It's a Roo manners thing..

[growinupinfl]

My issue is a Roo named Col. D. Nuggets. I do not want him to become nuggets but.. He does a lot of things right with the hens, he gets them all in the coop at night, and makes sure he is in between people and the girls. But he is cruisen for some form of bruisen...He is attacking my kids. He is 4 months old and having that first testosterone surge, If it is anything like human boys it is making him aggressive and making him loose his mind. I've read about holding him upside down, or holding him till he submits.. But how the heck do I CATCH THE STUPID THING. They free range on about an acre of land. And what is the best way for him to learn to leave the kids alone. Should I crate him. But if I do hold him or dangle him, will he learn to leave the children alone too? I mean these kids range from 9-18 they are not little kids. So any recommendations would be great. I really don't want to off him, but I don't want to let him hurt the kids. Any idea's of how to humble a Colonel let me know.. The Colonel and his girls..

 

[Mak]

You can try having anyone he even looks like he is going to threaten just give him a good (but not viscious!) boot across the yard. And don't let him come to you- chase him away. Anything to convince him he is NOT the top dog anymore. It may or may not work. My guy is pretty laid back and I think will be ok, tho he's young yet, and we're still watching him. And making sure he gets put in his place often. Yours may not change tho. We have friends who had rooster that just would not stop attacking their daughter, no matter what. He doesn't live there anymore.

 

[GwenDellAnno]

This came from another reader recently. I copied and saved it.

Training a Roo Properly

Treat them like a male animal that can inflict harm. Never assume that , since you have fed him and held him since he was a chick, that he will not harm you. It is best to treat roosters with a level of respect and keep him knowing you are boss roo or a potential predator.

Don't let him eat while you are there, don't let him breed while you are there, don't let him get too comfortable around you. Some roos don't need too much of this type of training, some do.

If you want a pet, get a dog or cat. If you want a flock master who is every vigilant, treat him like one.

Some folks can get by with petting and coddling a roo and never have a moment of trouble...but most of the posts on here complaining about aggressive roos start out "he was so sweet when he was little and would let me hold him and pet him" or " I have always fed him treats out of my hand, but now...."

These are roos that see you as a subordinate in the flock, or view you as no physical threat but something that is around his hens and must be banished.

Try to be neither and you should have a good roo experience. I've never had to cull a roo for excessive aggressiveness towards humans after schooling one to know that I rule the roost and not he.

A good roo calls out a warning when threats appear around the flock. A good roo attempts to protect his hens...even from you. A good roo knows that you are bigger, stronger, more aggressive and must be avoided for safety reasons. A good roo is not overly aggressive with hens and does not bully youngsters.

They crow...this cannot be changed. You do not need one in order for the hens to lay eggs.

Your roo is a bull, a ram, a billy buck, a stallion...only in a smaller package and with smaller horns(spurs). He can do an amazing amount of damage with those spurs if given the chance...particularly with children.

Pet your hens but keep your roo at a distance and never let him approach you boldly and directly. I know there are exceptions to every rule but you only have to read the inordinate amount of posts regarding aggressive roo behaviour to realize that these are not cats, bunnies, dogs or any other pet animals.

You may be petting his pwetty widdle head at 3 months and be fighting him off with a bucket at 5 mo. Respect the roo!!!

I'll tell you what I did with a roo that I had....a very huge fellow, biggest roo I've ever seen in my life!

He was the lesser roo to my old RIR for awhile, but one day I came home and knew instantly that things had changed. He had challenged my much smaller but older roo and had won sometime during the course of the day. How did I know this? He bred a hen right in front of my RIR and nothing happened. He was crowing more and had a more confident strut to his stride. He even walked towards me as I went to the coop.....and he suddenly attacked my egg basket.

Up until this day I hadn't had to school this roo....he had already been schooled by the RIR and I ruled the RIR, so everything was good....until this one day.

I fended him off temporarily with my basket and reached into the coop for my roo stick and I waited....he came back and I thwacked him across the back~these sticks are very lightweight and make more sound than fury~he ran but I could tell he was just not convinced.

I proceeded to enter the coop and I waited...he stuck his head into the coop...and proceeded to enter the coop. THWACK!!! Stick to the tail feathers...right on the fluffy parts! An unexpected attack from nowhere~just like his earlier attempt. He couldn't get out of that coop fast enough!

Again, the poor cocky thing stuck his head in the door....THWACK! Right against the pop door facing and right in front of his face!

He never attempted another attack after that and I kept up my training for a few more days....but he never relapsed. Always walked a wide berth around me after that and never entered the coop when I was there. The training I followed up with in the few days after consisted of running a few steps in his direction when we were out in the yard~just enough to make him run away. Waiting around the corner for him to walk by and lofting him with my foot right under the tail feathers. He hit the ground running!

The unexpected attack is a boss roo's MO...that is how they operate. It doesn't have to hurt, it just has to surprise and terrorize. I've never seen a lesser roo get hurt by a top roo in all the years I've kept chickens....after the first few surprises, the lesser roos know enough to run away when approached.

Of course, I've only ever free ranged, so my birds have this luxury...to run far away and stay away. In a penned world, I'm sure they have to fight now and again because they can't escape it.

My niece owned this roo's brother and he tried their defenses and won...was the terror of the yard. They finally had to gang up on him, get him down and cut off his head off with pruners! They hadn't called to find out what to do and they didn't have much experience with chickens.

I finally culled this roo from my flock but not for aggression towards humans or animals....he was just so large that he was injuring my hen's when mating. Loss of feathers and wings dragging from sprains...it wasn't worth it to have the biggest roo in the land.

When we processed him, I found the source of his libido...his testes were ginormous!!! Big as a human's! And his offspring had the same traits. Poor thing was just hormone driven to be a breeding machine.

