More Aggressive Roo

[Folly's place]

If he's going to need retraining, it won't do to protect your girl.
It's about getting him to move away from you and respect your space at all times. @Beekissed has a very good article about it here.
Human aggressive roosters tend to start small, and go after smaller humans first, then larger individuals. If they really have that mindset, it's not safe for little people!
Be aware, and be ready, and if you decide to rehome him, do it with full disclosure.
Mary

 

[Shadrach]

A lot is going to depend on how much effort you are willing to put in to firstly understanding why he does what he does and then, working out the best way to go about dealing with it.
Frankly, if you've got children and you are unused to cockerels and roosters then your options are limited to rehoming him if you can or eating him.
If your child/children are used to interacting with the chickens largely unsupervised then my reluctant advice is to get rid of the cockerel.
One of Beekissed's articles is a good article on emergency rooster problems. The problem with the article is you will be advised to have a stick in your hand which isn't very practicable in some circumstances and neither you nor the rooster will learn much or be friends.
I can't see any reasonable person thinking any the less of you for getting rid of a rooster in your circumstances.
However, if you are interested in why he does what he does this article (it's fairly long) may give you some insight.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[azygous]

There are lots and lots of rooster training threads and articles on BYC. But basically, training a cockerel to behave involves immediately restraining him when he exhibits bad behavior. But first you need to recognize what bad behavior is.

If a cockerel crowds you with any movement, it's bad behavior. Therefore, if your Cochin sidles up to you with a cute little dance, reach down and push him to the ground, holding his head firmly against the ground. Keep him pinned until he quits struggling, showing submission. Then you may release him. Do this every single time he approaches you with obvious intentions of intimidating you. However, if he sidles up to a hen with his little dance, that's within his role as a rooster, and you need to be okay with it and not show a reaction. (Unless a hen is getting beat up.)

The rest of the time, ignore him. Don't offer him treats, don't talk to him or even look him in the eye. Treat him as a non-chicken, invisible. Even when he is mating a hen right at your feet, ignore him, as you will when he's doing anything that his role in the flock requires. The unspoken agreement you will establish with him is he gets to do whatever he needs to do with the hens and protecting his flock and you get to do whatever you need to do as flock manager. You are like two magnets with opposite poles, you each go in your own direction.

Ground rules include never using force other than restraint. Even BeeKissed's stick I object to. It's never justified to hurt a rooster or even to frighten him. Be sure you know the difference between discipline and punishment, the latter being unacceptable and useless when training a roo and only makes things worse. It takes time and patience and commitment. Be sure you're up to it or else rehome your Cochin.

 

[EggWalrus]

There are lots and lots of rooster training threads and articles on BYC. But basically, training a cockerel to behave involves immediately restraining him when he exhibits bad behavior. But first you need to recognize what bad behavior is.

If a cockerel crowds you with any movement, it's bad behavior. Therefore, if your Cochin sidles up to you with a cute little dance, reach down and push him to the ground, holding his head firmly against the ground. Keep him pinned until he quits struggling, showing submission. Then you may release him. Do this every single time he approaches you with obvious intentions of intimidating you. However, if he sidles up to a hen with his little dance, that's within his role as a rooster, and you need to be okay with it and not show a reaction. (Unless a hen is getting beat up.)

The rest of the time, ignore him. Don't offer him treats, don't talk to him or even look him in the eye. Treat him as a non-chicken, invisible. Even when he is mating a hen right at your feet, ignore him, as you will when he's doing anything that his role in the flock requires. The unspoken agreement you will establish with him is he gets to do whatever he needs to do with the hens and protecting his flock and you get to do whatever you need to do as flock manager. You are like two magnets with opposite poles, you each go in your own direction.

Ground rules include never using force other than restraint. Even BeeKissed's stick I object to. It's never justified to hurt a rooster or even to frighten him. Be sure you know the difference between discipline and punishment, the latter being unacceptable and useless when training a roo and only makes things worse. It takes time and patience and commitment. Be sure you're up to it or else rehome your Cochin.

Good advise from @azygous .
If he doesn't straighten up and fly right, he needs to be swimming with the Dumplings. Can't be too careful when little kids are involved.

 

[Criticalicious]

My hens will occasionally peck my shoes out of curiosity and there's no aggression involved. They're looking for food. But the rooster never attempts it, because he's wary of me, the big scary other rooster - even though I've never hurt him and I don't intentionally scare him. Unless he acts out of line, in which case he might get startled on occasion.

To attempt to retrain a rooster, you have to "talk" to him the way another chicken would, because that's what he understands. The hormones and challenges will get worse for a few months until the roo learns his place in the flock (of which he thinks you're part), and then they may or may not get better.

Personally I disagree with pinning an animal to the ground as a form of restraint. It's not how chickens work. But every roo and situation is different.

Whether to keep him or not depends on the time you're willing to invest in him and whether your daughter is old enough or savvy enough to help. Some children are not threatened by a chicken, and cochins aren't very big. But any time you're dealing with animals, there is always a risk.

 

[azygous]

ersonally I disagree with pinning an animal to the ground as a form of restraint. It's not how chickens work. But every roo and situation is different

Actually, they do pin each other to the ground, roosters demonstrate their dominance over hens by doing it all the time. A hen can dominate another hen by doing it. When a dominant rooster does it to a subordinate roo, and I've seen it with my two roos, it conveys the ultimate humiliation to the lesser roo that has stepped out of line. It's the ultimate punishment among chickens in a flock. My younger roo hides in a dark corner for half an hour after being disciplined by his pop in this way, as if he's mortified to show his face after such a put-down. (The punishment is usually for being too rough with the hens, causing them to protest loudly.)

Speaking of flock discipline, having a well behaved, well adjusted rooster is a beautiful thing to see in action when he keeps order in his flock. I never need to step in and referee in my flock if two individuals have a disagreement. The rooster, no matter where he happens to be, comes racing in to discipline the two quarreling hens, and he always seems to know who started the conflict and he gives her a parting peck on the back as he breaks up the two combatants.

Also, an older rooster will take over the training and discipline of a young cockerel, leaving you free to tend to other things. But having two roosters is really only for flocks with enough hens for the two of them. My two roos, father and son, have divided the hens into two "harems" of around nine hens each, and it makes for a very efficient flock, reproductive coverage as well as keeping the flock safe.