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

[Davaroo]

Im with moody chicken.
Short and to the point.

 

[greathorse]

I will be blunt as I often am. There are two huge yellow flags here

"Rescue Rooster" If someone did not eat most of the roosters that are hatched it would be unlikely that any of us would be able to keep chickens. One rooster for every hen would make chicken keeping impracticle and miserable to the point that virtually no one would do it. The boy was not rescued he was spared a normal life and final gift of dinner. Rescue implies something far different for me.

Wont "let" me pick him up. It is not his choice. If the term "catch" him were used it would be far more appropriate. He doesnt get a vote on this one.

Ok three flags "Dance around me" that is when the first boot should have been placed squarley in his posterior. You are not his B*%$# so to speak and he was clearly telling you that he thought you were.

We would never permit a mean dog, a mean horse or a mean almost anything around our family much less our kids.

He needed to understand from the beginning that he was secondary to anyone else in the human family and he needed to respect that. Most roosters get that if proper behavior training is started early. It does not include allowing dominate behavior ever.

He may very well be a "lost" rooster due to the early conditioning that he answers to no one.

In most cases an arrogant rooster is just fine if conditioned from early on.

I think the roosters that make good companion animals are few and far between and if they are good they have had behavior modified to help them with that.

 

[crumpet]

First, I think keeping roosters in listening distance of hens, but not letting them get together is probably causing a lot of internal tension! My rooster lives for his hens. Caring for them (and mounting them!) is the only thing on his mind, ever. I think your rooster would be happier being allowed to fulfill his calling.

My rooster will attack in certain circumstances. He seems to ignore strangers, for some reason, but if my husband gets the hens excited or upset, the rooster will fly at him. He will also chase my sons, because the just run away (they're 9 & 12, and big enough so they should be able to handle him). I am the Alpha Roo, and he rarely flies at me (he has a thing against sneakers and crackling bags!)

I have dominated my rooster from the beginning, and that's the only thing that makes life livable around here! I constantly pick him up and carry him -- you have to grab his tail, then push him to the ground with your other hand. He'll probably just sit in your arms.

He, and all the hens, are terrified of rakes! You can always use a rake to fend him off if you have to.

But to be honest, once a rooster starts a behavior, I don't know if you can change it much. You can only manage it.

 

[sueg6255]

We had one that went after my 18 month old grandson. He is gone. I have another that went after my other grandson and me when I was carring my 18 month old gran. he is still here.

Boy it really hurts when they nail you in the ankle. I carried a broom out and kept pushing him around. so far so good but will try the handing up side down also.

thanks

 

[Davaroo]

I do recall that as a kid the chickens and the people were not in close quarters. They occupied the farm yard and the general confines of the farm proper. But we didn't hang around them all that much. Their "place," where the coop was, was away from the general population. They also foraged for much of their feed and we didnt fuss over their every move or linger around, wondering what they were up to.

As simple as it sounds, I'm wondering if people just gave them some space and let them alone to be chickens, these 'bad' roosters wouldn't be so bad.

 

[DawnSuiter]

In my short year with chickens, and a lot of them, I feel that Roosters DO need some ladies in order to be truly happy.

I have also learned that it's best if I show my chicken families (roo & hens) some respect when I enter THEIR space. I tend to walk slower and announce my intentions with a soothing tone to my voice. I step and wait for them to back up before I proceed forward. I have learned that my roosters tend to resent my boots and want to attack them as I'm sure they feel as though my boots might be trying to attack them!

I have had several YOUNG roosters (few months old) try to attack me a little bit, and all but 2 learned from their first kick in the butt! The other two made fantastic soup

Since then it's like I said, if I show them a little respect, after all they are the "man of the house" that they get along fine.

I still am waiting for that first really big attack, especially when Im collecting eggs and have my back turned to them. I thought at first this meant I should set it up so I can collect eggs from outside the coop, but since have decided it's much better to walk in the coops every day, spend a few minutes with the chickens and collect the eggs. They stay much more tame that way I suspect, plus I get a good look at everyone everyday.

In summary.. if you love him... keep trying. Take a weapon for defense... a broom or rake... and make him give you YOUR space while your there.

 

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

Thank you everyone!!!!!!!

I will try!

 

[jjparke]

My BR roo got the boot enough he figured out not to mess with me. However little kids and strangers did not get the same respect and were often spurred or threatened. Recently my roo outlived his use so we ate him. Honestly, getting rid of him has been SO nice. I can turn my hens out all day and me and the whole family can go out back and none of us has to worry where the roo is. If you are not planning to use him for "rooster" stuff I would eat him.

