I had to kick some SERIOUS rooster a_ _ this morning. We had a little "come to jesus" meeting.

[un-named543]

A Rooster Whisperer is available in many sizes.

You gave my husband and me a great idea! We discussed it last night and we are going to rais up 24 chickens for them for Thanksgiving. I emailed the church and they are thrilled. Thanks for such a great idea - can't believe we never thought about that ourselves.

How generous!!!!

 

[Kelly G]

Piece of cake!!! I'm really excited to do it!

I really can't believe this never occured to us before this - and these people have probably picked up more than 30 cockrels/roos over the years.

 

[welasharon]

Alright..........all chores done for the weekend, and not so much as a raised feather from him.  I'm hoping we've come to an understanding.

Each morning I opened the pop door I allowed the ladies out and prevented him from coming out for a good minute or two...then once I let him out, I kept him away from the ladies just with my body posture/movement.  He kept his side or back to me.  When I allowed him to the ladies, I guided him back to them...I'm hoping it conveyed the message that he could be with them because I put him there.

When I went to collect eggs from the coop, I ushered him out and prevented him from entering while I collected.  When I was done, I guided him back in.

Like I said, not one raised feather.  So he gets to live.  For now. 

As with all my roosters - I won't tolerate it. 

Thanks for the help, guys.  I appreciate it so much!  I just love this place!

I will post updates if anything else develops.

My tolbunt/GL rooster just attacked me the other day. He flogged my leg and kicked me leaving me with bruises. I was so surprised I kicked him away...he flew at me again and I reacted without thinking. I grabbed him mid-air by the neck. I was so mad I choked him and he went limp in my hand. I looked around and my 2 yr old granddaughter was standing there. I pulled him in my arms with his head dangling over an arm and whacked on him. No response...she looked at his eyes and asked "Tippy go nite, nite?" I told her that yes he had gone VERY nite nite. Crazy thing was after a couple of minutes he revived. That was his one as well, as valuable as he is monetarily...he is a dead chicken if he does it again. I am hoping it is teenage hormones as he is very hyped up and after all the hens...even those of the alpha roo.

 

[theoldchick]

Piece of cake!!! I'm really excited to do it!

I really can't believe this never occured to us before this - and these people have probably picked up more than 30 cockrels/roos over the years.

They might even like a few eggs now and then!

 

[kathyinmo]

 

[Daisy8s]

Quote:
I should have clarified. When I was speaking of natural instincts I meant that a rooster's instinct is to defend his flock so aggression towards him could be interpreted by the rooster as a predator attack.

Dogs and horses have been developed for the task of working for humans. We have selected them for the desire to please humans. Chickens, though some may become friendly through treats/handling, do not have the want-to-please instinct that a dog or horse has. This makes a huge difference in the relationship between humans and chickens vs. the relationship of humans and dogs/horses.

We use intimidation/dominance/aggression towards dogs or horses to establish that we are in charge for the purpose of getting that animal to do what we want. These techniques only work because ultimately the animal wants to please us. However, sometimes there are horses or dogs that don't want to please us and the end result is usually a mean animal that gets put down or lives an isolated life.

I think that when we start with a rooster, which, because it is a bird and not a mammal, does not have that want-to-please instinct we are likely to create a mean animal if we are aggressive towards it. I've been reading comments on threads regarding roosters carefully and generally it seems that people who use serious physical aggression towards their rooster (hitting, kicking) have a recurring problem. They win the battle but not the war. In contrast, there are other posts from people who write about understanding their rooster's motivation--seeing that he is in defense or breeding mode--and giving the rooster space.

When my rooster hit adolesence and began testing me I simply didn't react. Didn't retreat...but wasn't aggressive either. His attacks never escalated beyond exploratory pecks and they quit altogether after about two weeks. I feel like we have an understanding now and he knows I'm not a threat he needs to defend himself or his hens against. I'm there for food and shelter and he's there for breeding and protection. I'm not a part of the pecking order so he doesn't need to dominate me. I'm not threatening his safety or his role so he doesn't need to defend himself by attacking me.

Please understand that I'm not making a rule about all roosters all the time, there will be exceptions, of course. Also, I do want to acknowledge that people have different motivations for owning chickens. If someone's main purpose is to have pets and their rooster cannot fulfill that role then it is best they do not have roosters. It would be kinder, ultimately, to the rooster to be removed rather than to live a life of conflict where the rooster's instinct to defend is continually being activated by an aggressive human.

 

[Kelly G]

Glad to provide a boring update....No rooster drama this morning - he was as good as gold.

 

[theoldchick]

 

[Lacy Blues]

I agree with Daisy8s, however I also agree with Kelly in that I am not to be their target. I raise Blue Andalusians, have been doing so for 7 years now. I have only had one turn mean on me. Up until he was about a year old he was as sweet as pie and beautiful to boot! Then something happened... no idea what. He got mean, not just to me but to his girls, so much that I had to separate him to protect them. The day that he pecked and barely missed my son's eye is the day that sealed his fate. I could deal with him trying to get me but not my boy! I wanted to put him in a pot but ended up selling him to some guy that just fell in love with him. He was a beautiful bird. He got the run of that man's place and I was not surprised to find that he was the top bird over all his other birds!

This past year one started to get aggressive... I would go in his pen to feed and water him in the morning and he would start by dropping his wing at me. This was ok. I never reacted to it. As he grew a little older he started facing me without raising his hackles, just squared up to me. I moved gently and did what I needed to do, always keeping my third eye on him and never turning my back. Then he started coming closer to me as I crouched down to scrub out his waterer, I started responding to this by flicking the scrub brush at him and the water from within the brush would hit him. This kept him away and made him realize I wouldn't hurt him. This was sufficient. He has never attacked me but has always watched me very carefully... and I him. I've never had an incident with him attacking me. One time I had to pick him up, can't remember the reason but it needed to be done. I don't make a drawn out attempt to catch my birds. I have a method where I can enter their pen, get them into a corner, offer a route of escape and when they take it, I have them. Usually less than a minute. Anyway, once I had him, he bit me good and hard, left a lovely bruise but I didn't punish him as I knew it would be counter productive. He did this because he was afraid and that is ok.

Last week I needed to get him out of his pen to check for mites and whatnot because breeding season is beginning and I needed to make sure he was ready and clean. When I opened his cage, he immediately squared up with me. He has a different pen now that I can't enter without seriously compromising my skin so I couldn't corner him and offer an escape. What I needed to do was to create just a little bit of fear. I have a garden hoe that is about 18" long. I held it by the blade and showed him the handle end. He moved away but didn't lose the defiant look. I continued to show it to him until his expression changed. Then I was able to catch him without fear of reprisal. He didn't even bite me. I think he knows I'm not out to hurt him. I bring him food and water every day and for that, he's nice.

 

[Daisy8s]

Lacy Blues, that was really interesting to read. I like hearing from people who give a lot of details about the animal's behavior. In other posts where people focus on detailing how they beat up their rooster I always am left wondering about the rooster. What was the rooster doing during this time? What cues was he sending that were likely being missed by the person?

Your post pointed out that there are several cues (dropping a wing, squaring up to you) that the rooster was giving long before an attack happened. It would be so much more educational if more people shared these behavioral cues that we all should look for so that, hopefully, an attack can be avoided completely. Though, as you said, there will be the occasional rooster who will turn mean no matter what.