My roo is a schitzo

[BlakesWife]

Ugh. First off, my roo, who is lucky to be alive in the first place, is about to end up in the stew pot. I say lucky to be alive because the original roo we had began to get a bit too dominant toward myself and the kiddos. As we would walk by the chicken yard to get to the coop, he would charge at the fence and try to peck us through the fence. Needless to say, he didn't last long and quickly became dinner one night. The night we got rid of the original rooster, we culled back to just one roo in the yard. Anyways, he was the only one we kept and got rid of 4 other roos that day. Well, the little bugger was very calm in nature. He would never come close to us, but definately not charge at us or buck at us. Heck, Im eating my own words now because when we lost a hen and two of her day old babies to a predator I was cursing up a storm to him saying "You're suppose to protect your hens!"

Well, the tables have turned and this roo decided today, while I was in the yard tending to the needs of our younger flock that is in a pen up off the ground in their yard, he decided he was going to attack me! Thank goodness I was wearing some pajama pants. The little bugger winded up scratching me through my pants though. He charged at me twice. I took off my flip flop and was going to let him have it if he did it again, but he did not. I grabbed a stick, closed up the little chicks pen, and kept my eye on him until I got out of their yard. What the heck man. He's got split personalities. Nothing done in the last few weeks here would've enticed such behavior. Heck, the day before he was eating some grass clippings from my hand. Only thing I can think of is he was trying to protect the babies? *sigh* How do I get his behavior to stop? When we dealt with this with the other roo, nothing worked. Even trying to show him his place on the totem pole only made matters worse.

 

[TrystInn]

You can try the old broom trick, bring it in with you and once he comes charging up to you - you brush him back with the broom. If nothing else, he'll learn to respect you and the broom! I know folks who swear by rampant affection, grab him and give him lots of rubs, etc.

Or yes, you can turn him into dinner.

 

[Amitist]

lol, He is the perfect Con Rooster! He acted like he was all nice and made you keep him since he was good. Then later he betrayed you. It was his master plan to live!

 

[The Lisser]

Once you removed his competitors, and he became head roo, he decided to challenge anything in his "territory". He thinks of you as another chicken. We have six roos that patrol our barnyard (pullets are kept separate) and we make them move out of way, and my daughter sometimes chases them (not to be mean, she just enjoys it and doesn't hurt them) . . . so far it makes them understand that we are dominant. If I see one picking on another I will chase him down and pick him up. They are not supposed to mate hens in your presence, they are not supposed to pick fights in your presence. I also wouldn't hand feed him anything until he gets his signals straight. If you think like him, it is sort of like you are saying you are a less dominant roo and are giving him first choice at the food.

I haven't experienced an aggressive-to-people roo so far, some people say that can be reformed, some say they can't. You can always trim his nails to make them less sharp and remove his spurs (there are several topics on this on BYC if you use the search tool). If he is good to the girls I think it's worth a try.

Good luck!

Melissa

 

[Emzyyy]

Quote:
Agreed, I had 9 roosters all good to each other and got along. I got rid of one to my dad's friend and he went from being a total sweetheart to a terror. He attacks their nurse who comes over to care for their elderly parents and circles cars when they pull up in the driveway to wait for them to get out. I go over there though and teach him who's boss he won't come near me.

 

[pgpoultry]

Well, I'm lucky as my big Brahma boys all get along and are good with people.

However, our last rooster wasn't the same.....he attacked my husband a couple of times. We researched it and every morning for a week as he came out of the coop we grabbed him. My husband then walked around with him tucked under his arm, parading him in front of the ladies, stroking his back. Hubby therefore established he was alpha male and convinced Sid (Vicious) that he was no threat to him. Worked like a dream.....no more attacks ever.

We also trimmed his (huge) spurs.

Sandie

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

All we did with our rooster, and it may sound stupid but I swear it works, is to pick him up and carry him around as we do chores.

Hold him firmly, but carefully under your arm and just carry him around. Go about your business. Collect eggs, feed the chickens, whatever else you can do with him under your arm (you may need help with the chores). If you respond to him with violence then he will see you as another rooster. Then he will challenge you. Even if he stops for a while, you will always have to have your eye on him.

It really does work. How long it takes depends on the rooster and how comitted you/the family are to doing it.

Good luck!!

 

[3chimama]

I have always had bad luck with roosters...this is why I don't have them anymore although others do just fine with them.

 

[Amigatec]

It may have been the pajama bottoms you were wearing. I normally dress in my work uniform or bib overalls. I went to some training at work and wore just a shirt and pants, and when i got home to check on the birds, they were stared of me. I was dressed differently.

It may have the colors of the pj's that set him off.