Really mean rooster!

[Nd2lrnChx]

We have acquired a really really mean rooster from a guy that posted on the local social media group here that said he had purchased what he was told were all females but one grew up to be a rooster. The rooster is one year old he said and I suspect that the truth is that he didn't want him because he's extraordinarily mean!
My question is, is there any way to change his horribly mean behavior? I have tried being nice to him and not squirting him with the hose like the lady who owns the chickens told me to do to keep him from attacking but being nice to him absolutely does not work! Any suggestions? He's really really really mean and sneaks up behind you if you take your attention off of him for even one second and attacks viciously!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You will not change his behaviors. It will be a frustrating time for you trying to do so. People will tell you to wack him, squirt him, hang him upside down, and hug him. In the end he will still view humans as something to attack. He needs to go in the freezer unfortunately.

 

[bobbi-j]

While I agree with Oldhen, I will share an article written by member Beekissed that might be helpful, or might not. At this point, if you insist on keeping him, it's worth a shot. I'd give him a few days, and then put him in the crockpot if you don't see any improvement.
Rooster

 

[Nd2lrnChx]

You will not change his behaviors. It will be a frustrating time for you trying to do so. People will tell you to wack him, squirt him, hang him upside down, and hug him. In the end he will still view humans as something to attack. He needs to go in the freezer unfortunately.

You will not change his behaviors. It will be a frustrating time for you trying to do so. People will tell you to wack him, squirt him, hang him upside down, and hug him. In the end he will still view humans as something to attack. He needs to go in the freezer unfortunately.

You will not change his behaviors. It will be a frustrating time for you trying to do so. People will tell you to wack him, squirt him, hang him upside down, and hug him. In the end he will still view humans as something to attack. He needs to go in the freezer unfortunately.

So, are all roosters so mean or mean in general or is his behavior caused by something in the way his previous owner raised him? I mean, if you hold them and give them lots of attention and stuff when they're babies can it prevent a rooster from being mean? I'm new at chickens.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So, are all roosters so mean or mean in general or is his behavior caused by something in the way his previous owner raised him? I mean, if you hold them and give them lots of attention and stuff when they're babies can it prevent a rooster from being mean? I'm new at chickens.

I have discussed this issue a lot on this site. Often no one listens to me. I recommend ignoring roosters as they grow. Handling them often makes them forward and unafraid of humans, and more likely to challenge you. I like my roosters to have a bit of wariness towards me. I raise a couple each year and I no longer see any aggression since I stopped trying to make friends with them.

Often by the time a rooster starts to attack the behaviors are set. Birds do a lot of learning those first few months. I prefer my roosters not to think of me as part of the flock, and something that needs to be dominated when they sexually mature.

When roosters are handled they can come to see humans as part of the chicken flock. Some roosters can handle it, many can't. To ensure all young roosters never need to think about me as as something to dominate I find ignoring them works wonderful. When they start maturing I make sure they move away from me, never towards.

Your behavior around roosters too can play into it. I'm never afraid of mine, and I'm always confident. I personally would not want to try to rehab a rooster that attacks as yours does. Sometimes you can stop one who's trying out attacking humans, but one that has been doing it for a while will be near impossible to change long term without some serious abuse.

You could try the technique suggested by @bobbi-j , but I personally wouldn't want to be always watching my back.

 

[Flamens Farm]

I have 7 roosters, only one every questioned me as being the boss. Yes, he was about a year old and I hung him upside down by his feet till he was ready to concede. I was lucky and that worked for me. May or may not work for others. But spraying with water hoses only antagonizes their behavior to be mean it does not make them stop being mean. Nor does hitting them!

 

[Flamens Farm]

I have discussed this issue a lot on this site. Often no one listens to me. I recommend ignoring roosters as they grow. Handling them often makes them forward and unafraid of humans, and more likely to challenge you. I like my roosters to have a bit of wariness towards me. I raise a couple each year and I no longer see any aggression since I stopped trying to make friends with them.

Often by the time a rooster starts to attack the behaviors are set. Birds do a lot of learning those first few months. I prefer my roosters not to think of me as part of the flock, and something that needs to be dominated when they sexually mature.

When roosters are handled they can come to see humans as part of the chicken flock. Some roosters can handle it, many can't. To ensure all young roosters never need to think about me as as something to dominate I find ignoring them works wonderful. When they start maturing I make sure they move away from me, never towards.

Your behavior around roosters too can play into it. I'm never afraid of mine, and I'm always confident. I personally would not want to try to rehab a rooster that attacks as yours does. Sometimes you can stop one who's trying out attacking humans, but one that has been doing it for a while will be near impossible to change long term without some serious abuse.

You could try the technique suggested by @bobbi-j , but I personally wouldn't want to be always watching my back.

