I don't want to cull him, help....

[thechickenchick]

My barred rock rooster Vick is pushing his luck. He has always been a little ornery. He started out by charging at my DS. He won't even go in there now. Then he started attacking DH. He NEVER came at me. Now the past few days he has been attacking me too. Continually coming at my leg. I finally pushed, not kicked him out of the way with my foot. He backed off but I bent down to get scratch out of the bag and be pecked my neck. He is so beautiful and I have never had to or wanted to "dispose" of any animal. However, my nephews aged 2-7 come to visit me just to go see the "balk-balks" and collect eggs. It would be awful if he went after them. He is as tall as the younger 2 children.

Anyone have any ideas for rehabilitation?! What would you do? Can he be trained to be nice?

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

People have suggested holding there rooster under there armpit for a while or holding them down to the ground for a while. If not I am afraid you may have to cull.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
That has worked for me with a skittish roo. I would pick him up as soon as I get in the coop and coo at him and pet him until I get all my chores done, and then put him down. And then I would pick him up a few minutes later and love on him... I worked. He's MUCH better. It would be worth a try. Is he kind to the hens? If not, I would dispose of the evil

CHristina

 

[davidb]

Pick him up and pet him. rubbing under his beak down his breast. take an apple with you. and if he peaks, let him peak the apple. after this is done for several days it usually calms them down.always hold him up straight, and let him rest in your hand comfortably. what ever you do don't, hit,kick,or poke at him in any way ,this will only make him worse.The reason roosters will attack you ,are their trying to protect one of their hens ,or their scared of you ,and want you to go away. show him your not a threat and you want to be his Friend,and last of all ,never let a young child in with your chickens by their self because when threatened or spooked chickens can be very scary to a child

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Pick his little butt up and grap his legs. Hold him upside down and walk around with him. Make sure his hens see the whole horrid thing and make sure he knows they are.

Do this everyday if you have to. Eventually YOU will be the king roo and he will be the subdominate one. IT WORKS and you may never have a problem with him again.

This is no joke and many people use this method to stop a roo from flogging them.

 

[danischi24]

As a precautionary measure, lock him up while your nephews are there so there aren't any nasty incidents. Also get your DH to handle him the way described in the last post. I do not believe that making friends is an option as in the pecking order, you are either higher or lower than the roo. If he believes you are lower, he will pick on you by attacking. If he views you more like a predator or higher roo, he will avoid you which is the best you can hope for with an aggressive roo. Grab him whenever you get the chance & put him in undignified positions like cradled upside down in your arms & ruffling his feathers & just generally make him look & feel silly by physically manipulating him. He will see this as be thoroughly put into position by a dominant roo. If you try to catch him all the time, he will avoid you as he won't like being caught. Good luck & let us know how it goes.
Ed for spelling.

 

[thechickenchick]

My thanks to all of you! There are some wonderful suggestions in every post. LASKALAND- No he is not kind to the hens. Honestly he really isn't serving any purpose but I hate to cull him if there is a chance we can all get along.

. I do not allow the kids in the run or coop without me, but I agree with DAVIDB and DANISCHI24 that if Vick is still "around" when the kids are here he will be locked away. I honestly don't know if being nice to him is a choice DAVIDB but I will give it a try, if that doesn't work I will take the other approach and "pick his little butt up and grab his legs"

" Thank you RIMSHOES! My DH thinks this would be fun to watch! I will let you know soon how it goes. Thank you so much!

 

[speckledhen]

Almost every BR I have hatched/raised has been a sweetheart, but there's always that one who pushes you too far, in any breed. I just culled a Delaware cockerel who became increasingly aggressive after puberty. Some roosters, you can rehab and some you cant. Jake wasn't responding to any of the techniques and he had to go (was going to rehome him because of a comb flaw, but his actions changed my plans)

 

[halo]

My blue rock roo is a bit ornery. Every now and again he'll start to go after me. First day he usually runs at me when my back is turned and Im leaving the coop. Then the next day or two, if Im not paying attention, he'll jump on me. I grab him and hang him upside down for a minute or two, then swing him up in my arms and carry him around while I do chores. I might hold him 15 mins. He's perfectly happy when Im doing that. I put him back down, and he's fine for a few more days until his little pea brain forgets and he starts jumping at me again. Im not afraid of him, and he's wonderfully gentle with all his girls. He even allows 2 roosters in with him, and a bunch of babies, so its only me he's ornery with. So he can stay, I can deal with all of that.

 

[Omran]

Well if you don't want to eat him ten just give him away.
I tell you what it does not worth it when a bird starts to make you life difficult, I have no problem getting red of them and so far I got red of two in 6 months and the new one is ok and he is scared to death when he see me.

Omran.