My Beloved Roo Is Becoming A Problem...despite all attempts to turn him around.

[Maurice11]

sorry, a bad rooster, is a bad rooster. I had one with 15 or more chickens, in a large yard etc. Whenever i came, he attacked me with his spurs I had his spurs removed. He then attacked me with is beak, i had him de-beaked (all vet services), and he still attacked me. I finally had him euthanized and stuffed. He sits on my kitchen cupboards now, very quietly.

 

[chynasparks]

Wow, doesn't sound so beloved. Maybe he should have been dinner.

 

[Maurice11]

no dinners from my chicks, and I have never had another rooster with such an attitude. Good Luck, the lady who does rooster rescue had some interesting concepts - if you have the time.

 

[Rettarain2]

Re: Roxannemc and Muffinburgler

I have tried this approach with him in the past - I actually chased him around the yard with a shovel several times because he made me so angry. And then there was the rooster stick, that I would take into the run with me for defense. After several weeks of this it just seemed to make him meaner. However, when he attacked me, I would full on bat him across the yard in defense.

I am thinking I might try the broom idea just to get him to keep his distance from me and regain that respect. More of a chase, and less of any kind of physical harm. It does make sense to chase him around as the dominant rooster. And having a stick in hand also dissolves my fear and I'm sure changes my body language as I appear to him.

I had given up on this (what I will refer to as "fear-based" philosophy) after doing some reading, and discovering two very different trains of thought on aggressive roosters. As I understand it, the so called "fear-based" philosophy requires lots of chasing, and physical harm to intimidate the rooster. For example, booting him across the yard when he flies at you. I have read that the rooster will come to fear you, and will not attack unless you are in a very vulnerable position, or he will attack other people, given the chance. This is why I stopped fighting back in the first place, because I don't want to own an unpredictable bird that may attack me or my family when we are vulnerable. The other train of thought seems to center around gentle but dominant behavior. The "gentle-dominant" philosophy requires you to dodge his attacks and EVERY time this happens, you must pick him up and carry him around until he calms down. It helps to do this in front of the hens and make it as embarrassing as possible, supposedly. This is what I have been trying for more than a month now. At first he seemed to learn very quickly after being held that the best option was to walk away. Now he is acting more aggressive than ever when I put him down and he comes at me instantly.

We'll do a little chasing and see what happens.

Thank you all for your input ! 

 

[Rettarain2]

Thanks ..I don't feel so terrible now.TOMORROW THE MOP goes with me!!!

 

[chynasparks]

I feel bad for you guys with mean roosters. What I'm hearing from these posts is that you're trying everything to change aggression in your roosters. They are staying mean, or they have the potential to sneak up on you. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to deal with this should my roo turn mean. Physical contact with my roo is unavoidable as I carry them to a portable run. I guess I could just leave him in the coop and just take the girls to the run. I'm just guessing and planning on the "what if" he turns mean. I so hope that doesn't happen.

 

[azygous]

Chyna if you have a nice roo now, chances are, he'll stay that way, unless he's still a cockerel, then you will need to wait and see how he handles his hormones. The very worst thing a person with a rooster can do is be afraid of him. He absolutely senses your fear and lack of confidence, and that will awaken the need in him to compensate by being aggressive.

Just keep on doing what you're doing. Suddenly changing your behavior and how you handle your roo will be self defeating.

Personally, I believe there is no correlation between handling a cockerel as he's growing and him turning aggressive. It's just a coincidence if he does. It's your attitude and demeanor that determine how your roo reacts to you. You need to be a strong, confident leader of the flock, and chances are good that he'll stay nice.

However, if he's still very young and has that hormone thing ahead of him still, you will need to be especially aware of your actions around him, and that goes for other people as well. During the first two years, a maturing roo needs to have things be as calm and normal as possible.

 

[chynasparks]

Thank you azygous your feed back is very helpful. I don't plan to make changes. Not adding to the flock, will continue to take him over to the whoop run and I go in daily and sit. I like to use that time to watch them and look for problems they might have. He's only 21-22 weeks so I will keep my eye on him

 

[Maurice11]

good luck. That is why I have a 'stuffed' rooster. My two roosters now (6 months, as are the hens) are respectful of me, don't even attempt to attack me, just strut around, being masters of 'their' kingdom, waking up the neighborhood. I did not want two, I was just given two baby chick roosters in case one didn't make it, well they did. so far so good, but I won't tolerate attacks on an on going basis.

 

[guernsi]

Re: Rettarain2

So you are trying the mop? I wanted to explain something about my use of the broom when I started this thread. When I first posted this, my rooster was chasing me, flying up at me with his spurs, and biting me. I was at wits end and even brought him to another farm to live but couldn't follow through with it. Anyway, I brought out the broom for several days and used it to keep him from attacking me. I chased him around the yard. I never hit him with the broom, but only use it to lightly touch him on the bottom. I think the main exercise in the use of the broom was mostly for me, actually. It allowed me to reestablish the alpha position, and not be fearful of him (which I'm sure he knew). The broom allowed me to change my body language and be confident when working with him.

Unfortunately, now that we have made huge strides in the right direction, he is very wary of being near me at all ! I do of course want him to step out of my way when I walk into his circle, but I don't want him to fear me and I am afraid that my use of the broom may have caused this.

The biggest piece of advice I can offer is from olychickenguy (posted earlier in this thread - read it !). Always walk toward your rooster, never away. I even calmly walked toward my rooster when he was flying at me with his spurs (I had put on two pair of thick pants, glasses, jacket, gloves, boots). He has completely stopped the attacks now. The key is a calm confident attitude.

I am able to walk anywhere near him, near the hens, inside the run (where I have to duck down at face level with him). He is no longer charging the fence of the run when I am on the other side. Now we are working toward him allowing me to catch him and touch him without him melting down from fear.

It is all about YOUR behavior, YOUR attitude, and YOUR consistency. Seriously, read the advice above from olychickenguy. I dealt with an aggressive rooster for an entire year, and if I had known how I should respond to him I would have been much happier and free from bruises a long time ago.

Good luck !