Reforming an aggressive rooster (project)

[LaurenRitz]

Interesting what a difference small changes make. As always, I went out armored (3 pairs of pants) but the pair I usually have on the outside was dirty so I wore a different color.

I opened the door to let the chickens out (they free range each afternoon) and they were scared to pass me.

 

[Geena]

In my opinion this is self-defeating, since by culling any rooster that shows signs of aggression you're eliminating the instincts that allow him to defend himself and his ladies.

If you think about, in the wild such a rooster would likely get himself culled from the gene pool within the first few times that he randomly attacked something 10X bigger than himself. While his more observant and cautious brother would live on to tend the hens and sire the chicks. It's a poor long term survival strategy and not really a trait worth preserving.

 

[Mrs. K]

Mrs J - I agree. I am the one who buys the feed, protects them, and I need to enjoy doing it.

Mrs K

 

[centrarchid]

And then there is hypothesis that how the rooster was parented that is backed up with lots of flowery writing although very little scientific support. There are genetics that effects odds of rooster being an issue with respect to aggression. And then there is where I can take any rooster, regardless of it being hen-raised or not, and make it aggressive with little effort that otherwise follows approach many used to combat aggressiveness. And then the roosters I use for educational purposes that are flat out imprinted on me that do not attack people.

This the crap that has been burning me out on this site for some time.

 

[Mrs. K]

Centrachid has way more experience than I ever will. And he is much more scientific than me. But I will offer this: Chicks raised by people are less skittish than chicks raised by a broody hen. I like that, I love having chickens, but really do not have pets that I pet and hold. So I like my chicks to grow up, giving me space.

That is why I think that you do tend to get nicer cockerels raised that way. I think that a lot of people try the training, way too late, after the attacks have begun. Chicks from a broody hen, she keeps between you and them, and they tend to respect your space.

However, this is just a tendency - not a sure fire way of producing a perfect rooster.

I do have small children frequently visit the coop with me, and really have no urge to take on bruises to keep a rooster. My flock often needs thinning, and those boys are the first to go. In my mind, if you are processing birds, well get rid of the means ones.

Maybe this will work - but it is not worth the time to me. As the op found out, one must be continuously aware, or that is when they sneak in.

Mrs K

 

[LaurenRitz]

I do have small children frequently visit the coop with me, and really have no urge to take on bruises to keep a rooster. My flock often needs thinning, and those boys are the first to go. In my mind, if you are processing birds, well get rid of the mean ones.

I hope it works. If I wasn't planning to use him for a special breeding project he would be gone by now. It simply wouldn't be worth the bruises, the extra time and effort.

If there were any children here I wouldn't be doing it this way. But I want to give him a chance as well, and honestly I need to figure out my own behavior or this will keep happening.

 

[JedJackson]

Has anyone really succeeded in reforming a human aggressive rooster? I've yet to see it. I agree that much has to do with genetics, and that is the exact reason why aggressive roosters belong in the stock pot rather than the breeding pen. If you breed from them there's a good chance their sons will be aggressive as well. To me it is unethical to keep a bird that presents a danger to other humans, especially children.

 

[JedJackson]

I think it's also counterproductive to the entire concept of domestication of animals. The whole point of domesticating something is to breed "domestic" traits into it, like not attacking humans. Breeding an aggressive rooster is, I think, a step backwards.

There was a study done, in Russia I think, on domesticating foxes over a long period of time. They basically only bred the friendly ones, and now they're all friendly, I think that showed genetics can play a large part in behavior.

I read an article about that in National Geographic years ago. Very interesting stuff. It did take them a long time to domesticate the foxes, and only a very few were friendly at first. I also remember that it said that certain traits were common to many domesticated species, such as spotted coats.

 

[Shadrach]

I'll take your word for it but I still think it would be a very rare occurrence. For me, it's not worth the risk of them reverting back to bad habits.

There is a difference between coming to an arrangement with an aggressive rooster and making him tame. I think a lot of people are interested in having a tame rooster and that takes time. There are also culture differences and experience differences. The ex cock fighting chicken keepers I knew in Spain dealt with human aggressive roosters a lot and most from what I saw managed to make the necessary changes. For many here on BYC a lack of confidence seems to be part of the problem. All creatures can gauge confidence levels in other creatures and humans are just another creature.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One interesting thing I'm running into in my research is the varying methods.

Some say to prove to the rooster that you are above him in the pecking order. Others say prove that you're not a chicken (i.e., not in the pecking order).

Both of these tactics seem to work for some people and some chickens. What the successful training seems to have in common is that they don't try to keep the rooster from doing his job. They don't try to keep him from being a chicken and doing chicken things.

Quite apart from the fact that I don't want to kill anything unnecessarily, the rooster is doing what I want him to do. He is protective of his ladies, handles predators perfectly, lets the pullets eat first, and he's gentle with them.

I have already been able to change his behavior, to a point, by changing how I behave around him, which tells me that my instincts were right and it's my behavior that is triggering some of this.

As for the aggression, his brothers show no aggression toward humans. He was lowest in the pecking order with three other roosters, which would suggest to me that he learned to fight out of self defense.

I may not be able to help him. That is very possible. But I am going to try.