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

[runsw/scissors]

I wish my roo would display these sorts of behaviors before he attacks... he just waits until my back is turned and BAM!

I get flogged! As long as I don't tun my back all is well. I enjoy reading these posts since it gives me insight into my roos behavior and thinking. I hate to put this guy down, but I can't have him attacking either.

 

[blitz1027]

A Rooster Whisperer is available in many sizes.

That's great. I'm having the same problem with my Brahma rooster so a chicken whisperer is probably in order, seeing as after continuous blows to head he still comes after you

 

[AHDCST]

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.

I too would like to clarify that I have multiple roosters and have never had a problem until the Barred Banty. The trio came from a less then perfect situation in which there were multiple ages of hens and roosters in one big room(room as in a house)and they all had to compete for space as well as food and water. It is understandable that a rooster in that situation would be defensive. The hens are just as sweet as can be and the replacement rooster has given me no problems. I learned a valuable lesson not to turn my back to any animal!

 

[Kelly G]

Another day - no problem.

He's happy. The girls are happy. And I'm happy.

 

[bj taylor]

how young do roosters start this various behavior. i have 4 wk old chicks. one (i'm real sure is a little rooster) squares off with me when i enter the coop. i have assumed he's wanting me to pick him up (i know, that may be a dumb assumption). he has a bit of push back when i push him away from the door. is this early rooster behavior?

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.

 

[Lacy Blues]

A four week old squaring off with you? I'd watch that one. I've read where some people try to handle their young roosters daily just to let them know you're the boss. You don't have to embarrass him, just hold and pet him. As he gets older, if he continues, some people "cuddle" their roosters because the rooster hates it. I've done this too. A friend of my daughter's was over one time when one started to come after me, I caught him, picked him up and petted him. She was astonished that I was rewarding him for attempting to get me. I told her that it was not a reward, they don't like it, I'm showing him I'll do it if he wants to be that way toward me. I don't recall him coming after me any other time after that.

Now let me clarify. I said in my first post that I'd never had but one turn mean and never been attacked by any others. I apologize for this. The birds I was referring to were my blue andalusians. These are "MY" birds. The birds I was talking about in this post were part of our original family flock that we started before we decided to be breeders of specific breeds. This flock was mostly speckled sussex and the roosters had a very bad habit of coming up behind you. I could hear them running though and so was forewarned. I didn't keep any of those roosters for very long at all.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Ok, i have a question

My rooster, when i try to put on his diaper (yes haha

, but my mom gets mad if they poo in the house) he will turn his head and bite me, on the back of my hand. I used to be like "Wouldnt a chicken biting be pecking..?" but now i understand! Well he will also do this if a grab one of his hens, like i was trying to grab the EE through the nest box so i was sorta holding her down, so i understand if he thought i was trying to "Breed" with her, but he pecked me again! so I was wondering, just dont make him wear the diaper or is there a way for me to tell him "HEY! Im lead rooster, do as i say!" and should i scold him? Same goes for the EE story, should i scold him or just assume he thought i was breeding with his hen? And he does the wing strut ALL the time to his hens, TheOldChick i didnt understand what it meant how you said it. Also, when he bit me for touching "HIS HEN" i went in the coop, sorta chased him around and pinned him on his back, this bad or good?

 

[Lacy Blues]

I think him biting you when you put on his diaper is just communicating to you that he doesn't like it. Does he continue? Does he get his feet involved? Does he hang on to you? If its just a peck, I wouldn't worry about it too much... either that or don't bring him in the house. Or if you want to continue and he doesn't really hurt you, maybe try grabbing him by his beak and just holding him for a second and tell him NO. Some of them really do listen. If his anger escalates at that point, I wouldn't push the diaper.

I don't know if I would try dominating a rooster that wasn't outright attacking. He is protecting his girls. I'd say you need to watch him closer when he is approaching. You might try just showing him the palm of your hand slightly above his head. This will deter some. I had one that looked like he wanted to attack me when I walked through his pen in early spring, so mating season. I just stretched my palm out over his head and he would watch that and change his mind. This bird was funny. He would offer his tail to me every day when I came in to let him out and I would just let it slide through my fingers as he took a few steps and turned around to look at me again and then do it again. My kids couldn't do it though, he would only let me do it. He was a sweetie!

 

[Morganwood]

We have a rooster that even the dogs were avoiding. Then it made the mistake of attacking my daughter the other day. It suddenly found itself going a** over tea kettle and pinned on it's back wings outstretched with a growling Catahoula staring down at it. Surprisingly she called off and didn't hurt the rooster but he hasn't gone near any of us since. Nobody messes with HER little girl.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

. . . . but he hasn't gone near any of us since. . . . .

I feel Kelly G did what "came-to-her" at that moment. Drawing from her experiences with animals she immediately knew what she needed to do. A commendable job to say the least. As Morganwood's dog has demonstrated in their situation it came down to who's in charge. (you can have it but you'll have to go through me to get it). Heirarchal authority is a common thread that runs through nearly all (if not all) mammals.