Questions... and a mean rooster...

[ChristieB]

Not sure about your rooster, we always had a rake by the run door, but if he doesn't calm down within a week after the new hens coming in I would get rid of him, its not worth having an aggressive rooster, you only need one at the end of the day.
As for the suspects, I think they are hens, possibly just a bit older than the others

 

[ChristieB]

The very first one after your rooster could be a rooster, the surest way to tell would be catch them and check for the pointy feathers around their neck
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/how-to-sex-chickens-male-or-female-hen.html?m=1

 

[vivi]

These are just a few of the pictures of chicken noodle a little Cockrell that I got from my son. To reiterate he was born out of season a hen had hidden eggs in a neighbors yard and win a bunch of them hatched she got up to eat. Shortly after this little guy hatched out and she rejected him and he froze my son put him in the garbage and when the sun came up he came back to life. My son brought him to me tucked in his shirt so I tucked him in my shirt carried him around all day. That night we tried to sneak him back under the hen but she was having no part of it. I got him the next day and he lived in a shoe box on the end of my bed for quite a while then moving into a larger Rubbermaid tub then now a huge tub to bring him in at night only because he doesn't have all of his feathers and it's still freezing. I carried him around in my shirt for more than a month throughout the day just to keep him warm. I had a reptile warmer in the shoebox but if I didn't watch him very carefully he crawl in there upside down and once almost cooked himself He doesn't want anything to do with my four hens and used to come to me when I called him and I might add he's a strange bird, half Ameriucana and half meat bird. I stayed up with him, fed him dog food and baby chicks start, giving him eyedroppers of water with electrolytes throughout the night, he had to eat all the time and grew really fast. If he wasn't full he cry and cry and cry. I have videos. He just wanted to eat all the time. I'm an indulging old lady so it turned out to be a lot of fun for me. Every time I pass by Rubbermaid tub I would scratch his little head and neck and pet him anyway just snuggle until last week. He bit me hard the next day he bit held on and shook The hand that fed him. Okay if that's not enough I bring him in at night still because he doesn't have all the feathers yet but last couple days he came and attacked my leg! Which I thought was hilarious but he does have a heckuva pinch-shake bite. I got some ankle covers (used when desert walking to protect lower legs) that I put over my hands and arms to protect me now and I can still pick him up I just can't put my hand in the tub anymore he still comes when I call him and he still won't have anything to do with the hens. The hens are really mean to him. I think I need some advice otherwise my sons going to eat him. And he is a pretty bird. I haven't taken a picture of them this last week but these pictures are what was available on the tablet and I hope you can enjoy them. Anybody have any suggestions please let me know I also wanted to add another odd behavior that just happened a couple of days ago instead of running to the shed and hiding from the hands I suppose he's been coming to the back door and yesterday I open the door and he came in so I fed him like A stray cat turn his little Rubbermaid tub on its side and he climbed in and got cozy. I'm also using speech to text so there's a few errors just ignore it please thanks everybody

 

[mimofoster]

My rooster has gotten mean too! He is about 10 months old and a Americauna (easter egger). He used to only attack my polka dot rubber boots but now comes after me for any reason. Usually I just try to move in the coop very calmly and quietly and also to distract them with treats but today after some snow this morning, he pecked my hand when I was trying to fill the food. Ouch! I cant help but wanting to give him a good swat back. He does protect his girls and once fended off a hawk and we all like him. However we have a 7 year old and her friends running around the yard all summer and what if he comes after them? What do I do?

 

[enola]

Good pictures of the chickens in a side profile position will help us make a decision.

 

[JennIY23]

Hi, I also have a Orpington that was supposed to be a hen and turned out to be a rooster. He has never attacked me and has been fine when my mom has gone in to collect eggs and check on them. My wife however, he attacks. He will attack her sometimes as soon as she opens the door. He has pecked her leg enough to bleed and has attacked her on 1 occasion in front of me. I've had hens before but never a rooster. Why would he single her out and what can she do to tell him that she's the boss? She's carried a stick in with her, I've told her to use the bag of shavings to block and corner him, but he sometimes goes after her as soon as she opens the door. It doesn't seem to be a consistent thing, so I'm not sure why he's doing it. I don't want to get rid of him b/c I like having him there to protect the girls and I don't want him on a dinner plate. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm wondering why you'd keep a rooster that attacks your wife. There are plenty of nice roosters out there, just looking for a good home. Many of them will end up in the soup pot because there isn't much market for roosters. You say you like to keep the rooster to protect your hens, but you've had hens before you ended up with this accidental rooster. How did you protect them? Roosters are more of a warning system than actual protection, and a dominant hen will fulfill that role. In my opinion, people should be put above animals every time. He already attacks your wife. Who's to say he won't also attack people visiting your place? Do you have small children that live with you or come to visit? They'd also be at risk. My advice is to get rid of the rooster. If you can't eat him, give him to someone who will.

