Is this normal rooster behavior?

[azer]

The Roosters do that for a reason they were meant to protect the girls... And that is what he is doing... My roo is the same way I just give him his space... He takes good care of the girls that he will let them eat first or I see him feeding them... So the answer to your question is yes it's normal ... Give him a chance

 

[mightymax]

I think you said it the best, "some have it, some will get it and others will never have it". I'm sure that applies to people too, right !!??!!

 

[Mrs. K]

A five year old child will see a rooster from a different perspective. Directly eye to eye so to speak. A five year old child is shorter, smaller and less physically strong than an adult. Little legs do not push or move an aggressive rooster.

If you have children under the age of 7-8 years old, where they have gotten taller I strongly recommend NOT having roosters. Look at the size of the brain, it is very small. Animals with larger brains have more training capabilities. Roosters are a crap shoot, some are good, some are not. But trust with a small child is a very precarious situation.

Rapid motion, high pitched voices, falling, running are all things upsetting to chickens. Rooster will often attack a small child first. This tends to ruin the whole chicken experience for people.

If you as an adult wish to try and train a rooster, and some people have had success, usually people with considerable poultry experience, that is one thing. However, a child is a rather dear to prove your theory on.

Mrs K

 

[enola]

A five year old child will see a rooster from a different perspective. Directly eye to eye so to speak. A five year old child is shorter, smaller and less physically strong than an adult. Little legs do not push or move an aggressive rooster.

If you have children under the age of 7-8 years old, where they have gotten taller I strongly recommend NOT having roosters. Look at the size of the brain, it is very small. Animals with larger brains have more training capabilities. Roosters are a crap shoot, some are good, some are not. But trust with a small child is a very precarious situation.

Rapid motion, high pitched voices, falling, running are all things upsetting to chickens. Rooster will often attack a small child first. This tends to ruin the whole chicken experience for people.

If you as an adult wish to try and train a rooster, and some people have had success, usually people with considerable poultry experience, that is one thing. However, a child is a rather dear to prove your theory on.

Mrs K

For this very reason please make sure your child is NEVER ever allowed near your rooster unless the rooster is confined. There are some pictures on this site of damage to children by roosters. Very scarey.......

 

[bobbi-j]

Yes - this can be "normal" rooster behavior. For some roosters. For some roosters, "normal" behavior is to keep order in the flock and avoid confrontation with the humans that feed and water them. I have one of the latter types. He's a good flock leader, stays out of my way and never, ever makes an aggressive move toward me. I would not keep the OP's rooster in my flock. Especially when there is a small child living there that wants to help with the chickens. I would not want that child to be injured or scared by a mean rooster. I would not want his enthusiasm for chicken keeping to be ruined by a bad experience. If the OP were able to train or tame the rooster to leave her alone, that does not guarantee that the rooster would have that same respect for a child.

The Roosters do that for a reason they were meant to protect the girls... And that is what he is doing... My roo is the same way I just give him his space... He takes good care of the girls that he will let them eat first or I see him feeding them... So the answer to your question is yes it's normal ... Give him a chance

Dogs are meant to protect homes and property. Does it mean that it's OK for a dog to bite anyone it perceives is a threat? That answer is no. It's the same difference. I would not keep a dog that's a threat to anyone who comes onto my property any more than I would keep a human aggressive rooster.

 

[subhanalah]

This type of behavior is a promise that one day he'll get too big for his britches and attack a person, you, a child....

There are too many good ones out there to try to change a bad one.

I agree, dinner.

 

[Avlana]

A five year old child will see a rooster from a different perspective. Directly eye to eye so to speak. A five year old child is shorter, smaller and less physically strong than an adult. Little legs do not push or move an aggressive rooster.

If you have children under the age of 7-8 years old, where they have gotten taller I strongly recommend NOT having roosters. Look at the size of the brain, it is very small. Animals with larger brains have more training capabilities. Roosters are a crap shoot, some are good, some are not. But trust with a small child is a very precarious situation.

Rapid motion, high pitched voices, falling, running are all things upsetting to chickens. Rooster will often attack a small child first. This tends to ruin the whole chicken experience for people.

If you as an adult wish to try and train a rooster, and some people have had success, usually people with considerable poultry experience, that is one thing. However, a child is a rather dear to prove your theory on.

Mrs K

x2!!!!! Very well said

 

[mightymax]

OK, okay...no sense in beating a dead horse...
...or rooster for that matter. In fact, that's one thing I want to make VERY clear before I finish here...I am in NO way suggesting people beat their roosters (or any animal) into submission !!! I don't feel that a push or shove with a shoe hurts or damages a rooster in any way, except to maybe hurt his pride, which is pretty much the result I was trying to achieve by doing it in the first place! Spare the rod, spoil the child, so to speak. And you're right, a vast majority of people today don't have the time, or the desire, to attempt to re-train an errant roo. and I respect that! But I do, is all I'm saying, and for that I won't apologize. I, too, am of the opinion that children under a certain age should not be left unsupervised with chickens around. They also shouldn't be left unattended in stores, parks or the backseats of cars. All I'm trying to accomplish here is to let people, who may not know otherwise, understand that there are options out there that don't involve culling. I did not join this forum to get people all riled up. Nor did I join it to change the world or to put my mark on society. I joined it to communicate with others who were like minded and shared my passion for animals, specifically, poultry. But my MAIN reason for joining BYC was because it sounded like FUN. So could we get back to doing that. Please !!!

 

[azer]

I have 8 year malltipoo female doggie she is the sweetest dog ever ... She grew up with my son so you know she has a high tolerance for kids... But the other day we had company and a 4 year old wanted to carry her and she would just run away from him and he kept trying... So she turned around and snapped at him ... That. Little boy left her alone after that.... Is that normal behavior ???? Should I put her in the freezer ??? No she is a family pet and I know that if that little boy would of gave her her space that wouldn't had happen....it's begining to sound like the butcher forum for rooster...

 

[centrarchid]

You very much need to get to know your chickens. The threat of aggression indicated is not unusual but can also indicate something about your behavior that might promote such with any rooster. The rooster is protecting his reproductive interest but will only invest in the aggression if it works. Avoid stressing hens though excessive handling; hens avoiding you or making bawk sound indicates stress. Do not recoil from rooster's advances on you nor act aggressively in return. Pay particular attention to interactions between your child and any rooster. All attacks on kids and adults I have seen, especially of the persistent / sustained variety are promoted by the "victims" behavior. Roosters I keep in large numbers over many years so have accrued lots of experience in their management. I also have very young kids ranging one to three years of age and they can move freely about yard with unrestrained adult roosters without harm. I can also bring in as visitors, parties that would be at risk. Those parties are asked to leave not because I am concerned for their well being, but rather because they do not behave in a manner that is appropriate for being around animals they are not familiar with in general. If the rooster is motivated to act aggressively, then he is being stressed as well. The party with the greatest capacity for controlling interactions is the human and that capacity includes a great deal of flexibility in terms of what you can do. The cooking pot is an option but not always the best especially when your return on investment is a concern.