Do you know the difference between discipline and punishment? The first is constructive and won't harm the rooster. The second causes harm, risks serious injury and sets up an adversarial relationship with you and your roo that is anything but constructive. Before I learned about roosters and how to train them, I had a pugnacious Wyandotte roo named Stan. He was always sneaking up on me when my back was turned and attacking me, although I was lucky that his attacks were more like being hit by a fluffy beach ball than a vicious attack with sharp talons.
I would wear myself out chasing him and shoving him, not having a single clue how to deal with a rooster. A few years later, I had two accidental roos out of a batch of chicks that were all supposed to be pullets. Both had serious behavioral issues, one was a vicious biter, the other neurotic and fearful.
There was a young man on BYC at that time called olychickenguy, and he took me on as a student of rooster psychology. I learned a tremendous amount from him, and in a year, both boys were perfectly behaved.
No need to "catch" a rooster. All you need to do is be ready with a quick grab when he approaches with his sly little dance. When he makes contact with your leg, quickly reach down with both hands and snatch him up into a football hold or quickly reach down and push him to the ground, pinning him there until he stops struggling. This teaches him that you are the one that controls him and not the other way around.
When my present older rooster was a very young cockerel, around three months, I would grab him up into a firm hold. He hated it. Very quickly he learned that I was to be avoided. Now at age six, he will do anything to give me space. And even better, when his biological son, my other rooster, was growing up, he did all the training so I didn't need to. Both boys are very well behaved and show no aggression to any humans. They both do their jobs with no interference from me and vice versa.
I would wear myself out chasing him and shoving him, not having a single clue how to deal with a rooster. A few years later, I had two accidental roos out of a batch of chicks that were all supposed to be pullets. Both had serious behavioral issues, one was a vicious biter, the other neurotic and fearful.
There was a young man on BYC at that time called olychickenguy, and he took me on as a student of rooster psychology. I learned a tremendous amount from him, and in a year, both boys were perfectly behaved.
No need to "catch" a rooster. All you need to do is be ready with a quick grab when he approaches with his sly little dance. When he makes contact with your leg, quickly reach down with both hands and snatch him up into a football hold or quickly reach down and push him to the ground, pinning him there until he stops struggling. This teaches him that you are the one that controls him and not the other way around.
When my present older rooster was a very young cockerel, around three months, I would grab him up into a firm hold. He hated it. Very quickly he learned that I was to be avoided. Now at age six, he will do anything to give me space. And even better, when his biological son, my other rooster, was growing up, he did all the training so I didn't need to. Both boys are very well behaved and show no aggression to any humans. They both do their jobs with no interference from me and vice versa.
