Rooster Behavior Modification?

[Andaloosa]

Hello everyone,

I have 10 free range (locked up at night into their choice of 2 houses) chickens. 3 are roosters and 7 are hens.
Out of the 7 hens, 2 are adolescent Red-Dels and the remaining 5 are Americauna. 4 of the Americaunas are at least 3 years old and one was hatched May 2008, the 2 Red-Del hens were hatched October 2008.
Still with me?

Out of the 3 roos, 1 is at least a 3 year old who-knows-what-breed Bantam. He's a very good boy to the hens and polite to people. The other 2 roos (hatched also in Oct. 2008) are supposed to be Americaunas, though I've never seen any with their colors. One is predominantly black with white accents and the other is predominantly white with black accents. Both are beautiful. I will try to post pictures later.

All the older hens hang out with the Bantam. The younger Americauna and the Red-Dels stick with the 2 Americauna roos. I did see them trying to mate with the young Americauna hen starting a few days ago - and failing misserably. "Okay, I'm on top, now what do I do?"

Now, the white roo has decided that he would like to chase me (and maybe other people too?). Is there anything that I can do to turn this behavior around? I don't want to have to butcher him, but I will if there is no way to modify this behavior.

Thanks!

edited to add pictures of:

black Americauna

white Americauna

black, white and the 2 Red-Del hens

Bantam roo and mature Americauna hen

 

[chickenchickenbulkbulk]

Hi, I think alot of us have felt the pain of a good rooster attack. The easiest thing to do is when your roo show his self is to pick him up and pack him around. This has worked wonders for me with our New Hampshire Roo. Let me know if you try this and if it works. I would chase him down if I couldn't just snatch him up and I would pack him around the whole time I was out with the chickens. I told my husband it embarrassed Roo, he just laughed. Chickens are good entertainment, don't you agree.

 

[TaLani]

Chickenchickenbulkbulk is right w/ what was stated. Rooster-red has great tips on roo reform. See his link here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior

 

[Andaloosa]

Thanks for the help and the link on rooster reform. Any idea if it would work to carry him around after he's roosted for the night? That may be the only time I can catch him. He backs way off out of my reach as soon as I look at him. I will definitely try to catch him in the act though. He's young enough to not have spurs, so I'm assuming I wouldn't be risking any limbs if I let him think he's going to succeed with an attack on me only to turn a surprise attack (grab) on him.

Well, it sounds easy when I type it out. Now only to put it into practice. . .

 

[scooter147]

I don't think packing him around once he has gone to roost will help. He views you as another rooster and wants to dominate you. You need to catch him as he comes at you or somehow run him down.
I have had them come at me and I kick back, some get the message immediately that I am too strong to take some immediately come back for more and they get another kick until they get it.

 

[Wynette]

Please don't kick your roosters...it's not very nice, and you can injure them badly if doing so. I kicked a rooster once and broke his lower beak almost clear off. I felt horrible, and he DID heal, but I'll never, never, EVER do that again. Check this article:

http://www.homestead.com/shilala/roosters.html

Once I put these suggestion into practice, the entire situation changed for me. Hopefully, it will do so for you, too. GOOD LUCK!

 

[the1much]

get a fishing net, catch him, put him on the ground, grab by the feet, pick him up, he will try to fly for a few seconds, then he will stop, then,,, walk around, swing him a little,, walk around some more,, take him to the coop, throw him in,, dont be gentle,,,, BUT dont be hurtful either,, just make the WHOLE experience for him, 1 of his worst nightmares...

next day,,, repeat first day........... day 3,,,,, do it again.
day 4,, go without the net,, if he doesnt run from you,, RUN at him,, and if he doesnt run away,, soccerball him ( not hard enough to hurt, just hard nuff to move him a few feet).

 

[scooter147]

I'll clarify. I don't kick, kick them like you would a soccer ball. As they come at me I just kind of get my foot under them and lift and move it forward. They go in the air a few feet and flap their wings and land on both their feet. It lets them know I am much stonger than they are and most of the time they stop.

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
And yet your link has advice to go ahead and kick them if they need it. No one here means to break their backs. I also use the 'soccer ball' lift and send him sailing when he needs it - it backs him right down. Yu can't be nice to a rooster, be steady and dominant with him. Or, as Shilala says, learn to love chicken soup!

 

[CovenantCreek]

I turned my rooster around simply by turning the tables on him -- if he comes at me, I go after him. When he would attack me, he'd find my foot in the general vicinity of his face until he backed down. Since discovering that I'm not gonna let him run me off, he crows less, aggressively approaches less, and basically doesn't want to mess with me. My daughter, on the other hand, he still considers fair game if she gets away from me. Most visitors he leaves alone, others (usually the housekeepers) he tries to corner and attack. Usually succeeds, too.

Just try to remember, you're bigger than the roo and he knows it. Don't turn your back on him, but don't back down if he comes at you -- head straight toward him so he knows you're accepting his challenge. When he finally backs down, chase him around for a few minutes to humble him. Even after all that, you can't trust him. Like all hormone driven males, he'll want to win your spot in the hierarchy and will look for opportunities to try.