#1. This might be hard but you need not to be scared of chickens. Consciously or subconsciously, you may give signals to a rooster that he will read as 'I am getting weak' and if inclined, he may decide to give a challenge and see how it goes. Little things like backing away or flinching/jerking backwards from a rooster.. they really pick up on that as naturally roosters pay REAL close attention to other roosters as part of their 'social ladder climbing'.
Unfortunately as you found out, stamping and screaming does not work.. and in fact does aggravate an attack, even by a rooster who only was doing an half hearted attempt.. such drama and backing off will seriously boost his courage.
Next time, just stand your ground and be still. Stare at him. If he charges.. be brave and simply grab whatever part of him you are able to grab.. either hold him upside down or whatever.. OR fling him away. The idea is to completely "shock" him and he will not like it.. that is exactly why all those tactics recommended work- they "interrupt" the rooster's instincts.. he don't know what the heck is going on.. he expected a proper fight and instead, he went 'whoosh' up in the sky! What was that?!
It is important to do this IMMEDIATELY, in real time.. not a minute later after you fetched the husband to chase him around etc. They do not have logic for cause and effect.. they only understand immediate reactions.
You already saw some of the warning signs.. it's the angling the tail towards you and "lowering" his wings.. plus pecking at the ground.. this is him 'thinking about it'.. once you see it, it becomes easy to recognize. Watch roosters reacting to introduced roosters to see this behavior.
Do NOT test a rooster to see if he will flog.. that is kind of like teasing/provoking them and some otherwise "okay" roosters can be incited into giving it a go.
Aggression also has a genetic basis. It also exists in a contiuum from practically nil to "so aggressive a repeated whacking with a shovel does not deter".. it is not black and white. Part of why often some people will disagree on this or that regarding roosters who attack. But this also means, roosters on milder end of the aggression scale can be "cured" completely by just once or twice or whatever "distruption tactic" you decide to use, whether it be picking him up or grabbing and flinging him away. However, rooster on the middle or higher may need several "treatments".. or a treatment may seem to work.. only he acts up again some time later.. repeat the cycle.. that is the hard part, will just have to wait and see if a particular rooster is permanently cured or is one of those that keeps trying again every month or so. Usually, a rooster that tries to attack again after seeming to be cured will keep trying it again eventually so maybe for you those roosters might be best culled with something like "3 strikes and you are out" like someone else on here, they only get ONE chance here.. it's a hobby so I don't need to or want to tolerate stupid roosters... Not scaring you, just giving a heads up so you are more informed..
What I do here is simply walk in a straight line.. seems silly.. but the idea is the chickens have to MOVE for ME. I ain't side stepping around them. This also seems to have the effect of regarding me as "dominant" and don't even try anything with me. Dominant birds in both sexes often will deliberately force a lesser bird to move away.. so you forcing them to move when you walk should have the same effect.
Again, try not to be scared.. just enjoy the day, and think yourself lucky to HAVE chickens.. not everybody who wants to can.. if you see the warning signs or a rooster flogs you.. just tell your husband to cull it if you get scared again(which is totally OK) so you do not have to worry about him again (or for the kids too). Culling a rooster is a perfectly valid option, make no mistake about that. There are plenty of roosters plus they are absolutely not necessary unless you intend to breed.
Good luck, try to be brave but also remember it is okay you got scared and also if it turns out you can't handle roosters going after you.. in that case culling is perfectly fine option.
