Rooster behaviour switch

[sweetpea25]

We have had our rooster since Sept. I am not sure how old he was when we got him but he was full size. He didn’t crow very often.
He is an Birchen Orpington. He was so calm and gentle. My kids could pick him up.
In the last couple weeks his behaviour has changed and he has started attacking us. A few things a have changed, two of the six hens are broody and are staying in the coop while the others free range. We changed the food bucket to one that was hard to get food out and they couldn’t spill the food all over the ground. And I did a major clean up of the coop for spring.
His aggressive behaviour seems mostly to be when we are around the coop but there has been other times where he has tried to bite us out of nowhere.
He does a really good job of protecting our chickens, but I hate being afraid of him suddenly attacking.
Help! Is it because of the changes or do rooster change behaviour suddenly?

 

[Mrs. K]

No I don't think it is something you did, I think it is hormones. Once they go that way, they are very untrustable.

This forum is filled with stories where the darling became the nightmare. How old are your kids? If they are below 6, I would not keep him. They can take an attack in the face, and he may knock them down to the ground. It will ruin the whole chicken experience for them.

If not, it is your call. Some people think they can retrain them, IMO who gets trained is the people. You will get several responses here to offer advice on technique.

Personally I would not expect this to work, and definitely not something to trust especially with other people, who might be visiting your place.

There are wonderful roosters out there, and the longer you keep a rotten one, the longer it is until you get one. If you want a rooster - post in the feed store, contact the local 4-H group. What you want is a rooster that is so nice, that he didn't get culled by someone who would have culled if he wasn't.

Mrs K

 

[sweetpea25]

No I don't think it is something you did, I think it is hormones. Once they go that way, they are very untrustable.

This forum is filled with stories where the darling became the nightmare. How old are your kids? If they are below 6, I would not keep him. They can take an attack in the face, and he may knock them down to the ground. It will ruin the whole chicken experience for them.

If not, it is your call. Some people think they can retrain them, IMO who gets trained is the people. You will get several responses here to offer advice on technique.

Personally I would not expect this to work, and definitely not something to trust especially with other people, who might be visiting your place.

There are wonderful roosters out there, and the longer you keep a rotten one, the longer it is until you get one. If you want a rooster - post in the feed store, contact the local 4-H group. What you want is a rooster that is so nice, that he didn't get culled by someone who would have culled if he wasn't.

Mrs K

Thank you! My kids are teenagers. And they seem to be dealing with him better than I am.
I hear what your saying. It is just so disappointing since he has been so nice and changed so suddenly.

 

[SamLockwood]

We have had our rooster since Sept. I am not sure how old he was when we got him but he was full size. He didn’t crow very often.
He is an Birchen Orpington. He was so calm and gentle. My kids could pick him up.
In the last couple weeks his behaviour has changed and he has started attacking us. A few things a have changed, two of the six hens are broody and are staying in the coop while the others free range. We changed the food bucket to one that was hard to get food out and they couldn’t spill the food all over the ground. And I did a major clean up of the coop for spring.
His aggressive behaviour seems mostly to be when we are around the coop but there has been other times where he has tried to bite us out of nowhere.
He does a really good job of protecting our chickens, but I hate being afraid of him suddenly attacking.
Help! Is it because of the changes or do rooster change behaviour suddenly?

You won't really know what you have in a rooster until they're at least a year old. It's a combination of hormones and confidence, and it's not necessarily anything you do.

The only real mistakes I've seen people make is either ignoring or being unaware of "pre-aggressive" behaviors like if they try to chase or warn off from somewhere, or they do their herding-dance to get try to get you to move.

Another thing you never want to do is be in the habit of leaning forward while making eye contact with a rooster: that's mimcking the "challenge posture" and that sets their little brains into fight-or-flight mode automatically. Plus even with docile chickens you just never want to get your face within beak-range of them: they're a lot more hard-wired than people realize and if you've somethng like dangly earrings or a bug lands on your face you WILL get pecked.

And finally, never, ever, run from poultry. Or even back up if you can help it. Chickens are hard-wired for the pecking-order and all they have to do is get you to back off once and they'll try you every time they can.

If he's actually attacking you, there's nothing you can really do at this point. And by that I mean he raises his hackles and either flat-out charges you or takes the fighting stance with the tail and wings fanned out and is actively flogging and kicking or spurring you.

If his "attacks" are just attempts to chase you off or herd you, if he's not raising his hackles at you when he does it, you may be able to train him out of it. It's all about standing your ground when he tries to get you to move, and getting him to back off or get out of your way.

My technique is I'll stand as tall as possible, put my hands on my hips, shake my head and say "no sir!" The exact body language and words aren't really important, just be consistent in posture, voice tone, and rythm. If he persists in getting in our personal space, move him gently but firmly with your foot (and DO make sure you're wearing proper work-shoes and long pants!). He may decide to peck or kick your foot, and as long as he's backing up while he does it let him salvage his ego. If you think he's coming at you too fast, put your foot under his belly and give him a good shove to get him out of your space just as quickly.

If he's worth keeping he'll get the message you're not scared of him and physical confrontations aren't worth it. If he's too high-strung or stupid he'll escalate to the fighting / challenge stance, and at least you'll know.