me one time on the knee when he was just coming of age. He meant to be sending me a message because i was holding a hen who wasn't too happy with me. My husband and i gave Rocky a few minutes for intense communication (no we didn't beat him or anything), and he has never been remotely violent since. A little boy i was watching actually walked up and smacked Rocky on the butt once, before i knew what was happening, and Rocky just sauntered away from the child. Magnus (who was very yummy), on the other hand, attacked my nephew for looking for eggs. I run a kid-friendly zone. Magnus had to go.
Smart choice, good choice on your part. There are plenty of good mild mannered roosters out there. Interestingly enough gamecocks are among the least human aggressive roosters. They have been stringently culled for that trait.
Guess it's too late to tell you that you DON'T HAVE TO KILL HIM! If you do get another rooster though, or want to find out how you could have dealt with him, go here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=390911 This is such a common problem, with such an easy solution, besides killing the rooster.....
