how to not mess up my rooster's mojo

[PunkinPeep]

I have this most wonderful RIR rooster, Rocky. I love him, love him, love him, because since he was a "teenager," and had to be corrected for pecking me in the knee, i have never had to correct him for anything again. He is everything i think a good free ranging rooster should be. He keeps my hens safe, makes sure they eat, and keeps them all fertile, etc., etc., etc. He is all those things, yet when a little boy who was visiting my house, ignorantly walked up and slapped Rocky hard on the back, he just walked away. He is a wonderful, ideal, virtually perfect, head rooster. I have great respect for him (if it isn't absolutely ridiculous to have respect for a rooster) because he does his job so well, yet is completely submissive to me.

Here's my problem: Rocky has bumblefoot - on both feet. I know where to find the information on how to fix it - that's not my question. My problem is that i'm worried about communicating to him that he has done something wrong. I have rarely ever handled him at all since he was young because i haven't had a reason to and because i didn't want to "humble" him in front of his girls unnecessarily. But now, he is going to have to undergo double bumblefoot surgery, and i am concerned about making him think he's in trouble in some way. As my husband put it, i don't want to "mess up his machismo."

So, i'm here to get any advice you want to offer me. I know how to humble a mean rooster; i just don't know how to not screw up a great one.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Did i post this in the right section?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Rocky sounds like a great rooster, and I can appreciate your concern over keeping him that way. But I don't think that roosters think on the terms you're describing. I'd catch him up at night when he'll be easy pickings & won't make a fuss in front of the hens. Keep him in a small cage in a dark room until it's time to operate. Swaddle him in a towel so he won't flap, and cover his head so he's oblivious to what's happening. I really don't think it will affect his behavior that much afterwards, and he really needs his feet tended to right away.

 

[Tala]

I have a decent RIR roo, he behaves for me and that's good enough for me. He generally takes "everything" in stride. I don't recall him ever acting out because I clipped wings or put on leg bands or wrangled them for a dusting. Just be firm and have a "this is what we are going to do today" attitude about it, dont make a big deal or do a lot of fussing over him.

 

[gritsar]

I've had to treat my roo's feet multiple times for a condition as yet undiagnosed.
My roo is like your roo in nature. I go and get him at night, after they've all gone to roost. The hens barely notice me removing him in the dark. When we're done with the treatment(s), I offer him a treat, a handful of cat food. After he's finished (he always has to wipe his beak on my wrist and actually waits for me to offer my wrist), back to the coop he goes.
I've been doing this for more than a year now and never had any problem.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Thanks all of y'all for the encouragement! I am so dreading this, and i don't want to mess anything up.