I'm giving up on this whole rooster thing.

[bluere11e]

I had a gorgeous RIR bantam roo that was possessed by the devil. He'd attack anything. I was TERRIFIED when my late Father would visit. He was severely diabetic. Had Peripheral neuropathy and had already had a few toes amputated. All i could see was Ol' red kicking the crap out of my Dad's already swollen and blue legs and my Dad dying of Septicemia.. But, my Dad would get out of the car and go sit under the tree on a bench. Red would come up and stand by him. My dad would hand feed him peanuts and that hateful roo would sit with my Dad until dark.. never bother him when he walked up to the house. Go figure. It got so bad with us.. we kept a 5 gallon bucket by the back porch we threw over that darned roo when he came at us so we could get our chores done. That roo out lived my Dad and I never had the heart to dispose of him..It was the only chicken that my Dad l;oved and when Red finally died. It hurt all over again
I can understand being so aggravated with the roo. There's an old trick that might work.. Grab him up, tuck him under your arm. Take his head.. and gently push it down to his chest and hold it a aminute. Every time he puts it back up.. tip it back down..Sometimes that works. You have to do it a few times. It's funny, I've had roos that I've had to do it so many times, as soon as you pick them up, they drop their heads...

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
Yea my dad says he's acting normal too. But Charlie isn't the nice guy like the other roosters are. It makes me especially angry when he pecks rough at the pullets for whatever reason. Yesterday I was throwing scratch and when I walked toward Charlie he walked away clucking and was pecking roughly at any pullet near him. I told him to stop and never ever do that to 'my flock'. I know chickens don't speak human.
I've known that Charlie and I are in a way like competing roosters. I don't have a problem with that but I have to see who will win. He also stares at me when I hug the hens or pick them up, he watches every little thing I do with them. He also watches when I pick up Skippy, my silkie roo which I baby alot.

It sounds like a typical mixed rooster situation. There is an alpha rooster (Charlie) and other roosters. When you visit the flock, Charlie is treating you like an upstart rooster. If Charlie were removed, then one of the others would fight and become the alpha rooster of the flock and the cycle would repeat.

There are a number of normal actions you take that would seem like a challenge to a rooster. Since you cannot stop caring for the chickens, you need to change the relationship.

Establish yourself as alpha rooster. The Handling Rooster Aggression link on my BYC page describes the technique (as did ladybug99 above). Just be consistent with expressing dominant behavior and he will slip down to the #2 position. I cannot say from experience what will happen with multiple roosters, since I have only one, but I suspect it will work just fine and Charlie will still rule the roost while you are away.

 

[Moochie]

Chicken.Lytle :

Quote:
I have to agree. Beating a "bird" isn't ok either. I have Grackles everywhere...they scare the other birds away, eat all the birdfood, make a mess of the place and are generally not a welcomed bird. But I'll tell ya, I'd never beat one to death with a stick..or any other animal for that matter.

I am OK with something like this -- once. A person under stress dealing with a threat the first time -- OK. If this were a pattern or entertainment, then obviously not OK.

If it were me, I would be dissatisfied with this method of dealing with an intruder and seek an alternative. I would consider avian netting or hardware cloth or a scarecrow or a shaker full of pebbles. Whatever might work and were cheap enough that if it failed would permit the next most frugal thing to be tried.​

I don't repeat that sort of stuff. Someone who does it multiple times and to other animals like dogs, cats, ferrets (ILOVEFERRETS), whatever, needs to be stopped and should have a meet with both parents and a therapist of some sort. I don't believe in the entertainment of beating/killing animals. My mom used to use a can full of pebbles to train the dogs, from chewing at her palm trees. It never worked, Bruno had an addiction to chewing up baby palm trees.
I don't do it like that. Sometimes I spray the birds with the water hose, I stand up and they all fly away, or Moochie does away with them. I felt sorry for this one tiny young finch that Moochie injured. She pecked it's left eye out and they bird only lived for a couple days after. It had trouble flying and I got to pick it up and I noticed that it moved it's head around funny. I looked at Moochie and shook my head and said "Oh Moochie". I let the bird go in the next yard, since then I haven't seen it. I am a nice person but when I panic or when I'm angry I tell my friends to back off a bit. I don't want to say anything mean to them.

 

[bkwurth]

Quote:
Ahem, please read the post. I did it with a bird. I didn't say chicken, I said bird. Chickens are birds but I don't call chickens birds I call random feathery fly things in which I don't know the name of birds. If they try to steal/peck/drop eggs I call them pests. If they are stealing chicken feed (which bothers me very much) I watch diligently because Moochie, the hen herself will chase them. It's funny and cute what can I say.
Don't twist ones' words. If you assume that I "beat a chicken to death" don't you suppose you'd ask first? Like I dunno ask "Please correct me if I took this wrong, but did you mean bird as in a chicken or a small bird?". Common sense.

Ahem, who's being rude?

 

[Moxiechick]

Quote:
I would not consider this the action of an animal lover. You say you couldn't kill your bird with your own hands in one sentence, and then admit to brutally killing one in the next?

Chickens are animals acting on instincts. We are their keepers. It is our responsibility to care for our animals in the best way possible. I have no problem with people raising birds for food, when they treat the bird with respect and give it a quick humane death, but it sounds like you are letting your emotions get in the way of seeing the situation objectively.
Just tell your parents you aren't doing the chicken thing anymore and walk away.

