My rooster done lost his mind.

[CrazyCochin]

I wouldn't call it abuse, I'd call it defending myself. I didnt just run up and kick him. When he tried to spur me, that was my defence as I'm wearing shorts and sneakers. I've got three nice claw Mark's and a bruise forming from him. I dont abuse animals.i spoil them rotten, but I will defend myself. Around here, if I cull him, someone will eat him.

It's not abusing him in any way, it is defending yourself.

I know the feeling, I have a goose who is nasty, a few weeks back he got loose and attacked me, I had to grab him by his bill, and almost lay my whole body on top of him, thankfully my sister came down and helped me throw him back over his fence. He has attacked me twice.

 

[CrazyCochin]

I have only ever had two aggressive roosters, so I may not have enough experience, but they were all in their own pens, and they rarely got handled, so no one was constantly attacked unless one of them got out, or we were in the pen without proper defensive equipment.

Of our eleven current roosters, not one is aggressive to the point of attacking. But then again, we have raised all, except three, from the chick stage.

Have you tried going out to the fence, staying on the outside, and feeding him bread through the fence, that way he will get used to you?
Chickens are highly motivated by food, so I think it could work. It's worth a shot.

 

[fluffy07]

You are quite right to fight your corner. That is what he will understand. He should give way to a senior cockerel (which is you). If he doesn't then you do need to cull him. Normally, cockerels will fight, but whoever loses will walk away and not try to attack again. We have had chickens for 11 years and some cockerels understand the pecking order and some don't. The ones that don't get culled.

 

[Ascholten]

I had one, I grabbed him by the neck, and legs too, .. those spurs !! and I kneeled down with him and pressed his face into the dirt, and forcefully shoved his face and him into the dirt and held him thee for about 45 seconds pressing firmly. Let them breathe don't choke them ut but make sure they are very uncomfortable.

While you do this, you l ook that bast.. in the eye and you tell him, if you EVER attack me again I will KILL you, with a bit of a shove face into the dirt so he can't breathe for a few seconds while you say KILL.. Go on about on how YOU are the alpha here etc etc while holding him stiffly. After about a minute of this pick him up and throw hin into a corner, not in a way to really hurt or bang him up but rough him up. You are letting HIM know that YOU are the alpha in this coop. and mimicing a lot of what they'd be doing with each other.

For the next few days you go in there on the guard, aggressively towards him, ready to snatch him at a moments notice and re snuffy him if he needs. and give him a real good stink eye too.

Had two of them they never bothered me ever again, one still came after me, he got his bell rung with a cast iron pan. I cloked that sob so hard I thought i killed him. He went all wobbly legged and fell down and wobbled around for a bit. When he was to his wits again to look at me, I took the pan, shoved it backin his face and told I will KILL you next time, and pushed him not so gently away with the pan. He stays well away from me now, and when I enter the cage, walks to the other side and watches me Sometimes you have to establish that YOU are the alpha man in the run. Especially for the ones who want to be sneaky about their attacks. One good clock after sneak attacks usually ends that.

aaron

 

[McChooky]

That makes me feel better!! I will invest in a net for immediate capture. For now I have to wait until hes roosted. But that'll work because his hens will see him hemmed up.

I had one, I grabbed him by the neck, and legs too, .. those spurs !! and I kneeled down with him and pressed his face into the dirt, and forcefully shoved his face and him into the dirt and held him thee for about 45 seconds pressing firmly. Let them breathe don't choke them ut but make sure they are very uncomfortable.

While you do this, you l ook that bast.. in the eye and you tell him, if you EVER attack me again I will KILL you, with a bit of a shove face into the dirt so he can't breathe for a few seconds while you say KILL.. Go on about on how YOU are the alpha here etc etc while holding him stiffly. After about a minute of this pick him up and throw hin into a corner, not in a way to really hurt or bang him up but rough him up. You are letting HIM know that YOU are the alpha in this coop. and mimicing a lot of what they'd be doing with each other.

For the next few days you go in there on the guard, aggressively towards him, ready to snatch him at a moments notice and re snuffy him if he needs. and give him a real good stink eye too.

Had two of them they never bothered me ever again, one still came after me, he got his bell rung with a cast iron pan. I cloked that sob so hard I thought i killed him. He went all wobbly legged and fell down and wobbled around for a bit. When he was to his wits again to look at me, I took the pan, shoved it backin his face and told I will KILL you next time, and pushed him not so gently away with the pan. He stays well away from me now, and when I enter the cage, walks to the other side and watches me Sometimes you have to establish that YOU are the alpha man in the run. Especially for the ones who want to be sneaky about their attacks. One good clock after sneak attacks usually ends that.

aaron

My friend and I split an order of chicks but because he didn't have a brooder he keeps them at his nephews house (beside his brother) A couple of weeks ago I decided to go up and take a look at his chickens.He free ranges his and feeds them scratch feed, I raised mine on chick starter. Their rooster keeps a lot of people from visiting them so they never invited me to come but I went anyway.In spite of all the stories I've heard about this rooster he didn't attempt to flog me .He just watched me.Some roosters just take an instant disliking to certain people and when its their caretaker they're usually culled.

