Roo attacking!!! Please help me!!!!

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

Ok everyone! I love my chickens!!!!!!!
My first chicken ever was a rescue, my coworker was going to eat him cause he had too many roos. He is a beautiful BR, Roscoe! Just starting to get his spurs.

Well He has always kinda treated me as if i were his hen... i guess. What i call popping his wing and running around me. Ok, well since this I have gotten Red, RIR roo also... and they seem to get along fine... They have the run of our 6 acres.

A month or so ago we converted part of our barn to a chicken coop and decided to get hens. I keep the roos out of the coop. (someone gave me 6 already laying red stars).

For the last few visits to the coop Roscoe has been acting as if he is going to jump up and spur me. Today, he jumped up and grabed my leg and hit me hard with his feet or so he thought spurs. I am wearing jeans but it has left a bruise already on my leg. My husband, and my 13 year old and my 3 year old always go with me to check for eggs. I really don't want this behavior to continue.

HELP ME< what do I do?????????

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

There are ways that you can try to temper him.

1. Hold him upside down by his feet.
2. Pick him up and carry him around while you are caring for the others.

However, he will most likely keep doing this. He may not do it to you if you do steps 1 and 2 above. But he may very well do it to others walking in your coop. You may not like option #3, but for me a Rooster behaving this way become dinner.

 

[Lollipop]

Read about this recently and the poster says it works. This is advice from a 72 YO farmer who seems to know what he`s talking about. If it doesn`t work for you just say so. I hate to pass along bad advice. Prior to this info, I figured the only cure was an ax. Maybe there is hope after all….

Hold the offending rooster by the legs and dip his head in a bucket of water. When you see a few bubbles, put him on the ground and let him alone. His attitude should now be a lot different. Sometimes they need a second lesson, but not often. Good luck.........Pop

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'm going with #3 - ESPECIALLY if you have young children. the roo's can jump up 'eye level' with little ones and that is all bad. there are lots of posts about this and basically if you cant train them then you need to get rid of the roos.

however

not all roos are attackers - i have one that is my arch enemy and the other is a big softy. its not worth it tho to put up with badly behaved roosters.

 

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

***Roscoe has never allowed me to pick him up.

So, what do you think now???

 

[MoodyChicken]

He may think you are hurting his hens, so he is protecting them. It's part of owning a rooster, either get used to it or get rid of him. You could keep him penned and then he won't feel the need to protect the hens... maybe.

 

[TXmom]

Spunky~Chick~Mom :

***Roscoe has never allowed me to pick him up.

So, what do you think now???

That means he is the Alpha Roo, over you, and that's bad. You will always have problems with him, unless you show him who's boss. I mean, who's supposed to be boss, and that's you...LOL. You have to give him the Rooster Red treatment (carrying him around, hanging him upside down).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior​

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
Wow I love you. lol Good ol' blunt advice.

I've heard a good punt works sometimes. I've also noticed with my birds that they respect you much more if you dub them. You want to show dominance over them. Different remedies work for different birds. I've tried the Rooster Red method on a very unruly roo and it had no affect. A friend of mine swares by pinching their wattles. Good luck! It's all trial and error. I hope you can keep him. Too many good roos are lost for this reason.

 

[ga*chick*]

I have a roo like this. He is a SOB or SOC.

I got rid of his brother who was worse..would go after my son when he turned his back.

My son is now 6 but now I have a 18 month older daughter...I always have to make sure the rooster is up when the kids are out. You can't walk by him unless you are carrying a stick. I kept him around basically cuz hubby wouldn't let me get rid of him (can't kill a chicken..lol) but I have 5 new roos coming up, if I get a nice one Roo is outta here...had about enuf of him..hard to collect eggs when you have to keep your guard up.

I have tried the picking up...other ppl have picked him up. He still is just mean..he does protect his girls though, so I'll give him that.

Also there is now allowing you to pick him up..you just have to grab him...can watch the spurs!

 

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

Thanks everyone!!!! I do love him! He is the reason why we have all the other 15 chickens we have. I will try your suggestions and hopefully it will get better. Luckly he has only done this to me and not my kids cause not sure we would be discussing it if he had.

I have been told that if I just let him in there with the hens he would be better....?
My hubby and I have not finished our chicken run yet so I feel like the coop is a little cramped until we get the run done to add a roo to the mix.

Again thank you for your help@!!!!