my rooster is attacking

[BigBernice]

I have 2 roos, one is aggressive and one is not. I have been holding them and petting them both since they were young. Whenever the aggresive rooster is angry, I do pick him up and pet him until he calms down...it works for him, so it may be worth a shot with your rooster. The trick is catching them though! Hope everything works out with him!

 

[mypicklebird]

Get a net or a hook and chase him down. If he is a dangerous rooster- you need to put some time into dominating him, or get rid of him. If you dominate him (there are lots of good suggestions in this thread), you can never turn your back on him- and you will need to reinforce the domination often. If you really can't catch him during the day- catch him at night, and lock him up in a smaller area. BUT---You CAN catch him during the day- it may just take several people & cooperation +/- a net. Herd him into a corner or against a fence and GRAB him, net him, throw a blanket on him ect. Be sure to video the chase and capture so you can have a good laugh later.

Honestly- once a rooster has shown me he is a jerk, away he goes. I don't want mean roosters around- passing on their mean genes or attacking my kids/quests/me/cats ect. I don't have the time or desire to be the top rooster, as I have enough chores to do as is. I have several nice roosters, that do their hawk alert jobs and fertilize the eggs- I don't need a rooster that can't differentiate between me and a predator (or another rooster).


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[azygous]

I've only just had experience with two young roos. They're seven months old, both hand raised. Clarence I gave to a friend when he was four months old. Stan, I kept.

Soon after Stan began to crow and get interested in sex, he began to get aggressive with me. I didn't know the first thing about rooster care, so I was helpless as to what to do when he made it a regular thing to sneak up behind me and peck me on the legs and ankles. I began to be afraid of him.

Then I saw on this site that someone was having the same problem I was. There was a link to a very good essay on raising a sane rooster. I've since tried to find it, but can't seem to. But the advice really worked with Stan. Basically, I needed to dominate and humiliate him.

So every morning we begin the day with the same ritual. I snatch him off the roost and squeeze him under my arm, carrying him around like a football while I do most of my chores one-handed. He struggles sometimes, but mostly he seems to enjoy it. I finish up by sitting down and holding him tight and massage his comb. He loves it. He sometimes falls asleep.

Then I let the hens out to free-range, still keeping hold of Stan. He wants down but I force him to wait. When I do put him down, I give him a mighty swat on his butt, enough to send him tumbling. Then I chase him around the yard, forcing him away from the hens. If he starts to mount one, I shove him off. Throughout the day, if he mounts a hen in my presence, he gets sent tumbling. I'm the alpha rooster, in other words, and the hens belong to me.

Stan has become the perfect gentleman. I love him, but I treat him rough, not cruel, just rough and tough. The hens I treat very gently. Stan gets rough-housed, and he loves it. When strangers come around, he behaves with perfect manners. He hasn't pecked or even displayed any aggressive moves since I began the taming.

Now Clarence is a different story. My friend is scared to death of him. He chases her, attacks her, refuses to let her in the coop to get the eggs, he's a regular little tyrant. Yesterday, I paid Clarence a visit. I went into the coop and he attacked me viciously. I cornered him and grabbed him by the wing, and swept him up under my arm, squeezing him like I do his brother. I carried him around like a football while my friend and I discussed her plans for a run she wants to build. After about twenty minutes I put Clarence down and gave him a mighty swat on the butt, sending him tumbling. Then I chased him around the yard. He didn't try to peck me or attack me after that.

But my friend is going to need to spend time with him every single day, reinforcing her dominance over him just as I do with Stan. It's not even an option for either of us to kill and eat our roos. We love them too much. But no one should have a nasty piece of work running rough shod over them. It's not necessary. If you devote the time, establish a dominant relationship with your roo, he should be quite content to let you be the boss and treat you with respect.

Again, these are the only two roos I've got experience with. It's possible you can have a genetically predisposed bad roo, and then you will have some tough decisions. Also, there are fine "how-to" videos if you use the search feature on this site that tell you how to easily remove the spurs when they grow in so you can be assured he can't do any damage to people or hens.

Good luck!

