My rooster attacks unprovoked, help!

[ilikehalo2]

Its a giant Cochin, and last year we got him at 8 wks old with a batch of chicks. We made sure to hold him so he wouldn't Be aggressive. This season, he has attacked every male completely unprovoked, and is very irritating. We won't even be near the coop when he starts running after us. What should we do?? We don't want to kill him, he's our pet.

Thanks!!

 

[Easter Bunny]

Aggressive Rooster? Ain't nobody got time for that!!!!

He's not your friend.

 

[HappyHenFarm78]

Unfortunately, you have to realize that your once sweet pet is not 'mean' but just doing what nature tells him. Roosters duty is to pretect their flock-they cannot rationalize that YOU are their provider and apart of that flock...Springtime is the worst as their hormones are in overdrive. He is not much of a ''pet'' if he is attacking everyone.

You can always wear tall rubber barnyard boots- but what if a small child gets attacked...those leg spurs of theirs do damage! And you bird is a BIG one- young too as I remember you saying- so his spurs may not even be fully developed but even stumpy spurs HURT. My bantam cochin roo got me in the knee caps and punctured me thru my jeans and made me bleed and I had a bruise for 2 weeks. NOT FUN.

You can de-spur him so at least he cannot slice anyone- simple get a hold of him, have someon grab his spurs with plyers and gently twist until they pull off. They will eventually grow back and you can do it again when they do. They may bleed slightly, but mine didn't and he didn't put up a fuss either.

I understand not wanting to shoot him, but think about giving him to another farm home (heck give him away as a 'junkyard dog' LOL) but give him to someone who knows chickens has the space (no small children around) and doesn't care that he's aggressive.

good luck!

ps.. I have 9 roosters that free range nicely together- some tiny roos that are aggressive, but so small they don't hurt us even though they TRY! we also have the bantam cochin boys in my avatar pic, "Brian and Tarzan" they were once very sweet but now Brian (de-spurred) will hunt us down and go for our legs- he gets up as high as my FACE sometimes! But Luckily we have a giant tom turkey that sees a rooster pestering us and he is stealth like Batman...he comes out of no where and stomps on the rooster, he'll even pick up the tiny ones and chuck them...LOL... we did this past winter end up shooting a rooster though- I felt so bad ad he used to come in the house and sleep on his back in my lap while I watched tv, but it got to the point where everytime I went into the coop to feed his hens he would attack my hands when I reached for the food dishes one time I bent over and he nearly got me in the face- scarey. Not worth the time and money on a dangerous bird .

 

[ilikehalo2]

Thanks for the advice. While I realize he is protecting his hens, most often he will be alone and wanting to start trouble. He doesn't attack the one who feeds him, which is good. You said you have 9 roosters - how many hens do you have? We have 2 bantam roosters and like 5 hens, and a peacock. I've been told that we need more hens, as some get abused pretty horridly. I don't want to put him down (his name is Marcellus Wallace, we are sort of attached, haha) but we may end up just giving him away. I'm nervous though - will this upset the equilibrium of the coop?

 

[SgtPepper]

I had to give my rooster away because he became very aggressive. He'd attack anyone and everyone, even three of my four dogs - only the largest dog he'd leave alone. Sometimes he'd draw blood but most times he'd just bang you with his chest. When he was a baby he was very sweet, but the older he got the meaner and more protective he got. It was really hard to make the decision to give him away, but it was very stressful having him. You never knew when he was going to attack and there was always the fear he'd attack one of the dogs and they would hurt or kill him.

One day, my largest dog (110 pound mutt) has one eye and was just minding his own business in the yard. Sgt. Pepper decided to attack him on his blind side. The smallest dog (60 pound mutt) ran halfway across the yard to attack the rooster. So he had to go. I miss him. He was a beautiful Plymouth Rock B&W Barred. All of our neighbors miss his crowing, but it's much less stressful for everyone now, including the hens. I was worried they'd be upset or wouldn't be safe without him, but they're doing great.

Good luck!

 

[HappyHenFarm78]

I have 9 roosters and 35 hens. I have 3 little Antwerp roos that we call the "Mafia Brothers" because they will form a pack and stalk you together and attack you as a trio!!! Luckily they are less than a pound but they still hurt- especially when wearing shorts!

Even though there are no hens in the immediate area, their instincts are "on". If they free range they consider the yard their domane, once they attack you they realize they get u to 'go away" so mission is accomplished and it becomes routine to see you and fufill their mission.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Life is too short to keep an aggressive rooster.

Think of it this way--there are SO MANY very nice roosters in the world that are killed every single day because people can't keep them. Cull your current rooster and get one of those. They're usually free.

Cull your rooster. You won't change him.

 

[enola]

A the risk of sounding cruel, the only way I have been able to rehabilitate a mean rooster is to attack him first.......

At the first sign of attack, I beat him to it and knock the living crap out of him. A time or two of you getting him first will SOMETIMES work.

The third time he attempts to attack me, off to freezer camp he goes.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

A the risk of sounding cruel, the only way I have been able to rehabilitate a mean rooster is to attack him first.......

At the first sign of attack, I beat him to it and knock the living crap out of him. A time or two of you getting him first will SOMETIMES work.

The third time he attempts to attack me, off to freezer camp he goes.

You're kinder than we are. We have a TWO strikes and you're out policy.