Rooster Behavior towards me

[dorothymcd]

My rooster who is wonderful and I love is great but lately when im in the run with all his girls and im picking them up loving them i get a bump or a peck or a wing touch. I look at him and he just looks at me. My dad said he is asking for attention i thought he was mad because I touch his girls. Which is it? he doesn't hurt me at all hes gentle but he lets me know hes there with a bump or something light.

 

[sourland]

He is starting to become protective of 'HIS' girls. Generally such behavior escalates unless he can be convinced that it is unacceptable.

 

[RockerHen]

He is starting to become protective of 'HIS' girls. Generally such behavior escalates unless he can be convinced that it is unacceptable.

x2. He's not necessarily asking for 'attention', he thinks you are stealing/harming his hens. This is early behavior which can lead to full blown human aggression, which usually presents itself in the form of chasing and 'flogging' (my SLW rooster who I raised unfortunately developed this. I tried all the methods, but his aggression always returned eventually. I ended up killing him because I often have young children visit, and I will not tolerate ANY human aggression in my birds towards them especially. One of my tom turkeys is starting to show these 'pre-aggressive' signs, so he's most likely headed to the pot as well. I have too many 'backup' birds to deal with any bird that is even slightly aggressive). Since you like this rooster, like sourland said, he needs to be taught that this 'pre-aggressive' behavior is unacceptable, so he won't get any bolder. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[One Chick Two]

Be very wary and watchful of his behavior. Don't let him get away with bad behavior, or let it slide if something happens, especially if it has to do with his hens- it could make for trouble.

That said, this possibly still may not necessarily be bad behavior...but stay watchful and prepared to deal with him anyway (just in case), as only time will tell.

We also have friendly roos who use their beak to gently pull on my pants leg to get my attention to occasionally be picked up or petted, or play with my jacket's large, heavy plastic zipper pulls. (They LOVE to pull the jacket pocket zippers down, I pull it up- etc., it's an interactive game we play every single day- they all love to do this.)

One roo (Nipper) will occasionally nip my hand if I don't pay attention to him fast enough (we have 85 chickens, 16 roos). However, he will squat like a hen in my arms with his head down and tail up, and will cluck contentedly when picked up, so I don't consider this as necessarily bad behavior, as he is showing me I am dominant. However, we are always watching to see if he otherwise acts badly, or if anyone else changes behavior other than minor pecking order squabbles with each other. So, just watch your boy, but be prepared to deal with him just in case.

 

[Wrooster]

Be very wary and watchful of his behavior....

Don't get blindsided one day while you're not paying attention.

 

[Spanishchick]

Do you guys cut their spurs? My Rooster got jealous the other day when I had a picked on chicken between my legs to allow her to eat. He let me know he didn't like it but he's young. I pushed him and barked at him until he walked away. Second day he wasn't so bad. I am sure that when he gets spurs we're going to cut them off. I don't know my husband knows this stuff better than me. My brother got attacked by his RIR Roo and he got the shotgun!

 

[aart]

My rooster who is wonderful and I love is great but lately when im in the run with all his girls and im picking them up loving them i get a bump or a peck or a wing touch. I look at him and he just looks at me. My dad said he is asking for attention i thought he was mad because I touch his girls. Which is it? he doesn't hurt me at all hes gentle but he lets me know hes there with a bump or something light.

Hard to say. I would not react at all and see if it changes.
He may just be checking on you and settle with you hugging his hens once he realizes you will not hurt them...or he may become more aggressive.
How old is he? Do you hug on him too?

 

[Wrooster]

Do you guys cut their spurs? ...I am sure that when he gets spurs we're going to cut them off. I don't know my husband knows this stuff better than me. My brother got attacked by his RIR Roo and he got the shotgun!

We have tolerated a bad attitude and serious spurs because our rooster had a job to do and it went with the job. We free-ranged for a couple of years and there were threats from several kinds of critters. I think the attitude was more useful than the spurs, though, and after he'd bloodied 3 or 4 peoples' legs including my wife's, we penned them up. The spurs keep growing and about the time I think they are too long for his own good, they break off and new ones grow out. If you cut them, you have to be careful not to cut too deep. I like the idea of the hot potato method but haven't tried it. Lots of videos and advice on the web and some of it is good.

 

[Spanishchick]

I guess in reality the claws are bad enough. Hopefully he's too tired with 9 young chicks to attack us. I read this guy walked around clutching his rooster until he he got the message about who was boss. I agree that it is a normal part of being the sultan of 9 princesses. Id be a little nuts myself.

 

[dorothymcd]

I have been giving him more attention along with the girls and he stopped for now. I will see how it goes and update. Maybe he was worried I would take the girls from him or maybe he was jealous not sure yet. He is a Silkie Rooster and he is very good to my girls. Ive had Bill for a year now and longer then any other chicken i own and he is a sweetheart he always has been. Hes never been aggressive so that was a surprise to me, BUT hes never had so many ladies either and he will have more when the little ones grow up so we will see how he does and if anything changes..
See the picture this is "the look" I get LOL