Hello,
I have a two-year-old golden lakenvelder rooster that is relentlessly aggressive. I hatched him from an egg in Fall of 2006, raised him as a chick and introduced him to the other chickens in the coop once he was big enough. This was okay at first, but the bigger he got, the more aggressive he became to the other chickens, and in summer 07 it got to be too much to handle; every morning there would be blood spattered on the windows of the hen house from where he had attacked the hens, and many of them were showing noticeable signs of his attacks. He was also very aggressive towards me and other humans; every time I'd go into the coop he'd attack me, to the point where I'd have to bring in a metal trash can lid as a shield every time I entered the chicken coop to feed them. This got to be a huge hassle and still didn't prevent him from attacking me from behind every time I leaned forward to get the eggs.
I still didn't want to get rid of him, however, so I built an entirely separate coop for him, with four 10-foot-high walls of chicken wire and a roof of hard plastic as well as a dog house for him to go inside for warmth. This was fine until winter came along; around this time last year it became bitter cold (I live in Maine) and was reaching ten below at night with windchill. The hens were all fine in their coop which was closed off and which they could huddle together in, but the rooster was all alone in his coop and refused to go inside the dog house, instead perching himself on top of it, exposed to the wind and snow. I put up pieces of cardboard and insulation all around the wire walls of the coop so that the wind would be blocked and installed a heat lamp above the top of the dog house which was on 24/7 so he would always have heat, but snow still managed to get in there and at one point last winter the majority of his comb became black with frostbite and fell off.
He survived the winter, but barely. He was fine living in that coop for the rest of this year, but once it started getting bitter cold again last month I decided that I couldn't let him go through another winter in that coop by himself...this time he probably wouldn't be so lucky and wouldn't make it. So I re-introduced him to the hens after a year apart to see if he could get along with them now, and surprisingly he could. Maybe it was just the time of year or his age, but he wasn't aggressive at all towards them and they got along great with no fights or anything. So I figured that problem was solved and that he could live with them in their warm coop through the winter, but now comes the problem.
He's still relentlessly aggressive towards me. He's fine with the hens, but every time I go in there to feed them he'll attack, scratching and biting at my legs and any part of me he can reach. I wear high boots when I go in there so he just hits them when he attacks, but recently he flew up and slashed open my exposed wrist when I was collecting eggs, causing a very nasty cut which is definitely going to leave a permanent scar there. I've tried everything, using the garbage can lid as a shield, wearing heavy gloves and boots, but he still manages to find a way to get me. He's very happy in there with the hens, and the hens don't seem to mind him either, but I simply can't go in there to feed them, give them fresh water or collect the eggs without the rooster viciously attacking me.
So what do I do? I still don't want to get rid of him, and even if I did, I doubt I'd be able to find anyone who would take him without turning him into thanksgiving dinner. Is there any way I can calm him so that he doesn't attack? Right now it looks like my only options are going on a daily suicide mission into that coop to be attacked by him or putting him in the separate coop again over the winter, something I know will not suit him well.
Any and all suggestions/advice would be hugely welcomed.
I have a two-year-old golden lakenvelder rooster that is relentlessly aggressive. I hatched him from an egg in Fall of 2006, raised him as a chick and introduced him to the other chickens in the coop once he was big enough. This was okay at first, but the bigger he got, the more aggressive he became to the other chickens, and in summer 07 it got to be too much to handle; every morning there would be blood spattered on the windows of the hen house from where he had attacked the hens, and many of them were showing noticeable signs of his attacks. He was also very aggressive towards me and other humans; every time I'd go into the coop he'd attack me, to the point where I'd have to bring in a metal trash can lid as a shield every time I entered the chicken coop to feed them. This got to be a huge hassle and still didn't prevent him from attacking me from behind every time I leaned forward to get the eggs.
I still didn't want to get rid of him, however, so I built an entirely separate coop for him, with four 10-foot-high walls of chicken wire and a roof of hard plastic as well as a dog house for him to go inside for warmth. This was fine until winter came along; around this time last year it became bitter cold (I live in Maine) and was reaching ten below at night with windchill. The hens were all fine in their coop which was closed off and which they could huddle together in, but the rooster was all alone in his coop and refused to go inside the dog house, instead perching himself on top of it, exposed to the wind and snow. I put up pieces of cardboard and insulation all around the wire walls of the coop so that the wind would be blocked and installed a heat lamp above the top of the dog house which was on 24/7 so he would always have heat, but snow still managed to get in there and at one point last winter the majority of his comb became black with frostbite and fell off.
He survived the winter, but barely. He was fine living in that coop for the rest of this year, but once it started getting bitter cold again last month I decided that I couldn't let him go through another winter in that coop by himself...this time he probably wouldn't be so lucky and wouldn't make it. So I re-introduced him to the hens after a year apart to see if he could get along with them now, and surprisingly he could. Maybe it was just the time of year or his age, but he wasn't aggressive at all towards them and they got along great with no fights or anything. So I figured that problem was solved and that he could live with them in their warm coop through the winter, but now comes the problem.
He's still relentlessly aggressive towards me. He's fine with the hens, but every time I go in there to feed them he'll attack, scratching and biting at my legs and any part of me he can reach. I wear high boots when I go in there so he just hits them when he attacks, but recently he flew up and slashed open my exposed wrist when I was collecting eggs, causing a very nasty cut which is definitely going to leave a permanent scar there. I've tried everything, using the garbage can lid as a shield, wearing heavy gloves and boots, but he still manages to find a way to get me. He's very happy in there with the hens, and the hens don't seem to mind him either, but I simply can't go in there to feed them, give them fresh water or collect the eggs without the rooster viciously attacking me.
So what do I do? I still don't want to get rid of him, and even if I did, I doubt I'd be able to find anyone who would take him without turning him into thanksgiving dinner. Is there any way I can calm him so that he doesn't attack? Right now it looks like my only options are going on a daily suicide mission into that coop to be attacked by him or putting him in the separate coop again over the winter, something I know will not suit him well.
Any and all suggestions/advice would be hugely welcomed.
