Rooster Attacked

[Australorps08]

I have a 19 week old rooster who has been very calm since day one but at night he has been attacking me when I go to put the hens and him back in the coop. Anyone know why or what I can do to stop it??

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

He's becoming sexually mature and his hormones are raging. There are many threads on how to deal with an aggressive rooster, most will end up as chicken soup. You will need to stand up to him and make him move away from you, friendly calm young roosters will often attack the owners because they haven't developed a healthy fear or wariness of the owner and they see them as part of the flock to be dominated and controlled.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

X2

 

[chickmomma03]

My cockerel has been a little jerk a few times, when he was around 5mos he peaked with attitude. I have had to (during the day) catch him twice, pick him up, and carry him around for all the hens to see. It put him in his place. Most of the time he's extremely calm and doesn't mess with me (he mostly just gives me my space, sometimes he'll come fairly close when I'm giving treats, but that's in a calm manner). At night I never have a problem, they go into the coop on their own and I just go out to check on them before I close the coop for the night (I open it right now at 6:30am and close it between 6-6:30pm). This morning he decided to be a little jerk. I went out and opened the coop at the normal time. I came inside and did morning chores, then I laid down for a little bit. I got up and the wind (which is whipping pretty strongly today) had knocked the coop door so it was closed 3/4 the way, 2 pullets were "trapped" inside while the rest were out with him. It ****** him off. So, I go into the run to open the door and he decided he was going to shake his leg at me (when he shakes the leg farthest from me it means he's about to charge toward me, if he shakes the one closest he's about to charge the other way, it's his way of saying "get out of my way or I'm going to bite/spur you). I don't tolerate that, so I quickly put him in his place.

He needs to know that you're not scared of him. I don't do anything mean, but I'm not afraid to catch and carry him around. I don't tolerate bad attitude/attack attempts from him, and I always keep my eyes on his general location because I don't want him creeping up for a potential sneak attack (I don't think he would, but you never know).

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I have a 19 week old rooster who has been very calm since day one but at night he has been attacking me when I go to put the hens and him back in the coop. Anyone know why or what I can do to stop it??

Take a broom or a stick with u and wave or swat it near him it will show him that u are boss of the flock and not him and do this until he stops and after he stop just do it every once in awhile just to remind him

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would strongly suggest reading some posts by (or reaching out to) @centrarchid -- while there are many ways of approaching this situation, several of those that are commonly suggested are only going to worsen the situation, not improve it .....for both you and the bird.

 

[azygous]

Five months is a pretty typical age for a cockerel to begin feeling his hormones, and that causes his perceptions to change. Where before, he may have been sweet and trusting, now he suddenly perceives you as being threatening to both him and especially to the hens.

He views your handling of the hens as being a danger to them, and he's trying to protect them from you. When a rooster attacks, you need to examine your own behavior and try to understand what you're doing that comes across as threatening. This is the sensible approach to the problem of an aggressive rooster, not swatting him or trying to be more aggressive than he is.

What I question is why do you feel it's necessary to "gather" up your chickens and put them in the coop at night? Have you tried simply allowing them to go into the coop on their own to roost at dusk like all chickens are instinctively driven to do?

That in itself would go a long way toward resolving this issue.

 

[steve232]

I have a RIR rooster that tried to attack me a couple of times. The first time he done it I held him to the ground so I could pick him up. Then I carried him around in the run poking him on the back of his head with my finger, not hard enough to hurt him but it got his attention. While I was doing this all the hens ran into the pen and stayed while he was being "disciplined". Finally before putting him down I took him to the corner of the run and held him to the ground while still poking him in the back of the head. When I let him go he took off running into the run with the hens lol. After that he never bothered me for a couple of months. Then he decided to get brave again and attempted to attack me. Immediately I attempted to grab him but he ran into the lower run where I couldn't get to him without going out the door and around to the lower run door. When he got down there the wuss called the hens to him (like he had found something tasty for them to eat lol). So a couple of mornings later I was giving them fresh water and he came at me again. This time knowing if I tried to grab him he would just run into the lower run again so without really thinking I dumped a 5 gallon bucket full of water on him and he took off lol. After getting "baptized" hes never bothered me again. Also I would suggest when your in the run or pen with the chickens to always walking kinda slowly and when the rooster is young always walk toward him and make him move out of your way.

 

[azygous]

Steve has great advice on how to deal with a problem roo.

It's amazing how smart roosters are. They can be disciplined because they remember the unpleasantness of it.

 

[Mr Beaks]

I'll have to pass this info on to DH . I've never had a problem with our rooster in the 2 years we've had him but he always seems to attack DH and DS. He is very loving with me though. He likes to hop up on my shoulder and preen my hair and will do the same with our daughter.