 

[jsr5]

I know for certain my best Roos have been those that were either hatched by or came to the flock as babies amongst mature hens. Hen Pecked is a real thing! Those mature hens won't tolerate his youthful shennannigans and they get raised up right. Roos of the same age or older than the hens get away with way too much and learn bad habits. That is a fact I have seen played out a few times between my three sets of coops and runs. (one of them is Ducks though and they are way way different) Even my oldest Bantam roo who is the best roo ever that whips coyotes was raised by a mutt gal of mine that has a bad leg she is only about three or 4 weeks his senior but is also a full size girl But chewie was of a calmer demeanor than most. it is Funny to watch as new cockerels start getting to the teenage stage as they get their head thumped by hen after hen and then after he's whupped the Flock lead roo runs them well off for a while till they chill out. I love watching chickens I don't really learn anything but they are endlessly entertaining. Kinda like old School Cartoons.

 

[McChooky]

I know for certain my best Roos have been those that were either hatched by or came to the flock as babies amongst mature hens. Hen Pecked is a real thing! Those mature hens won't tolerate his youthful shennannigans and they get raised up right. Roos of the same age or older than the hens get away with way too much and learn bad habits. That is a fact I have seen played out a few times between my three sets of coops and runs. (one of them is Ducks though and they are way way different) Even my oldest Bantam roo who is the best roo ever that whips coyotes was raised by a mutt gal of mine that has a bad leg she is only about three or 4 weeks his senior but is also a full size girl But chewie was of a calmer demeanor than most. it is Funny to watch as new cockerels start getting to the teenage stage as they get their head thumped by hen after hen and then after he's whupped the Flock lead roo runs them well off for a while till they chill out. I love watching chickens I don't really learn anything but they are endlessly entertaining. Kinda like old School Cartoons.

Older roosters teach the young roos too. So many of our flocks are bought as day old chicks from hatcheries , not hatched by our own hens. Whole flocks are started up new every year with no older hens or roosters to teach them anything.

 

[Ascholten]

I bet they take an instant dislike if they sense that the person is probably going to be an alpha, just like they'd bow up to another rooster that they think might challenge them vs. one that is going to run away. If you scream and run the bird knows he has dominion over you and that will reinforce his habits. If you crack him with a frying pan or a stick or foot to the face when he kicks out at you, that habit will probably tender down real fast, along with his bruised hiney (and ego)

aaron

 

[Laura Anne]

I wouldn't call it abuse, I'd call it defending myself. I didnt just run up and kick him. When he tried to spur me, that was my defence as I'm wearing shorts and sneakers. I've got three nice claw Mark's and a bruise forming from him. I dont abuse animals.i spoil them rotten, but I will defend myself. Around here, if I cull him, someone will eat him.

I wouldn't put up with it. There'd be an ad at my corner store, "Free rooster for dates or dinner."

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Roosters see some people, not all, as threats to "his girls". I suppose some just like to pick fights, but I have no tangible evidence of that. From time to time, not all the time, our roo acts like he's going to attack me and will charge toward me, even jump up in the air with feet coming at me, but he's never done any damage. Why me? We can't figure it out because my bf and I give ALL our birds a LOT of attention. My bf maybe gave him more attention as a juvenile and onward, but for some reason he sees me as a threat or just doesn't really like me.

My bf can do anything with that bird, and the rooster does nothing, almost like he knows that Sam is higher in the order than he is, so he leaves him alone. He can walk right up to him, pick him up, hold him for 20 or 30 minutes and he just sits there content being held.

I wonder if you were able to show that you're dominant over the rooster if that would slow him down at all. I know that Sam kinda forced his will over our rooster's will early on in a gentle "I'm the boss" kinda way. I never did that with him, but maybe that was the key to the roo's behavior today...

I wonder if it has something to do with him recognizing your not part of his flock, he sees you as your bf flock and is warning you to stay back as he and your bf have no problems and he's not looking to challenge your bf? My oldest cockerel is only 11 weeks old and he won't let me get close enough to catch him but my husband comes out and he just stops and lets dh grab him so I can look him over. With the 5 week old chicks, 2 of the cockerels have started pecking my hands when I go to put them out in the run but never do it to my dh. He is naturally a very dominant person and friends often recruit him in training their pets from dogs to reptiles, he used to work with animals before I met him so he knows a whole lot more about behavior and how to correct them. I asked not long ago what do we do if one of roo's attacks me and he thinks if he were there to pin it and assert dominance it could send the message that I'm "his hen" so to speak and he is head of the flock, without any experience in chickens specifically this is just an educated guess. It has worked with other animals so we'll just have to wait and see if the issue ever comes up. We've got 9 cockerels so I expect there to be some problems along the way, we plan to keep one and if I can't rehome the others, they'll be dinner.