 

[JennIY23]

I'm wondering why you'd keep a rooster that attacks your wife. There are plenty of nice roosters out there, just looking for a good home. Many of them will end up in the soup pot because there isn't much market for roosters. You say you like to keep the rooster to protect your hens, but you've had hens before you ended up with this accidental rooster. How did you protect them? Roosters are more of a warning system than actual protection, and a dominant hen will fulfill that role. In my opinion, people should be put above animals every time. He already attacks your wife. Who's to say he won't also attack people visiting your place? Do you have small children that live with you or come to visit? They'd also be at risk. My advice is to get rid of the rooster. If you can't eat him, give him to someone who will. 

We don't have children and never will. It's very rare that children do come over and I wouldn't have them out free ranging if kids were over. When we started our new flock over, we were given 6 chicks that were supposed to be all hens. I believe my wife, who has been against this rooster from the start, has been unknowingly showing fear towards it which is why he's singling her out. I want advice on what steps we can take to see if he'll come around before we have to find him a new home.

 

[AmericanMom]

I was going to start a thread but decided to post here because it was relevant.
We just put down one of our roosters Sunday, 6 month old Speckled Sussex. We have two older roo's, A Blue Orpington, 2 years old and one of his off spring, blue orpington/EE 1 year old, both calm non aggressive roosters. I got some chicks from the feed store back in September and as usually happens one ended up being a boy. Now at first I was happy, thinking I could breed the SS hens back to him and sell some pure breeds but alas, as time went on the more I grew concerned he wouldn't make the cut. We have Grandchildren and its always been my biggest issue with people who keep aggressive roosters, they are putting children in danger.. Well, this guy never was aggressive but he wasn't as quick to move as the two others out of our way.. Sunday I was fixing dinner and DH was out with our son and Grandson.. Grandson loves to look at the rabbits so he was in the rabbit house and DH and son were out in the coop.. All the sudden I hear my GS holler (he is 4) and I dashed out, the same time both DH and son dashed out of the coop. From where I was I couldn't see my GS but saw my husband holler and take off running.. I grabbed my shoes thinking the worse, thankfully GS was unhurt, just shook up.. DH grabbed Sven the rooster and that quick he was done for. I asked GS what happened and he said the rooster was chasing him.. I looked to DH and he said he watched that stupid roo lite into him, thankfully he went for his boots but it could have been so much worse. I am done with Hatchery Roosters, this is the third time we have had to put one down for aggression. Anytime I hatch from my own flock they are non aggressive.
I blame myself, I hoped what I was seeing was just his personality when everything I know told me he wasn't to be trusted. I have always advocated the protection of ones self and others from this type of attacks but sadly missed the one opportunity I had to protect my GS.. I have always said I would never be able to live with myself if one of my animals caused a serious injury on one of my babies and thank God it wasn't a serious attack, but I know it would have only gotten worse.
Before you think its not a big deal, maybe to you, an adult it isn't , but to a child it can and will scar them for life. I immediately took my GS back to the 1/2 acre run and we walked around. He watched the rooster meet his demise and helped his Aunty pluck some feathers to send to a cousin for ties. He is spending the week with me and we spend a lot of time out in the coop and run. He knows the other two roosters wont hurt him and he as always is calm around the animals, he even ask the hens to please excuse him so he can get by them lol.

 

[Diannastarr]

i would isolate that mean rooster right away . and keep him were he cant get at you ,and keep it that way, dont let him back in ever unless you want to use him for protection , when the hens are out free ranging, my rooster was horribly combative he tried to kill....lol.. or it seemed that way....lol.. so when he first started with that meanness, I kicked him right out of the coop area were he could just see the chickens but not be in with them any more , he has been locked out of the main chicken area since then and under my control at all times & is only aloud to be with my hens when they go out to free range, the hens all go in to the coop at night, but not him he does not like being in the coop at all but he loves to sleep on the fence outside of the coop ...lol...so i would make an area to keep him in when you dont want him in your way, and lock him in there before working around your hens, i did that and then would toss him some scratch and talk to him but leave him locked away from the hens forever, unless like i said if you needed him to go free range with them, he will get use to the routine dont let him get the upper hand, you need to be the winner at all times and wining is control.! keep him under your control with your rake,But dont hit him unless you really have to ,remember thats only when he has become combative first,, just then control him and lock him up and walk away & then ignore him unless giving him a treat thats when you talk to him & using the same words every day you interact with him , other wise ignore him and leave him be,if you hit him when he was not being mean he will become even more believe me, thats their nature to fight to the death, so you dont escalate the situation, because every time he sees you he is ready for a fight ,so keep it all calm & under control and try to make friends with food , and stay away from him unless you are feeding him talk nice to him wile feeding him he will be less aggressive as you tame him down, you are the top rooster, BUT with all mean roos never turn your back on them USE THE SAME WORDS, EVERY TIME YOU ARE AROUND THEM & keep them under control at all times, you are the boss and he needs to learn that...! I would use your rake to heard him in to the place you will be keeping him , that should make things much better , i have worked with mine since he started with that meanness, and now i can use him to do what ever i want him to do, he guards my yard well..! and I can control him with my voice now , but never let him attack me ever again...! my best advice to you is never be with out your rake ever again when around your roo..! its your point of power! and he will respect that. im not sure why some roos get so crazy like that, but maybe their egg got scrambled at the hatchery....lol...???

