Rooster attacked Grandson

[melissaohio]

I have a huge Black Copper Maran Rooster. He hatched April 6. This morning, my 7 year old grandson was giving them scratch feed, and he attacked him. Thank goodness he doesn't have spurs yet, but his nails did enough damage and of course scared my Grandson.
I have had roosters grow to be aggressive, but and not quite 16 weeks old?

My thought is that he will only get worse... am I wrong?

 

[DobieLover]

He needs to go because of your grandson. You can't take chances with him and small children.

 

[The Chick Addict]

If you want to keep him, here is a way to train them to behave. When he acts up you have to push him to the ground and hold him there until he stops struggling. This shows him that you are the boss and he should not mess around with you. When he stops struggling, pick him up and pet him and talk to him gently but firmly. After a couple of minutes, let him back down and if he acts up again, continue doing this until he leaves you alone. Do not let any children go out there alone with him unless there is an adult or you have trained him to not misbehave.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

Sometimes an unexpected action by a human can be interpreted by a rooster as threatening and they react accordingly. You could take the wait and see approach - with this rooster locked up whenever vulnerable children are around. It could be a one time thing.

I personally would kill the rooster for this one instance. If you take him off the roost at night and use the broomstick method (with as few lights as possible) he will have a few moments of confusion and a humane death.

 

[ShrekDawg]

He probably will get worse but even if he doesn’t, I personally wouldn’t risk it with little kids around. What if he flew up and spurred him in the eye? Little kids are the perfect height for that to happen. I know you said he doesn’t have spurs yet but he will grow them. The taming methods MIGHT work but with him attacking so young, I personally feel he will get worse and I wouldn’t risk it. Just my opinion. Of course, do what you feel is best.

 

[nuthatched]

If my rooster did this to a child, he would not live long enough to ask this question.
Off with his head.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

From my experience roosters can be a big problem...whether they are mean, aggressive or just plain dumb. Although they are most definitely an asset 2 any flock. My niece had a flogging rooster and she was scared to go in the pen with him. She was around the same age as ur grandson. I know this sounds awful but I had my neice come in pen with me whenever rooster attacked i had her pick it up by its neck and squeeze, as I counted to 3. She released on 3 and never had any trouble out of that fellar again. Didnt injure him just gave him an attitude adjustment. Dominance is key. Some folks may disagree but it worked for us.

 

[Nashv755]

From my experience roosters can be a big problem...whether they are mean, aggressive or just plain dumb. Although they are most definitely an asset 2 any flock. My niece had a flogging rooster and she was scared to go in the pen with him. She was around the same age as ur grandson. I know this sounds awful but I had my neice come in pen with me whenever rooster attacked i had her pick it up by its neck and squeeze, as I counted to 3. She released on 3 and never had any trouble out of that fellar again. Didnt injure him just gave him an attitude adjustment. Dominance is key. Some folks may disagree but it worked for us.

I agree dominance is key. I know my favorite method has been anytime a cockrell tried mounting a hen near me I give them a light punt to knock them off the hen the same way a head rooster would do with a cockrell and I haven't had an aggressive rooster yet. Kids are a little tricky because they move aggressive as far as chickens are concerned with fast jurky movements. But it seems a kid picking one up by the neck will definitely show him if I wanted to hurt you I could, so stop it

 

[Callender Girl]

Every time I read a post about roosters attacking kids, I wonder what my parents were thinking.

We had a pair of black roosters who would attack me Every Single Day when I got off the school bus. As far as I know, Heckle and Jeckle suffered no consequences for their actions.

But, I learned a lot of evasive maneuvers. One other thing I learned was not to expect every animal to be my friend.

I currently have an incredibly beautiful and obnoxious Cochin Bantam rooster with anger management issues. He is not allowed to free range with the others and permanently lives in a coop and run with two hens whose previous room mate was a full-sized Iowa Blue rooster. The girls can hold their own with him. It's my compromise because I can't rehome him, and I can't kill him.

 

[LaFleche]

I have a huge Black Copper Maran Rooster. He hatched April 6. This morning, my 7 year old grandson was giving them scratch feed, and he attacked him. Thank goodness he doesn't have spurs yet, but his nails did enough damage and of course scared my Grandson.
I have had roosters grow to be aggressive, but and not quite 16 weeks old?

My thought is that he will only get worse... am I wrong?View attachment 3599725

Invite him to dinner.

In this picture he is glaring while lowering his right shoulder towards the person taking the photo and lifting his left shoulder, which is a clear threatening behaviour.