Is it ok to spank our roo?

[Barry Natchitoches]

I have been fortunate enough to have two excellent roosters.


I have made sure to handle my boys from chickhood. I feed them treats (sunflower seeds, watermelon pieces, etc) out of my hand to encourage them to be friendly towards people.


But I will not hesitate to pick up a roo and hold him firmly and "talk to him" if he gets a bit out of sorts.


I have not had the kind of violence that a few of you report.


But I will pick up an errant bird and hold them firmly while calming them down. This also makes them know that I am Alpha Roo.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
I had to chickle at this one! You can whack him but don't spank him!!!

I read a post by someone who had trouble with a roo who, after two more dominant roos were taken away, began flogging people. So, they carried a broom and when he tried to flog anyone they would give him a swa with the broom. I think that is pretty harmless, and it worked. I am sure there will be those who will say it won't work. Well, if it doesn't work then give him a soak in the stew pot!

There is no need to spank, kick, or swat a rooster. We have a bigger brain than a chicken so we should use it.

Consider how roosters behave when establishing pecking order. The display a lot. They make a racket. They jump and flog or kick. When one rooster has established dominance, he just chases the other to keep him in his place.

If you chase the rooster at a steady speed walk, you are sending the message that you are dominant and he is secondary. He will understand this message easily. No physical contact. Minimal effort.

That said, roosters that refuse to accept Beta status make delicious dumplings.

 

[FiascoFarmer]

Quote:
We "inherited" or current roo Rocky. I am current raising 8 baby roos, who will most likely become dinner, unless I get an exceptional one in the mix. I also have 4 GLW chicks coming that I plan to work with constantly.

I plan to employ your methods though.

 

[KansasKate]

I know I am just a newbie, but I read that they are attacking precisely because they think you (or in this case husband) are a competing rooster or threat. If you bring them treats when they start to act aggressively and don't fight them, they will figure out you are neither threat nor rooster. You are not a rooster!

 

[Beekissed]

Sorry....couldn't help myself, had to chuckle on that one. No disrespect, but bringing an aggressive rooster treats most likely won't convince him you are neither roo or a threat. If it were that simple, thousands of people on this forum who have petted, treated, carried and coddled their roos would still not be posting about how upset they are because their formerly "sweet" boy is now attacking them.

As with anything, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Treat your chickens like chickens and they should respond in treating you like a human. Chickens don't require treats nor hand petting to be calm and mannerly and I'm convinced that hand feeding and nurturing roos when they are little results in a confused animal. Apparently scientists believe the same or they wouldn't feed captive birds with puppets resembling their own species so the fledglings are better adjusted to proper bird behavior and won't imprint improperly on humans.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I had to chickle at this one! You can whack him but don't spank him!!!

I read a post by someone who had trouble with a roo who, after two more dominant roos were taken away, began flogging people. So, they carried a broom and when he tried to flog anyone they would give him a swa with the broom. I think that is pretty harmless, and it worked. I am sure there will be those who will say it won't work. Well, if it doesn't work then give him a soak in the stew pot!

Hey Highlander they let you have chicks in the Peoples Republic Of Massachusetts?

. Hahaha.

Sorry... I had to. I lived most of my life there and couldn't imagine the hoops that I would be forced to jump through to have my mini-farm. My sister still lives in Beverly and has to get written permission from ALL of her neighbors just to get hens! AND she can't have a roo and has to keep the coup something like 50 feet from any property lines! RIDICULOUS!!! My mother is in Peabody and can have hens only but no roo.

What's it like in Chickopee?

Considering Highlander is in Scotland, as it says right under her avatar, I doubt you will get much info regarding Chickopee.

 

[Pele]

Quote:
We "inherited" or current roo Rocky. I am current raising 8 baby roos, who will most likely become dinner, unless I get an exceptional one in the mix. I also have 4 GLW chicks coming that I plan to work with constantly.

I plan to employ your methods though.

