My Leghorn Flogged my little Girl

[christmaschicken]

I have a 7 mth old Leghorn and he is not being very nice these days. I did the hold him under my arm thing, and he is usually pretty nice to me. Has chanllenged me a few times but I put him in his place.

My daughter 7 gathers the eggs for me and she LOVES the hens she is showing one RIR at the Fair this year so she has her favorites she likes to hold. However the Rooster is doing his job by seeing her as a threat he is a great protector and that is why I kept him out of 4 Roosters. He is such a good boy with the girls.

He is constantly going after my daughter more than likely because she grabs up the Hens and she is a BIG THREAT to him I have explained to her that he is protecting them and she should let me lock him up before holding them. He chases my Truck if he can see her in it. We were letting them out for the day, and out of no where, he flogged her across the face leaving scratches all over her face I put my foot up his rear end after that and not very nice either.

Should I have her hold him and carry him around for a few weeks with me around of course? or should I just get rid of him we have raised him from a chickeeeee and we love him but she is scared to death now, not to mention I feel like a total heel her face is a mess and I am SO ANGRY at myself.

I don't see the point in having a Rooster at all if my daughter can not be around him.

Any ADVICE????

 

[Kecene]

That is were a draw the line. I started to raise chickens for my 2 year old son to interact w/ them. Kids come first.

 

[bearcat73]

Dude, I'd eat him. Life's too short to have an aggressive roo.

I think I've read that once they fixate on one person, they're not likely to change. Get rid of it, don't let your dd live in fear of it.

 

[Rte.66_chicks]

He'll make a tasty soup for your daughter to enjoy.

 

[sdshoars]

you carrying him and holding him will not help. sounds like he already sees you as dominate. your daughter would have to chase him and wrestle him and carry him, and make him realize SHE is dominate as well. which i highly doubt she will want to do after that experience. i think he would make a very nice pot of soup. if any animal of mine harmed a child, they would not even have the chance to see the next sunrise.

 

[bearcat73]

BTW, I'm sure you'll get some responses saying that he is just doing his job, etc and you should try to train him, etc. But I disagree since there is a child involved. Yes, he is technically "doing his job" or at least he thinks he is doing his job but your daughter is not actually a threat to your hens so he has that part wrong.

For me, I plan to eat some of my chickens anyway, so I might as well eat the mean ones.

 

[katrinag]

If you do not need the roo I would turn him into soup. We have a 0 tolerance rule hear.
However if you need the roo for hatching eggs I would suggest a seperate pen for him. And follow what the above poster said about your DD holding him and etc....

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

There are too many NICE roos out there to waste your time with a mean one.

I have 15-20 roos and ALL of them are nice enough to respect my space, NEVER attack and allow me to pick them up & pack them around.

Out of the 53 birds I currently own, I've only ever had ONE (Sumatra) roo attack me directly. He did it once. I back-handed

him the length of the run the second time he flew at my face with his back feet (think NINJA ROO) and after he collected himself, if looks could kill, I'd be dead 10 times over! He looked at me like, HOW DARE YOU?? And that was a few months ago. He's NEVER done it since. In fact, when I come into that run, he stands way in the back and won't come within about 4 feet of me the entire time I'm in there.

Fortunately for him, he's the nicest (standard-wise) of the Sumatras I hatched last year. I do have a VERY nice back-up roo in case this one takes back to attacking. If that is the case, he'll be gone & I don't mean to a new home.

I remember someone on here telling me that "NINJA roos make good stew!" And I'm going to stick to that. I wish you were closer--I'd give you one of my cochins or brahmas. They are the best....

 

[speckledhen]

Yep, I said that. It's so true! I have five roosters, all sweethearts, and one I used to have is gone because he developed an attitude. I dont have time or the inclination to always watch my back around the property.

 

[MagsC]

Definitely a candidate for the soup pot.