I didn't say chicken. I said BIRD. Like the various black birds around here. My gosh please don't use my words like that. You know you could have gotten my thread locked and a message from the admins could have been sent to me. I don't know what the birds are called I don't know their scientific names, I do know there are lots of wild finches but I've seen the bird it definately wasn't a finch! Sweet jesus that was a close one. I CAN"T KILL CHICKENS BY MY OWN HANDS. But if it's a pesky wild black bird I sure can! Well I beat it in the head multiple times with a stick.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, but on this forum, using the generic term of "bird" while discussing chickens, is most often just another way of talking about chickens. Chicken, hens, fowl, poultry, pullets, birds... etc. You did not use any other quantifiers such as "a black bird" or "this bird flew in..." So while I understand your being upset over the misunderstanding, you should also understand that your wording gave no indication that you were referring to a bird other than a chicken.

That being said, I still think the tactic you used was more than a bit over the top. Cruelty is cruelty, it is that simple. Beating any animal to death with a shovel is savage. You have also made other statements in this thread which have thrown up red flags to me. In your very first post, you said
"I have evil thoughts in my mind, thoughts of taking my mom's electric saw and... I don't want these thoughts!" I'm glad you don't want to have these thoughts, but you have to admit, that these thoughts definitely indicate that your emotions are getting in the way. You need to be objective.

You came to the forums with a valid problem, seeking solutions. You have been given a lot of really good advice, but you don't seem to like what you are being told. You asked for opinions and you got them. If this were my rooster, I would try really hard to work with him and give him every chance. If you don't think you can do this, find an animal shelter or put an ad in the paper for him. It the responsibility of the owners to find decent solutions for their animals.

My second piece of advice would be to show this thread to your parents. They should know how you feel about this situation. I know you have tried to talk with them about it and feel they aren't responding to you, but sometimes seeing it in writing is different.

 

[Montana-Hens]

I agree with the folks who say dinner. Nothing good can come of a rooster who thinks is is tops. A quick death. If you can not eat him, dress him out and give him to someone who can.

 

[Moochie]

Chicken.Lytle :

Quote:
Yea my dad says he's acting normal too. But Charlie isn't the nice guy like the other roosters are. It makes me especially angry when he pecks rough at the pullets for whatever reason. Yesterday I was throwing scratch and when I walked toward Charlie he walked away clucking and was pecking roughly at any pullet near him. I told him to stop and never ever do that to 'my flock'. I know chickens don't speak human.
I've known that Charlie and I are in a way like competing roosters. I don't have a problem with that but I have to see who will win. He also stares at me when I hug the hens or pick them up, he watches every little thing I do with them. He also watches when I pick up Skippy, my silkie roo which I baby alot.

It sounds like a typical mixed rooster situation. There is an alpha rooster (Charlie) and other roosters. When you visit the flock, Charlie is treating you like an upstart rooster. If Charlie were removed, then one of the others would fight and become the alpha rooster of the flock and the cycle would repeat.

There are a number of normal actions you take that would seem like a challenge to a rooster. Since you cannot stop caring for the chickens, you need to change the relationship.

Establish yourself as alpha rooster. The Handling Rooster Aggression link on my BYC page describes the technique (as did ladybug99 above). Just be consistent with expressing dominant behavior and he will slip down to the #2 position. I cannot say from experience what will happen with multiple roosters, since I have only one, but I suspect it will work just fine and Charlie will still rule the roost while you are away.​

Actually when Charlie was in a cage for 2 weeks (jail time and to let his rump heal) the other roosters didn't act up like Charlie. Melvin went straight to the older hens and the cochin took charge of the rest. Melvin never showed any aggression towards me and did wonderful with the hens. He was always successful at mating and called them to eat. Charlie doesn't call them, wierd. I fed him mealworms straight from my hand and so did my mom. Plus, there was a distinct vibe in my frontyard. Nobody was hurting or chasing away Skippy either! Charlie used to chase away Skippy if there were treats or just during breakfeast. I have to feed Skippy individually because he doesn't go near the flock when Charlie is there. I tell Charlie all the time "you can hurt me all you want for now but if you injure my Skippy that will be the end of you!". My Skippy gets spoiled because he's so nice.

 

[jennh]

Quote:
X 2 My girls (and my roo) are scared to death of the broom. Don't ask me why, 'cause I have never used it on them

Maybe they see it as a threat?

Anyway, the broom AND the hose works like a charm for me every time. I HAVE used the hose, however.

Jen

 

[Moochie]

Quote:
Ahem, please read the post. I did it with a bird. I didn't say chicken, I said bird. Chickens are birds but I don't call chickens birds I call random feathery fly things in which I don't know the name of birds. If they try to steal/peck/drop eggs I call them pests. If they are stealing chicken feed (which bothers me very much) I watch diligently because Moochie, the hen herself will chase them. It's funny and cute what can I say.
Don't twist ones' words. If you assume that I "beat a chicken to death" don't you suppose you'd ask first? Like I dunno ask "Please correct me if I took this wrong, but did you mean bird as in a chicken or a small bird?". Common sense.

Ahem, who's being rude?

Yergehblergeh blergeh. What ya say?

 

[bkwurth]

Ask it in English and I'll tell you.