On edit: Found the article! http://shilala.homestead.com/roosters.html It's very informative!

 

[Alpha]

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He's acting aggressive because he's at that stage where he's coming of age, and his hormones are raging. If you don't feel comfortable striking him as some others have suggested, just carry a spray bottle (preferably red) with you when you're around him. If he comes at you in an aggressive manner, just spray him dead on in his face. After a couple of times of doing this, he'll associate this unpleasant experience with coming at you, and he'll most likely stop.

 

[Sequin]

I know this might sound harsh, but my thoughts on aggression are that there are too many good roos that need good homes to waste my time and energy trying to turn a bad roo nice. Try for a bit to assert yourself as alpha, and if it doesn't work - send him to freezer camp and move on to a nicer roo.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Our EE roo turned aggressive, initially just toward my kids and DH, then he turned on me too. I read all the ideas for ways to show my dominance toward him (kicking him did nothing, he just kept coming after us). I finally decided it wasn't worth it, there was no way for my family of 7, plus all the other people who come here to show him dominance. We put him down. I miss him but it's a relief to all.

 

[SC_Hugh]

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I have heard many people talk about all the good roos that need homes and I wonder if that is really true?

1. Maybe these good roos are still young and haven't acted up yet?

2. Who would really get rid of a good roo?

3. I think most roos that are given away are not good roos but ones that already have shown some aggressive behavior.

4. I love to see the photos of young children holding a rooster, those I believe to be good roos for sure.

5. I guess you are right if you keep searching for a good roo until you find one, while offing the bad ones for the good of the breeding world.

My rooster is now 8 months old. He is more aggressive than he was at 6 months. I still consider him good even though he pecked my wife's hand the other day and drew blood when she reached into the coop to open the pop door (I need to re-install the door to open from outside the coop). He doesn't attack from behind or chase anyone, he is always on alert to protect his hens. I have never had reason to hit him, but if he ever attacked me from behind he would need to be given away. Fertile eggs taste just like regular eggs to me. so that is not the reason that I keep him. He is beautiful and fun to talk about, he stays as long as he is good.

--Hugh

 

[Ibicella]

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Roos are pretty individual. Many of them never orient on their humans being something they should fight at all, and are perfectly loving pets.

2. Who would really get rid of a good roo?

People who have too many good roos already, or are in a place where they are not allowed to have roos at all.

3. I think most roos that are given away are not good roos but ones that already have shown some aggressive behavior.

People needing to get rid of their excess hatchery cockerels is probably the most common reason for people need to give up roos, good or bad.​

 

[PunkinPeep]

In my opinion, there's only one way to deal with a roo, and that's head on. Even if you can't pick him up at that moment, if you come at him when he comes at you, then he knows you mean business. If you act scared, then he knows that he's in charge and that he rules you, and he does.

If you have them in a coop at night, you CAN catch him. Coops are great for cornering a chicken. Since i caught and held my roo a few times, he doesn't mess with me, and if he starts to act at all aggressive, i just go after him. He doesn't like that idea, and he leaves me alone.

Of course, no method is fool proof i think. And what worked for me may or may not work for you.

That said, if i had a rooster that could not learn to be submissive to me, i am not of a mind to continue to support anyone or anything that continues to bite the hand that feeds it.

 

[stormylady]

I have only have had one bad experience with a roo, Honey Comb,(light brahma) he is normally such a sweetheart, he is also top Roo, but one day I was out and caught one of the younger pullets to get her used to being handled, she screamed and he came flying at me, landed by my feet and tryed to jump up and bite my hand, that was a shocker for me but anyway i put the hen down right away and snagged him up and hung him upside down by the feet till he calmed down then righted him in my arms and walked around with him for a while and i don't know but he is a year old now and has never even come close to showing any aggression towards me or anybody. He is still the top roo but when I come around and hold the hens and younger girls he gives me a wide berth, he does however still boss the other roos around when they try and breed with the hens. But that is his job. and he is good at it. The other boys don't give me any guff either i figure that the think that im I outrank the top roo so i out rank them too . Who Knows whats in the mind of these guys.