My roo is getting an attitude... ? to follow

[miss_thenorth]

My BR roo has been taking to jumping at me and my kids the last few weeks. My dilemma is--I don't want to get rid of him, (although I've threatened him with the soup pot), so what if I confined him to the enclosed run during the day while the girls are out freeranging, and put the girls back in with him in the evening until they are let out in the morning. Would that be enough time for him to fertilize eggs? I would eventually like to hatch out some eggs to replenish my laying hens.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Next time he jumps at you, jump back and chase after him like a crazy person. Have your kids do the same thing. My roo won't come within 5 feet of us after we did that.

I got rid of him after he started after my 16 year old cat

 

[hinkjc]

We've tried that with a roo once and he became much more aggressive. Unfortunately not all tactics work the same for every roo. I have found the best medicine for a flogging roo is the soup pot or dog food.

 

[Judy]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior

 

[loverOFchickens]

I agree with CoyoteMagic. You might try a foam coverd bat. Also I have heard of squirting them with water. That is easier for kids.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
While I agree with this, I want fertile eggs. i have tried all the techniques suggested on the link ddawn provided, and still he jumps at me. Always when i turn my back to him. he hasn't hurt anyone (yet),. I can enclose him, but am wondering if just that short amount of time is enough for him to get his bisiness done and give me fertile eggs.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

How many ladies do you have?

 

[Chicken Fruit]

You're going to have to ball up and rooster back at him. Keep jeans on, and put on some gloves and long sleeves and have at him the next time he comes at you. Chase him like holy hell fire and grab at him.

Do it real well once and he shouldnt think twice about threatening you again. Make sure you equip the kids and do the same. If theyre small puppet them through the chase so he sees them coming after him.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If the ladies are going in shortly before nightfall, I tend to doubt the fertility rate would be all that high. As kikinono suggests, numbers do come into play, but he can only do so much before they go to bed. I've never done it, so I'm not sure how that might effect the flock dynamics either. He may lose his dominance and not perform at all. I don't know about that but it may be a possibility.

You could try it and check the fertility of the eggs after about 3 to 4 weeks. This site gives pictures of fertile eggs.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

You could trim his spurs to reduce the damage he can do.

You could get some eggs in an incubator and start to raise a replacement rooster now. It's probably earlier than you wanted to raise your replacement layers, but you could get some meat birds this summer or get rid of excess on Craigslist.

You could check Craigslist and probably get a free rooster. This raises some biosecurity issues. You could also advertise on this forum for a rooster, but as much as I respect the members of this forum, you don't know anything about our biosecurity either. And any of us may have flocks harboring diseases we know nothing about despite our best biosecurity measures. Still, people successfully bring in new birds all the time.

You could keep him isolated until you want fertile eggs, then let him roam with the ladies.

Good luck!!

 

[Hen-son]

I am afraid of our rooster and he knows it. I'm the only one he will
chase after anymore. He tried once or twice on my 12yo son but he
started picking him up, holding him, carrying him around everyday. Then he tried on my 9yo son and he did the same and he hasn't tried to get them in a while.

My solution, because I'm to scared to hold him... I wear tall rubber boots from Tractor supply, always carry a small broom & keep it between me & roo.