Hope this helps! Just always be consistent in your training...every opportunity spent with your animals is a training opportunity. Keep your eyes open...train this roo while your child is present. Show him your training techniques and let him participate. Pick up your roo and let your boy hold him and lose his fear of the roo, but not the respect. Explain to your boy about the roo's mind and why you are training him this way. Teach him to walk confidently into the coop and run at the roo if the roo doesn't leave his area...provide him with his own roo stick for confidence.

Always monitor interaction between the child and roo, be close enough to intervene, be vigilant but not afraid, be matter of fact and be assertive. Stand your ground if the roo approaches~I know this is hard, but do it anyway~have long pants on, nice sturdy shoes....give him a full frontal kick if he gets too close. Lunge at him and chase him a few steps every time you get near him.

I've never had to do this behaviour for more than two days to get results...lasting results. I don't have to carry a stick with me or look over my shoulder. I just KNOW where he is at all times, just like you do your children.

Hope this helps.

 

[sourland]

One attack to the face on someone leaning over could result in irreparable damage to the eyes. Kids have got to come first. I would recommend penning him up or getting rid of him. He is only doing what is natural for a rooster, but in these circumstances it is unacceptable. There are gentle roosters don't settle for less.

 

[growinupinfl]

Wow, Thank you for posting that and thanks to whoever posted that the first time. Me and this roo are going to have a meeting of the minds tomorrow. Ya know I know to do this with male dogs and even teenage boys to some extent. But with them I tell them they are going to have a meet Jesus moment. Which is normally after they have done something so dumb hormone and testosterone driven I have got to do something drastic to put them in their place. I'm a 4'11" female my teens are all right at or over 6 feet. Luckily the shock and awe tactic so far seem to only need to happen once to each walking hormone in a human disguise. Why would I have thought it was more difficult with a goofy Roo... BTW I don't beat my kids only put them in a predicaments where they are scared enough they pray to meet Jesus before facing me again. And I only have these moments when they do something so extremely testosterone ladden they need to fear something to grow up to be the men they are supposed to be, and not unthinking bullies. I guess Roo's need to fear something so they can grow up and be the flock leaders they are supposed to be and not unthinking bullies. Hmmm, guess their is a lot of similarities. Thanks for putting me straight.

Christal

 

[GwenDellAnno]

I went back (finally had a bit of time) and checked and the original poster of that information was Beekissed!!! Thanks again Beekissed for helping us with our roos.

 

[blefky]

I swear, BYC is like getting an online degree in Poultry Keeping.

 

[bburn]

Thanks for posting the Rules for the Rooster which I have saved and will read again several times. My flock are just starting to really change. We have several roosters and will have to address that soon. We got them May 8th this year and they were probably two weeks old. So far we have not seen anything bad. In fact this morning my husband said if I wanted to hear the rooster crow I needed to go let them out (he does it every morning). I let them out and no one crowed. In a few minutes he came back in and said someone had crowed four times while he was outside. So now I have the window open and the ceiling fan off and I have been able to hear the crowing.

I love it!! Can't hear it in my bedroom and it is not that far from the coop....ceiling fan once again!

The roo's get loud when there is danger. I have heard it several times. The day the copperhead was heading to the run was the first time I knew there was a problem. Dispatched the copperhead in no time at all with a shovel. I am much more alert when I go out there now. Then the other day I could hear the warning calls and glanced out the window on the way out and could see the roo's on top of the pen we have inside the run and they were all on alert. I rounded the corner of the house and a hawk flew up off the covering to the run. I now have the shotgun where I can grab it on the way out the door. I don't believe I could actually hit a hawk but I could make it uncomfortable for it and maybe it would not come back.

They are right when they say the roo's protect their girls. I could see it in action both time. Still yet, there has been no aggression towards me yet but I don't take that for granted. My stepdaughter was flogged by one of her roo's and ended up dispatching it neatly before the day was over. I think mine are at an age where it needs to be watched now.

I did read about making sure you look them in the eye and back them down before. I have been doing that. Sometimes I go in the run and sit on the mini coop that is in there. They will walk up to me but I always look them square in the eye because I want them to know that I am head honcho.....so far they back off and get busy peaking something on the ground.

We are going to have to start thinning out the roo's soon. So far there is no breeding going on. So far there is no fighting amongst the roo's. When it starts action will be taken. There is no free ranging out here because of all the dogs although we are out in the country, up on a mountain. So I feel like we will really have to watch since we have them in a run (a very large run).
Thanks to GwenDellAnno and to Beekissed....this is how we learn to be better chicken keepers.

 

[fishnet1971]

i must have three "wierd" roos. Mine are almost 6 months. I have a comet roo who is just a doll baby. he is a little agressive to any man that comes around as far as he will crow at him or fluff up, but he's a big baby. As soon as you raise you voice with a stern tone, he cowers away. I probably shouldnt say this, as it is against all of everyones advise, but my roo (Superbird) jumps up into my lap when i let them all out into the pen in the morning after I have patted it and told him to come up. He lets me put him on his back in my lap and rub his belly. He is a huge bird too. He rides on the handle bars of my lawn mower with me. I do look him straight in the eyes though, and you can see the look of 'ok, you win, you the master'. My other roo (a barred rock) is huge too, and not submissive to the Superbird. He is not the #1 to the ladies or to the protection, but he lords over the other 2 roos. The third, Blu(he has blue eyes) is the runt of the litter. Just recently he has been allowed to mate by the other two. The one gets really mad sometimes and is ok at other times. i am worried that Superbird will get really mad one day and kill Blu.

 

[GermanChick]

Thanks so much for posting this. I will start working with Lola (aka Larry) today. I have two little boys and don't want to run into some rooster trouble