Mean Rooster- Suggestions??

[scratch'n'peck]

I'll complicate things by playing the rooster's advocate. I have to admit it is usually the rooster lower on the pecking order who is sweet. Now that he is alpha roo he sees his job as protecting his hens and the coop. Considering that he is a bantam you could probably warn kids to stay away from him and don't chase his hens also do not put their face near him. Unless you have babies and toddlers around, he doesn't sound unmanageable. Eventually he will have a run for those times you have really young kids in the yard. Heck, he is still less risk than many dogs.

 

[Saltysteele]

party is over, get rid of it.

get a breed that's more docile. i've got a light x coronation sussex roo that is an absolute pleasure. he makes no sign of even thinking about challenging me, or anyone. my 6 year old can chase him around. he's probably a year and a half or so old now, so he's def. an adult.

my dad's barred rocks (a pair of roos) are about done for this world. while they are complete a-holes to people, they would die for their hens and will come running if the hear a hen yelling

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Ordinarily I would recommend you read my Handling Rooster Aggression page (link in my .sig), but the fact that the bird drew blood on a neighbor child would leave me inclined to cull the rooster for liability reasons.

 

[allpeepedout]

I am a newbie, but my young roo of 17 wks, handled a lot, has in the last couple of weeks made aggressive moves toward me, pecking at my pant legs and shoes. In addition to increasing maturity, the flock has been moved to a new coop/run/tractor during this time. Open to interpretation, but I just realized that as baby chicks kept in brooder / cage well off the ground, they mostly saw the upper part of me, and never really saw me walking around them before. My floppy pant legs and shoes were a new experience for them, and his "attack" was possibly more exploratory than vicious.

I imagine that roosters perceive whatever enters their turf as a possible threat to be checked out: "is it dangerous -- or edible -- or intimidatable"? Perhaps your roo didn't know what to make of the child and did some pecking "research" to figure it out. From his perspective, better and wiser to safeguard his flock by being aggressive up front. That's his job. There is a good Mother Earth article that has been referenced a lot about how you can choose to not be confrontational -- how to not let your roo put you into an adversarial role -- as one approach to peacemaking. A child would, of course, not be safely put in this kind of situation.

At this point, my roo is still pleasant to pick up and hold, but the hormones they are a changing... so I may find that theory and reality are far apart. Good luck with yours, and I'd suggest doing some more research if you are motivated. I do think they need training and that people need roo handling skills and specific strategies planned out for how to react, just like handling a stallion or a bull.

 

[MaineChick]

Stew pot, sorry. Especially as he is still quite young and being a stinker already.

My first roo was a doll until he was about a year, then he got nasty. Would run at my husband trying to spur him. Would try me, too, but I used all the techniques listed here on the forum and they worked well enough to me to keep him as he, too, was a good roo with the hens.

I didn't much mind when a hawk got him, though. The #2 rooster, another Buff Orpington, was either better tempered by nature or had learned a lot by observation. He took great care of his hens, finding the best bugs for them and calling them to share, warning of danger, treating them decently during mating and even taking on a hawk for them! And Big Bird was a sweetie. If my husband or I or the dog moved too quickly around his girls, especially if we got between him and a hen, he might rush us but it was mostly for show (well, he meant it with the dog).

So breed may matter - or it may not. Status in the flock may matter - or it may not. How they are treated when young may matter - or it may not.

Good luck with your next rooster if you get another.