Hubby threatening to get rid of the rooster

[PortageGirl]

I can't say flat out stew him or not. That's something you'll have to come to terms with. Maybe you've seen these already, maybe not. Neither is a sure fire fix, nothing is really and I can see why your husband might want to just get rid of him, it's amazing how intimidating a big flopping clawing rooster can be! Give these a thoughtful read.... I agree with Horsefeatherz about contacting the people you got him from if you decide to either eat or re-home him though, that's a good way to go about it if the people are friends or even acquaintances of yours. Being up front with them is probably for the best, especially if you're from a small town!

Give these a read first too though.

http://www.plamondon.com/faq_roosters.html

http://shilala.homestead.com/roosters.html

 

[Rachel's Hobby Hatchery]

I fogot, dont look him in the eye (dont now if you know this or not) birds dont like it if you look them in the eye, its like barring your teeth or growling at a dog...

 

[smalltowngal]

Quote:
Ok. The first one says don't act like a chicken. The second one says act like a chicken.

I think hubby and I are both doing things wrong. I'm acting scared. When Dixon comes after hubby, he just sticks his work boot in the air and lets Dixon attack his boot. I'm thinking that's encouraging the aggression. I really want to fix our behaviors because I really think it's us humans that are doing things wrong and not the rooster. If we're the ones messing up, then getting a new rooster probably won't help us much.

Oh, the rooster came from 4 hours away so he's not from our small town.

 

[PortageGirl]

Yeah, I know neither of those articles are perfectly right, nor do they agree, but I got a lot out of both, if only for ideas and attitude. One thing they both had in common was that you being nice to the rooster is better than being combative, if they know you as a kind creature, you're less of a threat to them or the hens. I actually got more out of the one by Bob Plamondon. I think it fits my nature better. I've never made pets out of my roosters either, though I make sure I can handle them in case of injury etc. but I mostly do that in the evening after they go to roost. I once had one who was very friendly and wanted to sit on my lap, but he was the odd one out that way. Mostly they just go about their business. We always free ranged them though. I think the attitude changes if they are more confined.

I think my whole life (and we've had chickens since I was 10 or so and I'm almost 53) I just had a very matter of fact attitude about them and somehow it worked out. I had an aunt and an elderly neighbor for me to learn from initially, and the chickens were always my responsibility so I had a good long time to figure things out. I liked the idea of distracting them with some scratch in that one, and avoiding a fight with them seems to make more sense too. Good luck whatever you do. It's not always easy to decide this stuff.