I don't want to get rid of my rooster!

[Gnomercee]

I am new to chickens and have a small flock of 7 hens and 1 rooster (started with 8 non-sexed chicks). My Rhode Island Red rooster "Eric" is fairly tame. He has chased my boys, but they are learning to stand up to him, plus my German Shepherds protect them (non-violently and semi-hilariously). My issue with the rooster is he rides a few of the hens backs' raw. I put saddles on them, but now the leading edge of their wings are just as raw. I currently have my Shepherds trained to interrupting his "fun" in order to help the poor girls out but I think I need a more permanent solution.

1. Should I get rid of my rooster?
2. Should I isolate him while they heel?
3. Should I isolate the wounded ones while they heal instead?
4. Should I get more hens?

Any suggestion would be great. I really like Eric and would rather keep him.

 

[50-45-1]

A rooster that is young and already attacking children should not keep breathing.
You say you are new to chickens and started with chicks. This tell me he is young and probably does not have spurs yet. Once he has spurs he can easily injure anyone who turns there back and gives him opportunity.
Google images "spured by my rooster" and see the horrible injuries.
Your children's safety must come first.
I'm talking from experience of 50 years of having chickens. I have learned the hard way.
Cull him quick. Free roosters are everywhere. Search for a better behaved and more gentle one for your hens.
Good luck!

 

[azygous]

The watchword here is rooster management. Well, two words. Getting more hens won't necessarily guarantee that he won't still have a few favorites that he wears out. Keeping a rooster requires a plan to minimize the stress to the hens. Keeping a rooster also requires that you train and discipline him so that he knows his boundaries with humans. If you can't manage him, then you need to give him away.

To manage a rooster to minimize the stress to the hens, building a pen for him to limit his access to the hens will solve that problem. I have such an enclosure for my two roosters, and they are very content to chat with the girls from their pen in the run, and they get free range time with the younger hens most days for a couple of hours.

To train and discipline your rooster, you need to examine your own role in his misbehavior, correct anything your are doing that might give him the wrong idea that he's free to chase the kids or make aggressive moves toward you. Correcting his bad behavior by restraining him is one method, while ignoring his good behavior. It's a little more involved than this, but those are the basic ideas. Look up some of the terrific rooster training threads we have here on BYC for more detailed instructions.

An untrained rooster is as dangerous as an out-of-control untrained dog, which I know you can appreciate. Training a rooster is actually much easier than training a dog, and requires far less time to get a well behaved roo. Occasionally, a roo is genetically bad and is untrainable, and those make good soup.

 

[Gnomercee]

I never meant to give the impression that he is out of control. When the rooster was younger he went after my son. It was actually the first time he did that. We have since taught my boys what to watch out for and we haven't had a problem in a while. He chest bumps my leg every so often but I will give him a solid nudge under the breastbone and he settles right down. I don't want to jus cull him because it seems so unnecessary and cruel. I won't hesitate if he really starts misbehaving I just don't think it has come to that yet.

Eric is 10 months old. Is he fully spurred?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
There are some good articles on this site concerning roosters; look up @Beekissed , @BantyChooks , and @Shadrach especially.
I think your cockerel is living on the edge and may well escalate into really bad behavior with humans. He's already being too rough on your pullets, and they don't deserve to be harassed like this.
Polite cockerels and adult roosters don't behave this way! Right now we have six cockerels and one adult rooster, and no hens or pullets are bare backed, and none of them challenge me, or any other humans. Don't wait until a family member, or worse, a visitor, is injured!
Mary

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have two EE roosters who are almost 11 months old. The picture below of them was taken last summer. Anyway, several months ago I was sitting on a stool in the chicken yard holding & petting one of my BO hens. The white roo (Casanova) came over under the pretense of picking at the ground like he was eating. I could tell he was really just trying to size me up. When I went to put the hen on the ground, he launched at both of us. I don't know if he was going after the hen, me, or both of us. I chased him a few feet and then turned and picked up a paver stone and chucked it at him as hard as I could. Honestly I was so livid that I didn't care in that moment if it killed him. It hit him square on the back and flattened him to the ground. He jumped up and took off, far away from me. I'm sure it probably bruised him up but didn't seriously injure him. Needless to say, he has NEVER attempted that nonsense again. I do see him come around me from time to time with that same "pretend like I'm actually doing something else while I figure my odds" type of look, but he has never attacked again.

Fast forward to the other fella.... Fabio. He is actually the dominant rooster in the yard. He and Casanova were raised together. Yet now he chases Casanova mercilessly and bites at his head. He's left Cas bloody at least once. Other times he has left Cas completely alone to mingle among the girls... So I'm not sure what to think. Is there a risk of keeping them both? They roost together in the same coop without any drama or fighting? It's only in the yard when the drama starts occasionally (not every day).

Also, I was walking between the barn and the chicken yard a few days ago to feed everyone and I felt something brush the back of my calf. I turned around and it was Fabio. I don't THINK he was trying to attack me. It is possible that he was startled by one of the hens who had come running when she saw me carrying the feed bucket. But it did make me suspicious about him....

So, just like the OP, I don't really want to cull my roos but I am watching them both very closely and hoping I don't have to resort to taking that step.

 

[50-45-1]

Is he fully spurred?

NO, not at 10 mo.

In another year or so his spurs will be maybe 2 inches long.
I clip my roosters spurs because he can accidentally injure hens while mating.
I also want to add that my current rooster RINGO has 7 hens and none of them have the slightest feather loss. RINGO is a gentleman.
Some roosters have bad technique. Your rooster just sounds like an adolesent teenage jerk. He may not improve but get worse. Keep a close eye on him if you decide to keep him.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Eric is 10 months old. Is he fully spurred?

In my experience, a rooster is never fully spurred. They continue to grow, just like nails do. I have a 5 year old that is at about 4 inches now and an 8 year old at about 5.5-6 inches

 

[50-45-1]

I have a 5 year old that is at about 4 inches now and an 8 year old at about 5.5-6 inches

I see stories often of good roosters whose owners never trim their spurs hanging themselves from roosts, fencing, or accidentally stabbing themselves. Slicing open and Injuring hens sides and backs.
Becoming lame and unable to walk. Getting tangled in grass and unable to protect them selves or the flock because they can not move naturally.
Spurs should not be allowed to grow so long. It's like finger nail and needs maintenance. Just like horses hooves and dogs toenails.
It's just Good animal husbandry.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I see stories often of good roosters whose owners never trim their spurs hanging themselves from roosts, fencing, or accidentally stabbing themselves. Slicing open and Injuring hens sides and backs.
Becoming lame and unable to walk. Getting tangled in grass and unable to protect them selves or the flock because they can not move naturally.
Spurs should not be allowed to grow so long. It's like finger nail and needs maintenance. Just like horses hooves and dogs toenails.
It's just Good animal husbandry.

I keep an eye on my males and make sure they walk fine and my hens don't lose feathers. These are kept in pens that keep them safe from predators. I don't care that others clip the spurs, but I don't as long as the aren't causing problems. I posted to show the OP that spurs don't stop growing, not to be told I'm a bad owner