I'm failing with my rooster, Abe

[marialane]

I had posted a problem with my rooster, Abe, (nine months old) displaying aggressive behavior with me when I come in to the coop. He senses that I am afraid of him. He is right! I'm new to all of this and I lack the confidence to manage this problem successfully. I have read the posts on this forum regarding this problem. I logically know how to go about it, picking him up and basically training him to respect me as the head. I, unfortunately, can't seem to handle this. Tonight he approached me and I got scared. I yelled at him and my hens got scared. It is a vicious cycle. A large part of the problem isn't with my rooster at all; it's with my reaction to him. I don't want to loose him. I'm sick over this whole issue.

Is it too late for him to learn to trust me? The aggressive back and forth between us has been about eight or so times.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Some are just more aggressive than others. I'm not intimidated by a rooster in the least, yet despite all my efforts I wasn't able to keep my first two due to their natural desire to protect their flock. You can't take it personal...they have a mission and take it very seriously. If you decide to keep him just carry a rake with you, keep him at a distance and don't turn your back.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Don't ruin your chicken keeping experience with a mean roo. I did that and it took me 3-4 years to want chickens again.

There are so many nice roos out there- where you don't even think about them when you go see your chickens.

I would advise to rehome him. We put ours down it was so bad.

 

[The Lisser]

Take a deep breath. It will be okay!

First, you are going to get a bunch of people who will tell you to eat him. While I do think there are some animals that are just overly aggressive, your rooster may not be one of them. You are right, he is reacting to you and to the hens. He is doing his job.

It will take time, but you can overcome your fear of him. The more you do it, the easier it will become. Is there a chance you could build something so that he will be closed out of the coop (say in run or something) while you go in the coop? If you can avoid confrontations for a while, it will help you feel less tense around him. For example, my silkie mix rooster, Liberace, recently decided that if I wear a different pair of shoes, or if my husband goes in the coop, he is going to attack. Personally I find it funny to have a fluffball whooping my leg and I just pick him up and laugh, but my husband gets upset and so when he has to go in the coop he throws some scratch in the run and closes the rooster into the run.

If you can't separate him, wear tall boots so if he goes after your legs it won't hurt. wear gloves. Whatever it takes to feel protected. Pick him up. Let him calm down. Calm yourself down. Give him some treats.

I know how you feel. Not with a rooster but with other animals. It can certainly be very stressful.

If things don't seem to be getting better, it might be time to look for a different rooster.

 

[tinychicky]

try going out to the coop at least twice a day and picking him up-if you can. hold his legs with one hand and cup the other over his head and push gently to make him hold his head down. keep doing that until he keeps his head held down, then put him down, preferably where he can't see you walk away. the problem with roosters is that when they challange you, and then you walk away, they think they've one the fight and will have more confidence next time. by pushing his head down, he is forced to submit to you even if it's not on his own terms. if he can see you walking away then it's more like HE walked away from the fight, and therefore lost it. i find that even if your rooster isn't mean, it's a good habit to get into to KEEP him from getting mean.

 

[Luvroos]

I've heard so many stories about roos and have found that they are trainable. I would continue to pick him up and would never allow him to know that you are afraid of him! This would give him the advantage over you!

I have 5 standards and out of them 3 are like babies and love to be held, hugged and kissed. My other two are more daring with me. I normally tell them in a meaningful way the word no and they know what this means! I have spent a lot of time with them since I picked them up as chicks in April and they are now 9 months old.

I hope that it wouldn't be a problem for you to take over and require respect and think that it would work out to your advantage and then some roos are just simply mean. I have one myself and trying hard tor refrain him from such by picking him up, cuddling with him and sweet talking him and they actually love this.

Good luck with him! I'm sure everything will work out soon. Let him know that you are part of the flock and are in charge over him, you can do it!!

 

[todtrac]

Great advice for handling roosters.. I recently had 8 roosters living together with one hen (not by choice, but you never know what your going to get with the egg). It was horrible, I had to get rid of six of them. I kept one that I thought, but it turned out to be yet another rooster. They seem to be fine, but everytime I go to the coop they display agression but I never let them get to me I push back. Recently I use a little stick to keep them at bay, I dont hit them but push them.. so far it seems to work, they don't even bother me when I have the stick in hand. As I said, I don't hit / swap them, I just use it as a buffer, try it, it may work for you too..

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Exactly what I would suggest! Sounds reasonable.

 

[Baralak]

There is hope... All you have to do is overcome the fact that he doesn't see you as the Alpha chicken.. Now what I'm about to say may sound gruff, but yes.. Pick him up and hold him... If he comes at you in a flogging manner, as gently as you can, boot him. Yep.. Give him a little love tap. Don't punt him into next week, but just let him know that YOU are the boss.. Then after you do that pick him up, and walk around with him... Don't talk to him, don't look at him. Make him submit completely to your actions. After about 5 to 10 minutes, offer him a treat.. mine love crackers. Also don't carry a stick, or anything else.. He will respond to the stick, and not you.

My EE Roo flogged my paints once, I gave him a love tap with my size 15 boot. I do pick him up as often as I can and let him know that I have no interest in his girls, he's the rooster, but he works for ME.

After a couple of trials and errors, my 5 year old nephew can go out and pick him up with out any problems... He knows now that humans are the boss...

 

[wbruder17]

I LOVE my rooster. He is a polish crested and can't see too well, which is probably a good reason why he's so docile. I've also been picking him up and holding him like a little baby since before I knew he was a roo. Now he follows me around and LOVES when I stroke his waddles, which I call his pepperonis.

In the morning when I let them out, he really likes to strut his stuff and will come after my feet trying to be all tough. When he does this is just firmly, yet kindly take my boot and shove him away. He gets it but still tries every morning. He's a good boy and is just doing his job, but needs to be reminded that he's not as tough as he thinks he is!