Naughty RIR Roo and Red haired son!

[JFry0413]

I have a RIR too who is about 18 weeks.

 

[JFry0413]

He has always been very laid back and as a chick almost anti social. He was always good with my kids until about a week and a half ago. He went after my 2 year old son. I did notice my son did have a red shirt on so I thought maybe this was why, but he has gone after him since. I was wondering if this could have to do with my son having bright orange/red hair (I know chickens are attracted to red) or if my roo has just turned into a jerk. He will stop running after my son if I yell Hey! but I obviously don't want to have to monitor their interactions all the time now. Unfortunately my son is the only target... Any advice on how I can break the habit or is there a soup pot in his near future?

 

[4 ever Orpington]

I have a RIR too who is about 18 weeks. He has always been very laid back and as a chick almost anti social. He was always good with my kids until about a week and a half ago. He went after my 2 year old son. I did notice my son did have a red shirt on so I thought maybe this was why, but he has gone after him since. I was wondering if this could have to do with my son having bright orange/red hair (I know chickens are attracted to red) or if my roo has just turned into a jerk. He will stop running after my son if I yell Hey! but I obviously don't want to have to monitor their interactions all the time now. Unfortunately my son is the only target... Any advice on how I can break the habit or is there a soup pot in his near future?

I’ll probably get scolded for this but that’s ok. Do you have a outside water hose? If so have ready give him a shot of cold water. May make the habit undesirable. With a treatment or two. If not rooster dumplings for supper.

 

[FeatherstoneFrm]

My australorp roo, about the same age, has been a bit aggressive lately with me and my 11 year old daughter. We have had a few "conversations" and he is better now but I do not turn my back on him and have advised my daughter to kick him, hard, if he comes at her.
I definitely would not leave him alone with a toddler who cannot defend himself.
I have also wondered if this behavior is because he is reaching sexual maturity and the girls are not there yet. We all know how frustrated (and frustrating) teenaged boys can get.

 

[Abriana]

Either try to retrain him or cull. You don’t want him to attack your son and him get an infection that could possibly be deadly.

 

[Kat C]

Please be aware that chickens will peck eyes. They see the white and think food. A two year old has their face much closer to chickens than we do. Even without the aggressive behavior I would not leave your two year old alone with your chickens. And when he is with him please stay on constant guard. My husband had a chicken peck his eye. Although he didn't have permanent damage it was exremely painful.
Please read this about a boy who had his eye pecked and had major problems and several surgeries. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3591684/ They hypothesize the hen that pecked was defending her chicks but more than likely she was just after that juicy morsel of white. Our chickens peck our white shirt buttons for the same reason. Watch this vid to see how quick and unexpected the eye peck can be

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

We had a similar issue with our blue Wheaton Ameracauna Roo. He was only flogging the guys so I thought maybe it was a testosterone thing. Then one day he flogged me.

At the risk of sounding crazy and some opposition of this.......

I immediately scooped him up, grabbed him by the bill and face to face proceeded to tell him what is what, who was boss, and that his behavior was unacceptable. I told him that he may be the chicken boss and that was fine and dandy but people were off limits to him, also if he did it again that he would no longer be a blue ribbon rooster but a blue ribbon pot of chicken stew! Then I popped him on his butt and put him down. Never had issues with him again.

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

You definitely need to find a way to stop him. Spurs can do damage and as mentioned the pecking can be dangerous for a little tot. My boys were not allowed around the chickens unsupervised until they were old enough to defend against a naughty chicken. But naughty chicken behavior towards people should not be tolerated. It's understandable for pecking order or putting an out of line chicken in their place. A good Roo is one that protects their flock, keeps the flock in order, but is not a full on bully. The people should be "part of the flock". My main rooster once flogged our dog because he thought it hurt one of my kids..... I told him good boy.

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

You definitely need to find a way to stop him. Spurs can do damage and as mentioned the pecking can be dangerous for a little tot. My boys were not allowed around the chickens unsupervised until they were old enough to defend against a naughty chicken. But naughty chicken behavior towards people should not be tolerated. It's understandable for pecking order or putting an out of line chicken in their place. A good Roo is one that protects their flock, keeps the flock in order, but is not a full on bully. The people should be "part of the flock". My main rooster once flogged our dog because he thought it hurt one of my kids..... I told him good boy.

 

[keesmom]

Soup pot. Or better yet served with dumplings.

Cockerels/roosters often target toddlers and young kids. It has absolutely nothing to do with his his hair color or what he was wearing. A toddler's behavior can make them nervous, and their small stature make them an easy target. You can get your cockerel to respect you, but getting him to respect your son is a completely different story.