Nasty Rooster Behavior

[Twisty]

Hi - a bit of a late reply, but, I had a rooster become aggressive towards me too, and eventually my kids. I read a post on here somewhere that whenever he became aggressive towards you, that you should pick him up and carry him around for a while, do a few chores in the hen house etc. let him see that you mean no harm. Do it each and every time. So, I thought I'd give it a go and lo and behold he settled a lot - to the point where he would just fluff up each morning when I opened the coop and I'd just stand still and once he'd put on a bit of a display he wandered off to do his thing. I still cuddle my (not so little) pal every single day - he still fluffs up each time but just seems to have resigned to the fact that Im going to pick him up anyway and just stands still! So - if yours hasn't become soup yet - it may be worth a try. I have a hen that is more aggressive than him! Maybe Ive messed up the natural order

 

[GhettoRoo]

. I found out the hard way that raising the boys and girls together at the same age was a recipe for disaster.

This makes me wonder.
As far as I know if rooster had grown together with hens from young age, he could be ultra protective for them.
And that makes a rooster better 'owner'.
But if rooster grow up somewhere by himself, with other roosters, like for 6 months of age, he could probably only a mating, and with his security instincts but not so brave. Am I right? Is there any logic In I wrote?

 

[shortgrass]

This makes me wonder.
As far as I know if rooster had grown together with hens from young age, he could be ultra protective for them.
And that makes a rooster better 'owner'.
But if rooster grow up somewhere by himself, with other roosters, like for 6 months of age, he could probably only a mating, and with his security instincts but not so brave. Am I right? Is there any logic In I wrote?

In theory, yes. They would then also be broodmate... That's how I incorporated my roo to my older hens; with a group of same age chicks... He is very protective of the younger girls, and they all sleep right under him on the roost... The older hens, sure he mates and protects, but he obviously has a preference of his broodmates over the older girls.( he's the one in my avatar, a red sex link)

BTW the best rooster ever, well trained; will stop a dog or cat in its tracks and has scared off hawks, will threaten strangers but never attacked... My children can pick him up and he comes right to us without question. It was in how I trained him from a chick, the kids were highland involved, so they imprinted on him too..

He dances at and crows at the DH, lol, but the DH has had no part in the training, so the DH is competition wheras myself and my daughter's are considered "dominant hens" lol

That's the key. Training. Roosters in gunny sacks will generally not be retrainable.. I mean the ones that are downright nasty, the Ines that have been kicked andcraised to hate a human... Those are best as stew...

 

[dekel18042]

Well said, and so very very true. People have the same misconception about dogs, thinking an aggressive dog is a protective dog. Nothing could be further from the truth. My most protective dogs were well socialized and totally trustworthy around kids and smaller pets.

 

[enola]

Life is too short to fool around with roosters that are aggressive to younger chickens and humans.

I prefer a "nice" rooster over an aggressive rooster any day. Nice roosters are that way because they have enough sense to realize that the person in their life is a good thing.

 

[enola]

I said "often times", not always. Typically a mean rooster is a better flock protector. Jungle chickens were not friendly towards people, I am sure, and they had a good enough reason to stay away from larger animals or attack them.

Really think about it, with all biases aside:
Should the rooster trust you? If you kill and eat chickens, why should he trust you? It is one thing to kill them and understand them being aggressive towards you, but it is a whole 'nother opened can when you kill them while demanding "respect".

The day that I have to start worrying about whether my rooster trusts the hand that feeds him, cleans the waterer and refills it, cleans the coop and earns the money that buys the feed, is the day that I will be worrying if I have all of the herbs and vegetables on hand to make him edible. . . .