I ran from my rooster

[Acre4Me]

It happens. Since we do t know how old he is, it’s hard to say if it’s so bad right now due to huge hormone surges of young male. But, safe to say he has a tendency towards aggression to humans. Lots of good advice above.

we have a 21 month old Black Jersey Giant rooster. He decided to get a bit aggressive. He’s gotten kicked a couple of times (just bc he was attacking and it’s gut instinct to defend yourself), but is mainly aggressive to me. The kid he is fine with (mostly), but the kid handles him a lot. Since he has his sights set on me, and the kid isn’t willing to part with him yet, I deal with it as follows:

1. I keep my eye on him at all times.

2. I bring a garden stake with me. It is rebar, so stiff and narrow. I do not hit him with it, but on days he is particularly testy, I hold it out in front of me -vertically on an angle so it is not pointing at him. This is now the closest part of me to him in his world view. He sometimes bites the rebar ...he Sometimes bites it twice! He does not like this and will move away. If he moves a step or two away, but turns back around to face me or to step towards me, I tap him in the head with the rebar. This is a chicken “reprimand” and will cause him to move fully away from me. Sometimes he comes back for more and then I chase him into a corner, where he will cower with his head in the corner. I have only had to do this a couple of times when he was younger. As another poster indicated, using a stick to move him out of the way can be helpful. But, in my case the rooster will turn and bite my stick unless I tap him on the head. I don’t attack him, I don’t hit him, but try to use his language. Currently he is molting, so not feeling too aggressive and stays out of the way. We plan to sell him this next year bc we have other males coming of age in the spring/summer. One reason I’ve kept the big guy is so we have a dominant rooster structure that can reprimand the younger ones appropriately and they grow up with the proper chicken instruction from the older hens and the head rooster.

 

[Cluck-cluck Momma]

A good question indeed is how old is your bird?? There are a few things to try to establish dominance. I personally have scooped up my BJG cockerel and used my finger as a "beak" and pecked the back of his head gently but firmly until I made his head go down below his body. After a session or two of this he has changed quite a bit. He is even a bit less skittish with me holding him now, and he still keeps a good watch on his ladies and will guard them quite ably if need be, except now he will not even mock charge me when I pick up one of his flock.

I've had this problem with my 5mo old Polish Crested doing that to my lil silkies and cresteds. I do like you did and I peck him in his noggin like he does the babies. Not hard just firmly and I tell him no as I do it with loud voice. Im still on learning curve with them but seems to be working. Now gotta work on my 3mo old silkie roo because hes starting to do it to my other 3mo olds. And I don't run from any of them. After fighting off hawk that had one of my babies the cluck-clucks dont scare me at all

 

[Folly's place]

All 'retraining' issues must be off the table when there are small children involved!!!
I will no longer spend time worrying about one of my cockerels or roosters jumping me, or any human, from behind, from in front, or for any reason. We are the giants who bring food, and they should be watching out for actual predators and being nice to their hens, not stalking people of any size.
This means managing them effectively, watching behaviors, and being proactive in picking the right cockerels out of the group. It takes some experience, calm behavior, and especially it helps to have mature birds in the flock to educate the youngsters.
I tend to agree with @Mrs K about having cockerels the second year of flock ownership, rather than at the start, for all those reasons.
I've never had a human aggressive cockerel who actually reformed completely!
Mary

 

[jclausen]

If you want to keep him I would try showing him you are boss.
Hold him down for few min, grab him by the legs and hold him upside down, peck him on the back of his neck. You can not just give in to him being a bully.

 

[FortCluck]

I have two very large Jersey Giant cockerels which would probably make anyone pee their pants when they charge them. I have learned a few tricks over the past few months...

1) I never turn my back on them even if I know they won't attack me

2) I always bring something in with me like a rake, a shovel, or a stick. It's not to whack them, it's to let them know that I have something I can defend myself with other than my body. Whenever I bring in something with me, they never mess with me. I have never used it, it's just something I noticed works.

3) I always bring in my "Sid Stick"... It's not a stick to whack them with, it is a stick to keep a distance between me and them. This allows me to have a healthy distance from them so that I can get my work done without tripping on them or having any type of incident happen. I put the stick between me and them, they get used to the distance and they stay that distance away from me.

4) I never stare at them really long because that makes them want to attack you. If you've ever seen them fighting each other there is always a staring contest.

5) I never run because running makes them want to attack you even more. obviously there are certain situations where you just need to get out because you are going to get seriously hurt.

6) Some roosters are just not friendly and nothing will ever change that about them. You either have to find a way to work with it or you have to rehome them or send them to freezer camp before somebody gets seriously injured.

7) If they attack you you need to make yourself big. Flap you arms, stomp your feet, and prepare yourself because they might attack again.

8) When they attack, grab them and hold on tight. Make sure they can't claw you or peck you. I usually secure the head and feet. I hold them until they calm down then let them go... They might try to attack again and you repeat this until they stop.

 

[chickens really]

Well this is what I do.
Never walk around a Cockerel/Rooster and don't show fear because animals feed of our energy . Carry a stick and tap the ground to get him moving out of your space. He should keep at least 6 to 8 feet out of your safety zone. Never turn your back to him or make direct eye contact. Act as if he doesn't exist..
If he does charge you? Then you reinforce the stick and run towards him..

 

[Peepsi]

Agreeing with everyone else about inviting that rooster to dinner. If the OP is scared of the rooster, any attempts to gentle it will fail. Animals are great at picking up subtle body cues that come from a human's fear, and this rooster knows the OP is terrified of it.

Time to process the rooster, and have a good meal of chicken soup. There are so many nice roosters out there who need a home. Don't waste time with the nasty ones.

 

[Acre4Me]

All 'retraining' issues must be off the table when there are small children involved!!!

I completely agree. Little kids are at prime height to get a face or eye injury from an aggressive cockerel/rooster. Many adults have a dislike of chickens or roosters bc of a bad experience as a young child with a cockerel/rooster.

In my case the kid is in middle school and keeps tabs on the rooster pretty well, and really wants to keep him for now. But, understands that he will likely be sold next spring/summer.

 

[Folly's place]

"Nasty roosters taste best!"
Words to live by.
Mary

 

[Punkybrewster]

In my experience, as soon as i find a chick is going to be a rooster, I am totally hands off with that chick. To the point of ignoring him at a very young age. Days old if its possible to sex him early. I handle the future hens but never him. He sees me handle the hens and that I am not a threat.
I also ignore him as a teenager and adult. He does his job, I do mine. This has worked very well for us.