my roo is a jerk

[gryeyes]

Every 12 year old boy I've ever met has been somewhere on the "obnoxious" continuum, sliding this way or that on it until they either matured or accepted the larnin' from their elders on how to treat others.

I think that was the issue here: unless taught differently, the immature cockerel is like an immature boy.

I'm sure many young men, brothers, nephews, cousins and sons, are nice young men at age 12. I'm not slighting anyone, anyway, really - just making a comparison. I wish I HAD met more of 'em.

Now, back to cockerels and roosters being jerks.... human keepers of the flock and older hens go a long ways toward edumacating young roos so they develop some manners. Sometimes they mellow out on their own, sometimes they do not, if they don't get the lessons learned. Too many good ones to keep a bad one. (Again, I'm just talking about male chickens, here.)

 

[RL]

Tinman,,, The term "How the cow ate the cabbage" means to tell someone the unvarnished truth, even if the person would rather not hear it. The thinking is it came from a an old joke that went something like this...

A circus had arrived in a small town, and one morning one of the elephants managed to escape. The fugitive pachyderm made its way to the backyard garden of an elderly (and very near-sighted) woman, where it began hungrily uprooting her cabbages with its trunk and eating them. Alarmed by the apparition in her garden, the woman called the police, saying, “Sheriff, there’s a big cow in my garden pulling up my cabbages with its tail!” “What’s the cow doing with them?” he asked, to which the woman replied, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you!”

I have not heard that term in a long time, so I had to look it up to remember. It can also have the meaning of telling someone where they can stick it.

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

A friend of mine once told me that to stop her roo's from being A-holes she would toss them in her water tank for a sec everytime they came at her.. she said they only did it a few times and then got the hint to stay away from her.... lol cant leave them in too long just let them flop for a few sec's...

 

[dsqard]

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I don't know gryeys, there were times I wanted to cull my 12 year old son!

 

[PunkinPeep]

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Ironically, i learned that term from my dad, a full blown northerner.

Great story, RL! I've never heard that.

 

[pookiegoldman]

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Yeah, my 5 year-old named him. His hen is sweet Potatoes!!

 

[chickenbottom]

my silkie has been coming at me now and again when he gets the courage to get me, i recently lost my blue cochin frizzle rooster due to sour crop and i miss him so much he would never come at me he would jump in my lap and let me pet him he was a good boy i guess cause i was the first thing he saw, and last

but cotton my silkie roo he might have to get chopped ive had to do it before lol. i think you just need to show him who is boss, i sent cotton flying today it made me feel bad but my leg got cut up and i dont feel so bad anymore.

 

[emvickrey]

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I got one of those. lol He's a silkie and a determined leader of his girls. I have to give him a little boot every now nad again to set him straight. He will fly up to try to spur me and i'll catch him in mid air. Then all he can do is give me the stink eye. lol He has nailed me once but all I could do was laugh. It did hurt but he could only get as high as my calf on my leg and he was going to town trying his best to run me off. After I composed myself Ijust picked him up on one of his jumps and put him up. I was catching his girl to put her and him up for the night and he thought he was protecting her. lol He actually helped me out by jumping into my hand. I do plan to rehome him but only because he is being replaced by an Ameracauna for my EE girls.

 

[PhilErvin]

I had an old fishing net that I restrung with a heavy net, it has a long handle. I took it out with me and when my roo came at me I threw the net over him and just let him struggle for 20 seconds or so. When I released him he came at me again so I threw the net on him again and left it on longer. When he stopped struggling I let him out. He just kind of saundered off. Now I carry the net with me when I go out there and he leaves me alone. I tolerate him because he is an excellent protector to his girls and they like him.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I had the same trouble with my first roo, a Barred Rock, although he was a little older than yours when he started attacking me. He was actually good with the hens. It was just me (and any other human that dared enter my property) that he had issues with. And only sometimes. One minute he was friendly and taking treats. An hour later, I was an extreme threat to be dealt with. Five minutes later, he was ignoring me again. He would even come tearing across the property to confront me when I was minding my own business INSIDE the horse barn! And he got MUCH worse as he got older. I tried water, I tried fighting back, I tried pinning him down until he settled, I held him and petted him in the evening, I ignored him (even when he was attacking), I locked him in a horse stall. I even tried standing on his feet so he couldn't fling himself at me. NOTHING worked. He just kept getting meaner and better at it (my legs still have the scars to prove it). He ultimately got me in the chest with both feet. Way too close to my face. So at 10 months, as much as I loved him, I HAD to face facts.

I now have two Easter Egger roos, Col. Brandon and Buttermilk, 5 months old, and VERY friendly - although they are a little harder on my hens than Nigel was. They do the big neck dance daily with each other but have never made an aggressive move at me (or each other) beyond dropping a wing (which only one of them tried twice) when treats were being handed out - which got him promptly shooed off.