Hello everyone!

A couple weeks back I posted about how I have 2 roosters in my small flock of 4 chickens. So I found some local chickens for sale and bought 12 of them. They are "supposedly" all hens. The guy had 35 chickens and I assumed he knew what he was talking about... So I get them home (It was dusk when we picked them up so that they would have all gone into the coop) and Im now thinking 5 COULD be roosters... I just don't know for sure, and I will be pretty upset because I paid for hens.

Anyway, last night we put the 12 new ones in the run and locked the 4 others in the coop for the night until I could figure out what to do with them. (We need to build another coop anyway and were doing that today). So this morning I went out to check on everyone,a nd I opened my coop door and let the 4 others outside the coop and run (just to free range) the other 12 locked inside the run.

My husbands rooster who weve had since birth tried to attack me SEVERAL times. Tried to climb up my leg and came at me... at first I kicked him out of pure reaction) ad pushed him away and then I backed up. Well Ive read on here that when they do that you shouldn't let it effect you. So I grabbed a nearby rake and continued about my business and every time he got feisty with me again I would push him away with the rake. He got me good in the leg once, and was not letting up. Luckily I was wearing jeans because I think he still scratched through possibly. Anwyay, so I was going to feed the other 12 while the 4 were free ranging the yard, and when I was trying to walk into the run, the **** rooster came at me again! I ended up backing away (but the door was open!!) and my other 3 ran into the run, and eventually so did the rooster. So now they are ALL TOGETHER and I cant go in there because the **** thing will get me. LOL.

I watched them for a good 20 mins and it doesn't seem like anyone was fighting... the girls seem to bee fine, but my one rooster (The nice one) was following the hens around (is this normal.ok?) and my mean rooster was just eatin gall the food. (Maybe hes was just hungry... but hes a jerk.)

So what do I do now?

i would isolate that mean rooster right away . and keep him were he cant get at you ,and keep it that way, dont let him back in ever unless you want to use him for protection , when the hens are out free ranging, my rooster was horribly combative he tried to kill....lol.. or it seemed that way....lol.. so when he first started with that meanness, I kicked him right out of the coop area were he could just see the chickens but not be in with them any more , he has been locked out of the main chicken area since then and under my control at all times & is only aloud to be with my hens when they go out to free range, the hens all go in to the coop at night, but not him he does not like being in the coop at all but he loves to sleep on the fence outside of the coop ...lol...so i would make an area to keep him in when you dont want him in your way, and lock him in there before working around your hens, i did that and then would toss him some scratch and talk to him but leave him locked away from the hens forever, unless like i said if you needed him to go free range with them, he will get use to the routine dont let him get the upper hand, you need to be the winner at all times and wining is control.! keep him under your control with your rake,But dont hit him unless you really have to ,remember thats only when he has become combative first,, just then control him and lock him up and walk away & then ignore him unless giving him a treat thats when you talk to him & using the same words every day you interact with him , other wise ignore him and leave him be,if you hit him when he was not being mean he will become even more believe me, thats their nature to fight to the death, so you dont escalate the situation, because every time he sees you he is ready for a fight ,so keep it all calm & under control and try to make friends with food , and stay away from him unless you are feeding him talk nice to him wile feeding him he will be less aggressive as you tame him down, you are the top rooster, BUT with all mean roos never turn your back on them USE THE SAME WORDS, EVERY TIME YOU ARE AROUND THEM & keep them under control at all times, you are the boss and he needs to learn that...! I would use your rake to heard him in to the place you will be keeping him , that should make things much better , i have worked with mine since he started with that meanness, and now i can use him to do what ever i want him to do, he guards my yard well..! and I can control him with my voice now , but never let him attack me ever again...! my best advice to you is never be with out your rake ever again when around your roo..! its your point of power! and he will respect that, I hope that helps good luck & take care.!!!