Need HELP! Over Easy the Rooster...To be or not to be.

[bobbi-j]

Over Easy my Buff Orpington rooster I have had since he was 3 days old. In the last three years he has become more and more aggressive. He has put his spurs through my calves three times. Chases the dogs around. He terrorizes my children in the back yard. No one can go outside without a broom except my husband.

Our flock is a backyard free roaming flock with a little house they stay in at night. I don't want to pen him up. That would just be cruel at this point in his chicken life. Plus his ladies are free roaming hens and have been so since birth. He'd be unhappy without access to his flock.

I'm struggling with the idea of euthanizing him. I love him. He is glorious and crows like a champ. He loves the ladies and used to be be gentle and nice. For about a year he was wonderful but in the last year he has become unpredictable and impossible to manage.

I've emailed and called all around no one wants an aggressive rooster. I didn't think he was particularly aggressive until I started reading this forum.

So I guess I need support regarding this issue. I love the guy. I really do. I just can't keep him even though he is wonderful to his backyard flock.

I would not keep a rooster that terrorizes kids. I also don't have the patience for one who attacks me. He'd have been a goner with the first spurring.

I was at your level last year. Rooster jail. Understanding. But this year he's gotten to the point that no one is safe. I have tried rehabbing him, spending time with him. Hand feeding him. I've done as much as I can. I guess I just need support in ending his chicken life in the most compassionate humane way possible.

With as little blood as possible and in a way the kids don't catch on. Because that would be a trainwreck.

Take him to the vet, have him put down.

Brilliant Idea.

Except I have to make believe he died a natural death in our backyard so the kids won't be a trainwreck. I know it is the natural order of things but my oldest is autistic and extremely attatched to the flock. He'd never understand what I am doing.

The youngest might gleefully help since the rooster picks on her the most. Which is equally troublesome.

That does put a kink in the works, doesn't it? (I am a paraprofessional in our local school and have worked with students with autism.) So, maybe you can take him to the vet while the kids aren't home and then put the body in the backyard and "discover" it? (If it weren't for your son's circumstances, I'd say, you're the parent, you get to make the decisions, but I do get that autism complicates things.)

 

[dalasgalas]

That does put a kink in the works, doesn't it? (I am a paraprofessional in our local school and have worked with students with autism.) So, maybe you can take him to the vet while the kids aren't home and then put the body in the backyard and "discover" it? (If it weren't for your son's circumstances, I'd say, you're the parent, you get to make the decisions, but I do get that autism complicates things.)

This is what I'm doing early Saturday. I'm going euthanize him the "find" him. That will give me the entire weekend to process it.

 

[bobbi-j]

This is what I'm doing early Saturday. I'm going euthanize him the "find" him. That will give me the entire weekend to process it.

Sorry it has come to that, but you don't need an aggressive rooster. Besides the fact that he's spurred you and terrorizes your kids, (how old are they?) he's a liability if someone were to come onto your property, get spurred and wind up with an infection or something. You are doing the right thing and in the right way for your situation.

 

[dalasgalas]

Sorry it has come to that, but you don't need an aggressive rooster. Besides the fact that he's spurred you and terrorizes your kids, (how old are they?) he's a liability if someone were to come onto your property, get spurred and wind up with an infection or something. You are doing the right thing and in the right way for your situation.

Kids are 9 and 13. You are totally right.

 

[bobbi-j]

Good luck. I hope it's not too traumatic for your boy.

 

[Mrs. K]

Once you do put him down, you will never wait so long again to do it. Some birds do not fit in the flock, or with the people in the home. You won't realize how much you have been accommodating him, until he is gone, it will be so much more pleasant for your whole family.

 

[dalasgalas]

Thank you so much everyone. I feel a lot better about doing this.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Good luck! It is definitely the right thing to do! Bear hugs!!!

 

[coach723]

It is the right thing to do, so sorry for it being a more complicated thing for you. Hope it goes as well as it can for your kids, for you ultimately it will probably be a big relief once the moment has passed. I honestly find that the anticipation of it is worse than the moment itself, however it is what it is. Hugs.

 

[Chickassan]

You tried, he had a good thing but still wanted to be a butt. You gave him a really good chance and that is a whole lot more than most get. We have all been there and it stinks rotten.