Nasty or Nice

[The Chook]

Meet Kenneth (Ken) ^^^

Ken is either nasty or very protective about his girls. I was standing in the chook pen after filling up their water and I was watching them for awhile. A hen, Lottie, came over for a pat and as I bent down to pat her Ken came racing up. He pushed Lottie out of the way and stood between me and her making this funny noise, I tried to get around him but he would not let me pass and there was no way of getting to the door. I first thought it was sweet that he was protecting his ladies but then he started to circle me, making all these funny noises. He was giving me this look that I have never seen before and looked like he was sizing me up because he was puffing up his feathers and standing tall.

The other day Prissy came over to be picked up and petted, so when I picked up Prissy, Ken can came over and started to attack my foot. So I put Prissy down and Ken stopped, he checked her over and gave her a very hard peck on her back. He always get upset if a hen is out of his sight and when the hen returns he pecks her hard on the back or head. He always makes sure I am not near his girls, it is starting to annoy me because I want to pat and pick up my hens without getting attacked. He is fine if I am not making a move towards them or rounding them up to go back to their coop, its only if I get very close, touch or pick up he gets unhappy.

Is he being nasty or just overprotective? I don't want my girls getting hurt by being pecked because they have walked off on him or because I have touched them.

 

[donrae]

If you want to handle your hens you'll need to get rid of this rooster.

 

[appps]

How old is he? If he is young and this is new behaviour then be prepared for it to get worse.

Our young rooster started like this and in the end he was attacking for just going in the pen

Only chance you have of fixing is catching him and holding him backwards (under your arm with his head to the back) for 10 minutes 2 or 3 times a day and anytime he shows dominant behaviour towards you.
This shows him you are head rooster not him. You have to be pretty committed to it for it to work though

 

[The Chook]

Thanks guys. I don't want to get rid of Ken, I love him to much.
Ken is very young I raised him since day 1 and I have grown very fond of him. I have tried to put it over him but I don't want him to get scared of me

 

[appps]

You have to remember he isn't a person he is a chook and putting it over him is how they work. He won't be scared he will respect you. Different thing.

I started a thread called has anyone successfully retrained a rooster. There is some fantastic advice on there if you do a search for it including from a guy who takes problem roosters and rehabilitates them. its not being mean to them its just taking their place as head chook. Part way through the lady tells how her formerly attacking chicken now snuggles for a scratch.
But it will only work if you are committed to it.

Your other alternative is take something like a plastic rake in with you to keep him from hurting you when he attacks. I found it quite good to give me seperaton from him without accidentally hurting him by having to push him away with my foot.
But he will get worse because everytime you push him away but don't dominate him he will take it as you challenging him for top rooster but being the looser which makes it his job to see you off away from his flock.

It stinks but that's just how it is :-(

 

[The Chook]

You have to remember he isn't a person he is a chook and putting it over him is how they work. He won't be scared he will respect you. Different thing.

I started a thread called has anyone successfully retrained a rooster. There is some fantastic advice on there if you do a search for it including from a guy who takes problem roosters and rehabilitates them. its not being mean to them its just taking their place as head chook. Part way through the lady tells how her formerly attacking chicken now snuggles for a scratch.
But it will only work if you are committed to it.

Your other alternative is take something like a plastic rake in with you to keep him from hurting you when he attacks. I found it quite good to give me seperaton from him without accidentally hurting him by having to push him away with my foot.
But he will get worse because everytime you push him away but don't dominate him he will take it as you challenging him for top rooster but being the looser which makes it his job to see you off away from his flock.

It stinks but that's just how it is :-(

Thanks appps! That has been a great help. Today he tried to attack me because I was chasing his hens out of the tomato patch. He is only 6 months.

 

[Blue]

You need to nip this in the bud. It sounds like he sees you as another rooster who is trying to steal his hens; this is exactly how my roosters act around each other if one from another pen goes after a hen that isn't his. It's a standoff. You need to show your rooster that you are the boss; people advocate various methods to do this (carrying around, kicking, what have you), so you'll have to decide which method you want to take. Sometimes whether or not one method will work over another also depends on the breed of rooster you're dealing with as well. Here are a couple threads that may give you some more insight into dealing with this issue: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/390911/important-how-to-deal-with-an-aggressive-rooster and https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/573517/got-flogged-by-a-rooster-tonight

 

[PSJ]

You have to remember he isn't a person he is a chook and putting it over him is how they work. He won't be scared he will respect you. Different thing.

I started a thread called has anyone successfully retrained a rooster. There is some fantastic advice on there if you do a search for it including from a guy who takes problem roosters and rehabilitates them. its not being mean to them its just taking their place as head chook. Part way through the lady tells how her formerly attacking chicken now snuggles for a scratch.
But it will only work if you are committed to it.

Your other alternative is take something like a plastic rake in with you to keep him from hurting you when he attacks. I found it quite good to give me seperaton from him without accidentally hurting him by having to push him away with my foot.
But he will get worse because everytime you push him away but don't dominate him he will take it as you challenging him for top rooster but being the looser which makes it his job to see you off away from his flock.

It stinks but that's just how it is :-(

X 2. You need to teach him that YOU are in charge or it will only get worse. The day he spurs you, you will wish you had done something sooner.

 

[The Chook]

Ok, today I picked him up today and carried him around. I had to do something near the horses so he met the horses. One of the horses was very interested and the others did not care. Being around the horses really shut him up. He was so subdued it amazed me! I don't know whether the horses had anything to do with it but he was much nicer when I put him down. He hid behind my legs trying to get away from the horses! I just got told that Ken is to old to be picked up and carried around.

 

[appps]

Lol. Well just tell them its for his own good