Rooster activity

["Burd" house]

Hey, so im new to posting here although i love reading all the threads.
We have been dealing with a really aggresive rooster and today he was repeatedly attacking, not pecking, but attacking and not letting go of one of my small hens. My hen will hide all day and as soon as she walks out, this rooster would bolt out of no where, bypass 18 other chickens and chase her until he attacks her. Not mating. I have 2 other roosters and are the sweetest.

So in the heat of an attack today, not letting up, we had to kill the rooster.

Question, why did as soon as the rooster hit the ground, dead my other 2 roosters proceeded to attack him (even though he was dead) My husband said that when he shoots a turkey, the other turkey (if more than one) will pounce on top of the dead one. Why is this??

 

[SunHwaKwon]

The blood, I assume.

 

[andreanar]

Chickens seem to go after who they perceive as weak. If they see a chicken injured, or hurt, they seem to attack or pick on that one. If they see a bloody injury, they will peck at it. I always hope I never have a heart attack and collapse in my chicken run LOL!!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I have said the same thing. Heaven forbid you pass out with your eyes partially open. You'll be on a transplant waiting list for sure!

 

[Chickassan]

Chickens love to kick em when they're down! That's one quality about them that freaks me out a bit. Just be glad they're small although if they have the numbers that still wouldn't save you.

 

[Hdghawg]

I wonder if it's a trait that some mammals share. I was a K9 handler for many years and one training exercise we utilized was to portray yourself as the loser in a scuffle (aggressor on top). Some dogs would attack their handler and it is thought that it is an attempt to gain the Alpha position. In the case of dogs they already know (through training) that they can never be dominated by anyone, the only person in their way is you.
On the other hand maybe that's to complicated for a chicken and I'm trying to relate trained k9 behaviors to the behavior of another animal....

 

["Burd" house]

Chickens seem to go after who they perceive as weak. If they see a chicken injured, or hurt, they seem to attack or pick on that one. If they see a bloody injury, they will peck at it. I always hope I never have a heart attack and collapse in my chicken run LOL!!

Me neither!!! Talk about attack of the birds.
I had heard that probably is why they did that. We have NEVER had to kill a chicken like that but he was actually trying to kill my little hen. He was an "easter egger" that was suppose to be a hen we thought. But as he grew, he forsure had some game bird in him. Meaner than a junk yard dog.

 

[Folly's place]

Chickens are omnivores, and little velociraptors at heart.
Your dog story is interesting; I've never heard that one! My husband worked with military dogs years ago, as an Army veterinarian, and he never heard about that either. Some of those sentry dogs were pretty awful, though... Mary

 

["Burd" house]

Not an actual dog. But that rooster was "meaner than a junk yard dog".
I have a Barred Rock rooster-Sweetpea and a Lavendar Orph rooster-Prince
They both are so sweet. They dont even fight one another and i have some littles that are 4 months old, and they dont mess with them neither, only when its roosting time, they wont yet allow the smaller ones to rooster higher than them. ❤

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Not an actual dog. But that rooster was "meaner than a junk yard dog".
I have a Barred Rock rooster-Sweetpea and a Lavendar Orph rooster-Prince
They both are so sweet. They dont even fight one another and i have some littles that are 4 months old, and they dont mess with them neither, only when its roosting time, they wont yet allow the smaller ones to rooster higher than them. ❤

She was talking about hdghawg's post.