My rooster is on very thin ice...suggestions requested please

[AnnieOK]

I have 18 beautiful Black Australorp 9 month-old chickens, 17 hens and 1 gorgeous roo. The rooster has become aggressive in the past month or so; it seems that his aggression corresponds to the time I started letting them free range in the larger chicken/goat yard. Before that, I kept them in an enclosed and covered with wire run with a little door into the coop. They could come and go in and out of the coop, but I began feeling bad about keeping them so confined. So, around the first of October I began letting them out of a morning into the very nice-sized 'yard' that always served as my grandmother's and my mother's chicken yard. For years it has been a yard for the 3 pet goats, though we have moved them to another area. Anyway....

I never noticed him being aggressive when I would be inside the coop cleaning or filling the water and feeder and he was in there. Just was never an issue. But I'm wondering if now that they are out in the "world" he has become more protective.

I want him to be protective and I understand that he is just doing his job. But I CANNOT have him come at and attack my 85 yr-old mother. Or other people. She went to let them out one morning when I wasn't home from work yet, and he jumped her 3 times; fortunately there was a man working at the house on some carpenter work, and she had to yell at him for help. We decided that she wouldn't ever go out there again except to close them up at night when I'm not there. (They're all on the roost at that time.)

I have been managing him well, I thought, by not confronting him, not crowding him, carrying a stick just in case, taking treats with me and giving him treats specifically; but just now I thought I was going to have to kill him or knock him out to get out of the chicken yard. He came at me--after I had taken some old bread and thrown it around, making sure to drop some in front of him--and I've never seen him so fluffed up. I don't know what was different. I had to use the stick on him, which I hate. And he kept coming again and again. I don't exactly "love" my chickens, I consider them livestock, but I was brought up to love animals and completely believe that we are to treat livestock gently, kindly, and take very good care of them. My "pets" are my dogs. (They are part of the family.)

Sorry this is such a long story, but I don't know what to do now with this rooster, but I don't like the idea of having any creature on the place that myself or my family can't go around without being attacked. I fear that I know what needs to be done, but just thought I'd ask again if anyone has any comments, advice, or suggestions. I had thought that the Australorps would be more docile, and the hens are great. I hate the idea of taking their protector away from them. Though, the way he goes after them they might not mind.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

 

[The Lazy L]

..not confronting him, not crowding him,...

Confront him!!!!!!

Let him know that YOU are the BOSS and YOU will not tolerate such behavior!

If my Rooster Luck every acts that way I'd knock him up the head or kick him thru the end zone and if he continued he'd be running around the backyard minus his head and in the supper's chicken noodle soup before he knew what happened.

 

[furbabymum]

I had an aggressive rooster. He tasted awesome. Really, why are you keeping him around? There are roosters out there who will do their job without attacking people. I've another rooster right now who seems fine. Our old rooster was given a second chance and now my son is terrified of all chickens. I will not give a chicken a second chance ever again.

There are the bleeding hearts out there and I get it. I'm just not willing to be mauled by any animal I have to pay to feed. Kill it and move on.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I had an aggressive rooster. He tasted awesome. Really, why are you keeping him around? There are roosters out there who will do their job without attacking people. I've another rooster right now who seems fine. Our old rooster was given a second chance and now my son is terrified of all chickens. I will not give a chicken a second chance ever again.

There are the bleeding hearts out there and I get it. I'm just not willing to be mauled by any animal I have to pay to feed. Kill it and move on.

x2. I have zero tolerance for an aggressive roo. They are either nice or nice to eat.

 

[sunnyvera]

It is a hard decision, I know. We just whacked the most beautiful Welsummer, named him pretty boy. Once he became the alpha roo, he could not be trusted. He is now in the freezer. I would never want to pass those traits along to the next generation of chicks. I hope the up-and-coming roos are nicer. So far, so good.

 

[jtbrown]

I have to agree with the above.

We started chicken keeping last spring. We had several roos. They were bad, went after my kids and my husband and I even after starting off nicely. We fretted, we kept the kids away from them, and then I took them to butcher. No roos again until this spring. We were amazed at the peace we felt once they were gone.

We now have 3 buckeye roos, 2 up and coming light brahma roos, and 2 buff orp roos. But we have a total flock of 57 or so. Anyway, these roos are soooo different. They protect the ladies, they run to us for treats, but have not seen hide nor hair of aggression. We are amazed after our bad experience that it could be so good now. We will never, EVER keep a bad roo again. We have no tolerance, I have grown in my animal husbandry skills, and take things more in stride now. But for your own peace of mind, keep your family safe, and get rid of that roo.

Hope this helps. Good luck. You will be amazed at how peaceful it is without the troublesome guy.

 

[AnnieOK]

Thank you all for your replies. Reinforced what I suspected. These being my first chickens, I wanted to give him a chance, but I really don't want to always have to carry a baseball bat or hotshot and be looking backwards all the time. And, as I said, I cannot take a chance on him knocking my mother off balance. Now, to figure out the logistics on the actual deed itself. Thanks again everybody!

 

[jtbrown]

I was uneasy at first with this, but found reassurance in a few fellow chicken keepers in my area. Is there anyone close who can help you the first time if you are uneasy. There are lots of threads here of you search "culling" or look in meat section if you choose to handle it yourself.

I knew I could do it, but doing it was another thing. I did get rid of another silver laced wyandotte roo for his ungentlemanly behavior this spring. My husband was surprised I didn't make him do it (he didn't help the first time, but would have). I found it much easier to do the 2nd time. Good luck. Keep in mind, you will be relieved when you can enjoy the chickens without him, I promise.

 

[daniel-delarosa]

Try a water hose with a sprayer before you kill him. Worked for me. My roo was CRAZY. He pi**ed me off one day and after my leg got tired of kicking him off of me,( I was trying to stun him so I could grab and kill him) I broke out the water hose and chased him around giving him a good douching. Never bothered me again.

 

[lahowardjr]

Awsome. I'll usually kick my Orphington roo off of me and chase him around the yard like a crazy man and he'll cool it for a week or so. The idiot forgets in about a week and he'll ease up from behind for a sneak attack and around the house we go again..... I want to keep him for some buff chicks this spring but it looks like he may be dumplings if he dosn't smarten up. I'll try the water hose.