Relentlessly aggresive rooster; help?

[geareduplyn]

I keep reading these posts about agressive roosters. I know that many who have them never get rid of them for various reasons. There are simply too many roosters available to put up with this behavior, but if you do keep them please do not hatch from eggs that they have fertilized. This is an inherited trait andf should not be perpetuated.

 

[lanimilbus]

Original poster here:

Thanks for all your replies; today I simply put a large bucket over him when I went into the coop so that I could take care of the hens without him attacking, which seemed to work well. The problem is just that it's fairly tricky to trap him under the bucket without him getting some hits in first.

The squirt gun/spray bottle technique sounds like a good idea, the only thing I'm concerned about is that the temperature is currently below freezing and will most likely remain that way until sometime next April/May, so squirting him in the face with water in freezing temperatures seems like it could do some harm if it then freezes onto his face/beak/eyes/comb afterward.

The picking-him-up-and-carrying-him-around idea also sounds like it could work, I'll try that tomorrow morning. The problem with that is just picking him up; he doesn't bite or peck, but he kicks with his feet, and his spurs are what do the most damage. However, I'll try throwing a towel over him and then picking him up and see how that works.

As for killing him/making him into soup, again, I raised him from an egg, so killing him after all this time and effort doesn't really appeal to me, especially due to the fact that I've had a rather unpleasant string of chicken deaths lately...two due to the neighbor's dog getting loose (one of the chickens survived, I nursed it back to health in the guest bedroom of my house, let it back in and the same dog came back again and finished the job a month later), one due to prolapse after laying an egg, and two due to mysterious causes which I assume have something to do with old age, disease or cold temperatures.

Plus, he's good with the hens now, even the tiny golden and silver Sebrights which are 1/4 of his size, and rather than attack any of them like he did at first, he's been huddling up with them at night and guarding them. I also like to wake up to his crowing in the morning, it's become somewhat of a daily occurrence over the last year that I've gotten used to. If some of these methods still don't work after another couple weeks or so, though, I'll find a different home for him somehow, since it's not worth the effort or scars to keep him around anymore.

Thanks again for all your help, here are a few pictures of him as a chick (August 2006).

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Sorry, didn't read every page. Sounds like you are crouching down and expecting him to attact you. Instead of just hovering behind the can lid.. whack him with it everytime he gets near you. When you do that.. make a noise..uugghh! Or eeeeegghhhh! whatever you want.. but mean it. Stop sneaking around, hunched over, like a predator and stand up straight like a leader. They will follow your cue.

 

[greathorse]

There are few posts that I find as annoying as what to do with a bad rooster. The answer is so obvious. If you arent hatching you dont need a rooster and if you are why would you want that dispostion in your flock.

Be aggressive with the guy for a bit. Make sure he knows you are the leader. Prey animals are very threatened by sneaky behavior and follow bold behavior. Thats why a once a rooster establishes dominance there is little trouble until somone challenges which is what this guy is doing and he has won for two years now. He will likely not change.

I guess some folks still think these guys are pure pets, and dont get me wrong I love my chickens, but for every bad rooster that is still walking there is a bunch of good ones either in someones soup pot or burial plot. You will enjoy your birds much more if you dont have him to deal with. Get an new one!!

Makes me grouchy thinking about it

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Awww, that sure is a cute lil' chickie, and certainly no indication there that he'd grow up to be so aggressive. And I'm sorry also for your recent chicken losses & heartbreaks.

We all have our individual thresholds for how much we're willing to do for & tolerate from our chickens. Any chicken would be privileged to have an owner as considerate as you.

You've been given several excellent suggestions to try and change this roo's behavior around you. I wish you the greatest of success, you must let us know if something works.

Otherwise, I think most of our concerns are for you that:
1. This roo will do you or someone else a really serious injury
2. This roo is depriving you of the full measure of enjoyment you should be getting from the rest of your flock

I can fully appreciate your hesitation to dispatch him yourself. If you've never before processed a chicken it could be a daunting first experience to do this roo of yours. But perhaps you could ask the folks at the store where you get your chicken feed if they know someone who processes chickens, and would do a quick humane job.

If we lived close together I'd take care of him for you and trade you a nice young roo to take his place.

 

[dvdbuchholz]

So we got a white astra that is being aggressive to the kids was wondering if I should let him tango with the dogs and kids teamed up or if their is less traumatic ways to handle him my dog won't kill him but will deffinately teach him not to mess with the children. She's a trained bird dog so she's just itching to get him since he torments the dogs from behind the wire. I want to keep him and believe it or not the neighbors enjoy us having the birds. But he is really getting aggressive at 6 mo. My daughter get upset when we mentioned we were going to get rid of him. I have no problem eating him but I don't want to turn my kids veagan because people around here think of them as pets and not livestock. My wife uses the feathers from him to make crafts and I thought of fly tying so he definately is a useful bird, but how can break him before it gets bad. Right now its chasing, spurring, and when my wife grabbed my son to get him away he did his little rooster dance. Like I said he is 6 mo. and getting cocky (no pun intended), and I have seen roosters that are just as chill as old dogs that what I would like. However does look very delicious and eats primo food. Between the feed and alot of garden grown feed. If anyone near Kuna ID wants him he's yours.