 

[ams3651]

this is the best rooster advice you will find

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior

My roo still goes after me the minute my back is turned but he knows if I see him comming he wont get away with it. I will wack him with anything I happen to have in my hand, yell at him and he cant get away fast enough. Hes a coward, he knows Im the boss and hes challenging me. Your roo is protecting the girls, even though he isnt in with them his instincts tell him to protect them. He isnt courting you anymore, hes challenging you. Today it was a dust pan he got wacked with but I understand its his instinct and I WANT him to protect his ladies. I hold him while I go about my way for several minutes after he stops struggling. If he continues to struggle I hold him upside down by his feet for a minute till he stops struggling, be very careful because he can suffocate this way. Also when I do catch him I dont just pick him up, I hold him down on the ground for a minute like he does when he mates the hens. My youngest knows to just stay away from him and my friends know theres NO WAY they could even walk into my coop or run.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
That is pretty good. Here's another outlook on the matter, from our friend Harvey Ussery:

Aggression: Toward People

Make no mistake, an attack from a feisty cock can be a painful and stunning experience! He uses both shank and wing pinion to "flog" leg or torso with a force surprising for an animal so small, and shocking in the sheer violence of an attack that holds nothing back. When a sharp, well-aimed spur strikes home, the result can be a scar that lasts a lifetime, both physical and mental. A "playing for keeps" attack from a determined cock is no casual matter.

I have listened in amazement to far too many horror stories about "mean roosters" who terrorized the family for years! I can never believe such behavior was tolerated-at my place, any rooster who doesn't understand that I am the top cock in the flock gets a short trip to the stewpot!

However, it is my belief that examples of serious aggression toward people are almost always the result of mismanagement on the part of the humans involved. It is possible to avoid the development of aggression problems, foremost through respect for the bird, and by understanding the instinctual basis for his behavior.

We call unwelcome attacks by the cock "aggression," but truly the behavior is defensive in nature: The cock is acting out of a deeply felt duty to defend the flock. Once he has concluded you are a threat, he will fight you without hesitation-and believe me, he doesn't care that you are 20 times bigger than he is. The key to good relations, then, is to convince him you are not a threat to his flock.

When you are working with the flock, especially in close quarters, keep your movements quiet and gentle, allowing the cocks (and indeed all the birds) plenty of space so they don't feel "pushed" or crowded by you. Avoid sudden movements. Don't carry large flat objects (an empty feed bag, a piece of plywood) - apparently the birds see it as a flying predator. Avoid having to catch one of the hens in the cock's care, especially in close quarters-perform such chores as examining or banding at night if at all possible.

I like to offer my "boys" special treats by hand from time to time, just to encourage a more accepting bond between us. If they are with the hens, they will usually approach with the hens to get the offered treat. If isolated in the breeding pens, they may hang back, uncertain, at first, but eventually will come to get the tidbits from my hand. A crushed hard-boiled egg is a good choice, or a handful of sprouted grain. The more often I take the time to "be friendly" in this fashion, the more "mellow" my boys become.

It is especially important that children be taught how to behave around the cock of the flock. We once had visitors whose three-year-old son I allowed into the chicken pen. In his excitement, he began running back and forth among the chickens, when suddenly the cock-who had never shown the slightest aggression toward me-jumped up and attacked the boy from behind. I have a neighbor who suspects that his daughter teased one of his cocks by rattling a stick on the fence of the pen. The resulting tendency to go on the attack whenever a person entered the pen was resolved only when the cock was accorded the place of honor at dinner.

I once had a closed 10' x 12' mobile pasture pen. Though designed for broilers, I began using it for a laying flock of New Hampshire Reds with a cock. Since I had made no provision for collecting the eggs from outside, I got down into the confined space to collect.

Naturally the poor cock felt his flock was threatened, and reacted accordingly. So intense were his attacks that I had to carry a trash can lid to ward him off as I frantically collected the eggs - an embattled gladiator just barely holding his own in the coliseum.

By the time I returned that flock to the poultry house for the winter, the cock's defensive behavior toward me was thoroughly set, and I regretfully took him to the chopping block - I am not going to be looking over my shoulder around my birds!
Still, I felt terrible slaughtering the poor guy, fully aware that his behavior resulted solely from my mismanagement. Having never forgotten that lesson, I now try to anticipate and avoid potential showdowns.

For example, one of my Old English Game cocks attacked my hand while I was filling the feeder in his breeding pen. My first inclination was to jerk him up by the neck and "teach him who's boss!"

Instead, I closed the door to the pen and thought about what had happened. The cock had been no problem whatsoever as I serviced the pen for a couple of weeks. But I had just moved a couple of breeding hens in with him the day before. Now he had a different sense of what was at stake when I entered that space. I changed the way I serviced the pen - it was as simple as removing the feeder from the pen before filling it. After that I had no more conflicts with the cock.

Please be on guard against an intensely emotional reaction when challenged by one of your cocks. True, if it comes to a showdown, you will doubtless "win." I have even heard people claim that they actually did beat a cock into submission. To me, that is more admission of defeat than wise management.

Remember, you have more options than he does. Act like it.

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The entire discussion from Harvey on 'Cocks in the Flock' can be found here, at Backyard Poultry Magazine:;

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-2/Harvey_Ussery.html