Is there such thing as a "nice" roo

[happymorrows]

So I have written about my rooster "Dom" before. He has come after me aggressively, and now he is doing it unprovoked when I am just walking around the coop. I am thinking of culling him as I have a DD that I want to be able to go amongst the chicks, and as it is I can't trust her with them because he is unpredictable and aggressive. Are all roo's this way, or are there nice roos that will let me handle the hens without getting all uppity? Does this behavior warrant culling? I would say he is just doing his job, but I am the only one he comes after. He even lets the neighbors little dog come around the hens and chase them without raising a fuss. I want a roo because I want to eventually hatch some eggs from our chickens as a learning process for my DD. But I want one that doesn't require me to carry a stick and look over my shoulder all the time. As of right now, he is headed for the pot, unless anyone has any wonderful insights. Trying to be thorough before I take any permanent action.

 

[pringle]

Try showing him whos boss,when you feed them dont let him eat until the others are finished.If he comes at you grab him by the legs and dunk him very quickly in some water just in and out dont let him sit there.Try this atleast and it might just work.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

There are many roosters that are very handlable. We have 17 roosters and most are large fowl such as Delaware, New Hampshire Red and Ameracauna. They all love to be held and cuddled. We have a few that don't like to be touched but they are not aggressive in the least. Your roo is simply expressing his dominance over you and it is up to you to establish dominance over him. Catch the roo and cradle him in your arm holding his feet and wings so he can't struggle. Take ahold of his comb and hold his head down near his chest and walk around with him this way, talk softly to him until he quits struggling. Let go of his head. If he struggles then repeat the holding his head down. This may take an hour or so of walking around with him. Once you can let go of his head and he keeps his head down without being held then you have established dominance over him. Let him down gently and pet him as you let him go. You may have to do this a few days but he will learn that you dominate him. If he does not shape up then either rehome him or send him to freezer camp.

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

I've only had one roo so I am far from an expert. But we tried all of the things that were described to you and our roo never got it. After yet another attack on Saturday he went to freezer camp. I'm sure some roos are never a problem towards people and some can be dominated. Not the knucklehead we had.

Now we have 3 hens that came with him that are the biggest bullys in our flock. We are thinking about re-homing them soon. I think we just ended up with a line of aggressive birds - all 3 of our other breeds are fabulous.

 

[teach1rusl]

Totally agree with pamp.pullet...if you can TEACH him some manners (or to respect you and yours), fine. But if not, there are plenty of roosters out there who do their job (watchdogs, fertilization, etc.), but aren't aggressive toward people. Especially when you have kids, I think you have to be picky w/roos.

 

[zazouse]

Wished ya lived closer i would glady give ya a nice roo, i just prossesed 146 in the last month and still have to many to count and not one was or is mean at all.

 

[happymorrows]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and advice. I am not even sure I can pick him up anymore, whenever I try he tries to peck me and goes berzerk. Even if I establish dominance over him, what about my daughter? She is too young to pick him up. The hens are all great with her, but I have to scoop her up when he comes around.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

If you have a smaller cage available, catch him at night when he is roosting and put him in the cage. In the morning you can then easily catch him and teach him his manners. If you teach him first then have your daughter come in and you hold him and have your daughter hold his head down. He will see that she also dominates over him.

 

[Caseman]

HE will allways be mean -take no chances I know back few years ago a little girl went in hen house and rooster spured her in the eye and she lost it.. once mean they harley change and usually get worse as they get older..get rid of him -2 many nice roosters out there..any breed can and will get mean sometimes..

 

[seminolewind]

If he's a threat to a child, he may need to be rehomed.

I've had alot of roos, I have 8 right now. I've never had a problem. A few in the past have started with me, so what I did is stalk them at a walk, keep walking after them and make them move along. Do this like 10 minutes at a time whenever you can. It's rooster talk for "I'm the boss". Do not back up, wear jeans, etc. Do not kick or hit him, he takes that as a challenge. If you see him go for food, block him, goes for water, block him, until he stops trying. If you watch an alpha roo with other roos, you can see that they do this to the other roos . You also see that the lower roos turn sideways to the main roo, never face on, as long as the alpha roo can make the other roos move, he stays alpha roo. Hope this helps. I've even rehabbed one roo that became my huggy roo. He would let me pick him up and cuddle him from then on. The others just respect me, but don't really want to be handled, but they eat out of my hand.