Is my rooster aggressive or just being a rooster

[Kchicken1988]

hello.
I’m new to chickens. My flock is almost 7 months old.
I’ve had my rooster since he was a baby. He was always loved on and picked up. When he was turned over into the large coop he no longer wanted to be held.
These are his behivaor traits and i am Trying to figure out if he being aggressive or just doing his job as a rooster. And soMe of things he does aren’t towards me, but he makes me nervous and I don’t trust him.
He also the only rooster

- when I open the coop he tries to be the first one out the door. If the hens are out before him he will literally chase them back inside.
In the middle of the day ( this is sometimes not every day) when I approach the coop he won’t let the girls near the door. He will chase them off or pace the door. So I have to walk past him first

When Inside the coop he has paced in front of me with his head down. Sometimes he will peck at the ground so I dont know if he’s acting like he’s ingoring me and really watching me. Or just pecking the ground. Lol

If one of the hens squawks He will come running towards me thinking it was not me who’s hurting them

And lastly. He will never. Take his eyes off me when I’m In the coop


Ok. So is he aggressive or just being himself ?

 

[Gray Farms]

Sounds like he is very protective of his hens. And he hasn't decided if your a threat or not yet. When he challenges you don't react. If you try to shoo him away with your foot, hand, bucket, feed scoop, etc. your going to get hit. My advice would be to ignore him. If you react to his challenges your going to get hit then you've got a bigger problem to deal with. As long as he doesn't become aggressive towards you on his own he should eventually decide your not a threat and move on.

 

[Kchicken1988]

Sounds like he is very protective of his hens. And he hasn't decided if your a threat or not yet. When he challenges you don't react. If you try to shoo him away with your foot, hand, bucket, feed scoop, etc. your going to get hit. My advice would be to ignore him. If you react to his challenges your going to get hit then you've got a bigger problem to deal with. As long as he doesn't become aggressive towards you on his own he should eventually decide your not a threat and move on.

So if I don’t shoo him I have to completely walk around the coop to avoid him. Is that a better idea ? Usually I will walk right up and don’t treat him any different and hope he moves and doesn’t attack me. I feel like I’m chancing it when I do that

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Sounds like he is very protective of his hens. And he hasn't decided if your a threat or not yet. When he challenges you don't react. If you try to shoo him away with your foot, hand, bucket, feed scoop, etc. your going to get hit. My advice would be to ignore him. If you react to his challenges your going to get hit then you've got a bigger problem to deal with. As long as he doesn't become aggressive towards you on his own he should eventually decide your not a threat and move on.

Well, hopefully he will move on.

 

[Gray Farms]

Its kind of a 50/50 deal. You don't want to advance on him when he is showing dominance but you don't want to give up ground either. If you give him his space he should give you yours. Its can be touch and go with young roosters and their first flock.

 

[Rose Quartz]

hello.
I’m new to chickens. My flock is almost 7 months old.
I’ve had my rooster since he was a baby. He was always loved on and picked up. When he was turned over into the large coop he no longer wanted to be held.
These are his behivaor traits and i am Trying to figure out if he being aggressive or just doing his job as a rooster. And soMe of things he does aren’t towards me, but he makes me nervous and I don’t trust him.
He also the only rooster

- when I open the coop he tries to be the first one out the door. If the hens are out before him he will literally chase them back inside.
In the middle of the day ( this is sometimes not every day) when I approach the coop he won’t let the girls near the door. He will chase them off or pace the door. So I have to walk past him first

When Inside the coop he has paced in front of me with his head down. Sometimes he will peck at the ground so I dont know if he’s acting like he’s ingoring me and really watching me. Or just pecking the ground. Lol

If one of the hens squawks He will come running towards me thinking it was not me who’s hurting them

And lastly. He will never. Take his eyes off me when I’m In the coop


Ok. So is he aggressive or just being himself ?

sounds like he thinks you're a prospective mate. My first roo did this, and got mad when I would leave after letting them out in the morning. He eventually went after, (didn't actually hurt her) my 2 year old. I couldn't keep him after that because I couldn't trust him. He definitely thought I was a hen, I've heard handling roos can make them think you're part of the flock instead of as the giant that brings the food, so with my new boys I've not handled them more than I need to and they seem to be quite comfortable around me and my kids.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

hello.
I’m new to chickens. My flock is almost 7 months old.
I’ve had my rooster since he was a baby. He was always loved on and picked up. When he was turned over into the large coop he no longer wanted to be held.
These are his behivaor traits and i am Trying to figure out if he being aggressive or just doing his job as a rooster. And soMe of things he does aren’t towards me, but he makes me nervous and I don’t trust him.
He also the only rooster

- when I open the coop he tries to be the first one out the door. If the hens are out before him he will literally chase them back inside.
In the middle of the day ( this is sometimes not every day) when I approach the coop he won’t let the girls near the door. He will chase them off or pace the door. So I have to walk past him first

When Inside the coop he has paced in front of me with his head down. Sometimes he will peck at the ground so I dont know if he’s acting like he’s ingoring me and really watching me. Or just pecking the ground. Lol

If one of the hens squawks He will come running towards me thinking it was not me who’s hurting them

And lastly. He will never. Take his eyes off me when I’m In the coop


Ok. So is he aggressive or just being himself ?

He will become aggressive unless you put your foot down! Sounds like he is testing the waters.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

So if I don’t shoo him I have to completely walk around the coop to avoid him. Is that a better idea ? Usually I will walk right up and don’t treat him any different and hope he moves and doesn’t attack me. I feel like I’m chancing it when I do that

If I were you, I would just walk with one of those soft fan rakes or a broom.

 

[Kchicken1988]

Bump

 

[Acre4Me]

Sounds protective, but considering his options. He might decide to attack, but hasn’t yet, so that is good. He may never attack.

We have a rooster that is 1.5 years old. He will go after me, but not the kid (who is middle school age). He’s very large, so can’t really fly high or fast, but has been aggressive to me. While we will get rid of him in the next 12 months, when a younger one is old enough to take over, he stays for now.

Ours are kept in a run. When I go in, I take a metal garden stake with me and hold it in front of me. If the rooster thinks he’s coming to my space, I reach out and tap (“peck”) him on the head with the stake (which is blunt and wide). This is chicken speak for a reprimand. He always moves away. On the days he decides to flare up his neck feathers, and get into fight stance, I hold out the stake closer to him (but perpendicular to him-it is not pointing at him), he sometimes decides to “bite” it. Beak vs metal, and he decides to move away. I do not hit him with the stake, and I avoid using my boots as that is a sure way to get him into fight mode. However, one day he decided to attack my spouse. Spouse instinctively kicked him upside the head (flipping him over) and rooster has given spouse wide berth ever since.

Lastly, all our chickens do anything they can to avoid the fishing net. So, if I want them all at the other side of the run, or away from me, then I take down the fishing net and they disappear to the coop or far side of the run. This is, of course, because they have all been caught in the fishing net from time to time, such as when we individually spray them with permethrin. We spray them when they are outside, so we can spray and put into the coop with door shut, keeping track easily of who still needs to be sprayed.

Overall, an aggressive rooster is a PITA. We will get rid of ours, but want the young males to grow up a bit before we remove the current head guy.