Totally agree, I ignore my roosters also. Maybe that is why I don't have issues with them! I pay more attention to the hens because of all the problems that can arise with them.

 

[The Phantom]

So, are all roosters so mean or mean in general or is his behavior caused by something in the way his previous owner raised him? I mean, if you hold them and give them lots of attention and stuff when they're babies can it prevent a rooster from being mean? I'm new at chickens.

I have one rooster that is a sweet heart. But his two brothers were jerks. Good roosters are hard to get.

 

[Nd2lrnChx]

I have discussed this issue a lot on this site. Often no one listens to me. I recommend ignoring roosters as they grow. Handling them often makes them forward and unafraid of humans, and more likely to challenge you. I like my roosters to have a bit of wariness towards me. I raise a couple each year and I no longer see any aggression since I stopped trying to make friends with them.

Often by the time a rooster starts to attack the behaviors are set. Birds do a lot of learning those first few months. I prefer my roosters not to think of me as part of the flock, and something that needs to be dominated when they sexually mature.

When roosters are handled they can come to see humans as part of the chicken flock. Some roosters can handle it, many can't. To ensure all young roosters never need to think about me as as something to dominate I find ignoring them works wonderful. When they start maturing I make sure they move away from me, never towards.

Your behavior around roosters too can play into it. I'm never afraid of mine, and I'm always confident. I personally would not want to try to rehab a rooster that attacks as yours does. Sometimes you can stop one who's trying out attacking humans, but one that has been doing it for a while will be near impossible to change long term without some serious abuse.

You could try the technique suggested by @bobbi-j , but I personally wouldn't want to be always watching my back.

I have no idea how the previous owner of the rooster raised him but by reading your reply and bobbi-j's reference to beekeepers blog I can only assume that he was

I have discussed this issue a lot on this site. Often no one listens to me. I recommend ignoring roosters as they grow. Handling them often makes them forward and unafraid of humans, and more likely to challenge you. I like my roosters to have a bit of wariness towards me. I raise a couple each year and I no longer see any aggression since I stopped trying to make friends with them.

Often by the time a rooster starts to attack the behaviors are set. Birds do a lot of learning those first few months. I prefer my roosters not to think of me as part of the flock, and something that needs to be dominated when they sexually mature.

When roosters are handled they can come to see humans as part of the chicken flock. Some roosters can handle it, many can't. To ensure all young roosters never need to think about me as as something to dominate I find ignoring them works wonderful. When they start maturing I make sure they move away from me, never towards.

Your behavior around roosters too can play into it. I'm never afraid of mine, and I'm always confident. I personally would not want to try to rehab a rooster that attacks as yours does. Sometimes you can stop one who's trying out attacking humans, but one that has been doing it for a while will be near impossible to change long term without some serious abuse.

You could try the technique suggested by @bobbi-j , but I personally wouldn't want to be always watching my back.

We of course have no idea how he was raised but by reading your reply and bobbi-j's reference to beekeepers blog I can only assume that he was allowed to be dominant. Hopefully we can try yours and beekeepers techniques and they will work before he ends up on the dinner table!
We currently have moved him to a small pen within the chicken enclosure and he absolutely hates it! I went to enter an adjacent pen and he tried to attack me through the fence from atop of the box in his pen. I picked up a stick and proceeded to escort him off of the top of the box he was on by moving him off the box with the stick and I won and got him off the box and away from the entrance to the other pen, but when I went to come out of the pen there he was on top of the box trying to intimidate me again and no matter how hard I pushed him with the stick to get him off the box he totally would not budge. Apparently, by reading yours and beekeepers advice, I shouldn't have given up and walked away cause now I let him win and stay on top of the box. Darn, I let him win. I will need to try to be more forceful, without hurting the little brat of course, and win the next one! I was going to name him gorgeous when we first got him, because he is, but now he has a different name that starts with an a and ends with an e! That's him in my avatar, soaking wet. Hmmm, I wonder how he got so wet! I've told him that if he doesn't shape up I'm going to make really cool feather earrings out of him!

 

[Nd2lrnChx]

I have 7 roosters, only one every questioned me as being the boss. Yes, he was about a year old and I hung him upside down by his feet till he was ready to concede. I was lucky and that worked for me. May or may not work for others. But spraying with water hoses only antagonizes their behavior to be mean it does not make them stop being mean. Nor does hitting them!

Shoot, I had a feeling I should ask you guys if the hose thing was such a good idea. But actually, that night I felt really bad for repeatedly spraying him back into the hen house and felt bad about it and thought to myself that I would be nicer to him the next day. That was the day I just wrote about where he was attacking me through a fence and apparently I shouldn't have been nicer and let him win that one. Now I know, with the assistance of you guys' advice...I'll learn sooner or later. Think I'll shoot for sooner!