I posted earlier in the thread about something similar that has worked really really well for me with all the roosters I have raised (though it's been years since I've been able to keep them). Treats and petting won't keep an aggressive rooster from turning nasty once puberty hits. It fact, it might actually translate into him not being afraid of you, and having no respect for you. However, you DONT have to scorn him, or be mean to him. All you have to do is imprint your dominance on him from day one. Hold your chicks on their back in the palm of your hand and give them belly rubs for a few minutes. If you do this on a daily basis, several times a day, they just accept your dominance as a matter of how life works.

I've had a rooster that was hyper dominant at 12 weeks. He bossed everything around him (garden hoses, buckets, other chickens, my DH who never held him, etc.), but he NEVER once even thought to try to do it to me. It was just an accepted fact that I was 'She who is not to be challenged". It didn't stop me from scooping him up occasionally and cuddling him though

. We had established a relationship with each other that was mutually beneficial, and mutually stress free to the both of us. All it takes is a little extra time each day while raising them.

 

[wingsofglory]

I think people are onto something with the water treatment. The bubble bath and the spray bottle and the garden hose.

I read years ago that parrot handlers use water to stop parrots from biting. When the big parrots bite, I guess they don't let go, so the handler walks over to the kitchen sink, turns the water on full, and holds hand with parrot attached to it, under the water. The parrots hate the water, they don't bite anymore.

I thought what a great solution! Its non-violent! And I've found water to be very effective - first with a spray bottle for keeping the cat off the table/kitchen counters. Works great on cane spiders - who are too fast to catch and usually up high on the ceiling, but within the reach of the spray bottle set on "stream". Also worked on our angus heifer we had to mow the lawn - she took up bawling one day out of boredom, so I turned the hose on her right after a bawl. Four bawls, four sprays, and she looked at me and got it and no more bawling. I was surprised it worked - the water did not hurt or anything.

I think much of rooster behaviour is set by hormones/instincts/genetic personality traits. I've had several that looked demented after they came of age, and I didn't keep them. The scariest one, a Blue Andalusian, made a blowing/hissing sound coming at me slow and low and deadly.

Another help for me was reading about horse whispering - how animals have a body language, and people learning it don't have to get so violent to train. Like with horses, merely kicking ones leg at them from a distance says you are dominant. It is the gesture that communicates. One never has to connect the kick to the horse. All it takes - and don't back away or step to the side when a horse approaches, always make them gave way their space. This one piece of knowledge totally changed my experience with horses. Much more to it also.

I do the same with roosters - make them give way to my space, never move over for them, grab and hold them on the ground while holding their neck and head to the ground until they relax and stop fighting - the relaxing of their body is their saying "uncle" to your dominence.

Also someone said he never lets a rooster mount a hen in his presence. The alpha rooster never lets subordinate roosters mount a hen in his presence.

 

[seminolewind]

Chicken.Lytle :

Quote:
I had to chickle at this one! You can whack him but don't spank him!!!

I read a post by someone who had trouble with a roo who, after two more dominant roos were taken away, began flogging people. So, they carried a broom and when he tried to flog anyone they would give him a swa with the broom. I think that is pretty harmless, and it worked. I am sure there will be those who will say it won't work. Well, if it doesn't work then give him a soak in the stew pot!

There is no need to spank, kick, or swat a rooster. We have a bigger brain than a chicken so we should use it.

Consider how roosters behave when establishing pecking order. The display a lot. They make a racket. They jump and flog or kick. When one rooster has established dominance, he just chases the other to keep him in his place.

If you chase the rooster at a steady speed walk, you are sending the message that you are dominant and he is secondary. He will understand this message easily. No physical contact. Minimal effort.

That said, roosters that refuse to accept Beta status make delicious dumplings.​

Great minds think alike

 

[7L Farm]

I guess I started this hoop la. I'm gonna clarify that my cock was young when I kicked him & he now knows I'm the main roo . He still doesn't like me messing with the flock but he does know that I'm i n control. I have since added another flock & he doesn't like me handleing them but I'm not gonna back down. He does his job well but I am the main man. I still think you have to show your roo who's boss . Its your call good luck.