Rooster being a jerk.. spring or aggressive?

[junior67]

So I have a 2 yr old Cochin roo. I haven't had any issues with him at all. My husband had 1 last year but once he didn't back down the roo was fine with him. He didn't like strangers so I had to go in first and pick him up if someone he didn't know went into the run then he was fine.........

Well last weekend he pecked at my husbands boot when he went in then went to jump at him. My husband put him in his place. Then he pecked at my shoe but that was it. Yesterday I went in with my egg collecting bucket and my candler (have a broody sitting on eggs) and he went to peck me then jumped at me. I booted him back and he backed off then a bit later tried again so I went to pick him up but he ran to fast. I went in later and he was fine. Well today he jumped at me again.

I refused to be afraid of a rooster. I would be heart broken but will get rid of him (have someone that asked if I had any adults for soup........). But if it is just that it is spring/summer and he is feeling a bit feisty and will calm down then I have no problems keeping him. I have heard that around 9mo to a year they can get bad so I was NOT expecting it when he was 2!!!! When he was around 8-9 mo he would peck at our shoes so I would pick him up and carry him around that only happened a few times and nothing I would even really say was aggressive. He wouldn't come over to us and do it but if we were standing right next to him then he may here or there. So do I try to just start picking him up again or is he a lost cause????

 

[Brooks_]

Be sure to wait for the more experienced to chime in, but at two years I would not call it a spring thing.

 

[MaeM]

Be sure to wait for the more experienced to chime in, but at two years I would not call it a spring thing.

I agree with this comment but at the same time, the rooster wasn't like this consistently over two years. Only 1 episode last year, and then, this.

In my opinion, and given that you mention that he doesn't like strangers, he isn't necessarily an aggressive rooster, he is VERY protective of his hens and his territory, and that can backfire sometimes. In this season, the hens are broody so I'm not surprised that he got overprotective and that led him to attack you.

He is clearly not a sweet and cuddly rooster but I wouldn't say that he is an utter a$$h0l3 either. I'd give him some time to calm down. You will need to keep reinforcing your dominance, though.

In my experience, unless you have a 100% sweet roo, you'll most likely be challenged by most roosters and you'll have to remind them that you're in charge every now and then. The problem is when you have to do this every single day even if you're not doing anything wrong (some people fight them back and expect the roo not to hold a grudge against them)

 

[junior67]

I agree with this comment but at the same time, the rooster wasn't like this consistently over two years. Only 1 episode last year, and then, this.

In my opinion, and given that you mention that he doesn't like strangers, he isn't necessarily an aggressive rooster, he is VERY protective of his hens and his territory, and that can backfire sometimes. In this season, the hens are broody so I'm not surprised that he got overprotective and that led him to attack you.

He is clearly not a sweet and cuddly rooster but I wouldn't say that he is an utter a$$h0l3 either. I'd give him some time to calm down. You will need to keep reinforcing your dominance, though.

In my experience, unless you have a 100% sweet roo, you'll most likely be challenged by most roosters and you'll have to remind them that you're in charge every now and then. The problem is when you have to do this every single day even if you're not doing anything wrong (some people fight them back and expect the roo not to hold a grudge against them)

I do have a broody on a nest right now with eggs that are hatching, and chicks that are 6 and 9 weeks old in the coop that I brooded in there and now run around, they haven't dared to venture out still. LOL

BUT I had broodies and chicks last year and he was fine.

I also have another rooster that is a year old. He has shown ZERO signs of aggression with us and the 2 get along fine. I have never seen them fight and no wounds on either. The younger one is the one that is in the coop with the hens more and will go in the nest boxes and sit there, he now calls the hens for food etc. But he is afraid of the older one and will shy away from him.

The older one used to let me pet him but now he more scoots away when I try.

The younger one (that I wasn't going to keep anymore) would always be the first one to jump on my knee and hang out with me when he was a chick so that is how he ended up staying as long as there were no issues between the 2 of them.

and yes the older one is protective, one time my husband had a drill in his hand (we have been expanding the run so maybe the noise and disruption has him upset as well) so I thought maybe that was why but other times it has been with nothing in our hands. My inlaws even came over a bit ago and went in the coop and the older one was ok with them so figured he was letting the younger one take the lead a bit more so didn't care as much about protecting......... I will work with him and give him some time especially with the building and noise going on around him and see if he gets better. hopefully he does since he did give me 2 small marks on my legs through my jeans today.

 

[Nashv755]

I have a theory about aggressive rooster behavior. I don't let mine mount hens near me and give them a light punt just enough to knock them off the hen if they try.

The top rooster doesn't allow a lesser rooster mount in his presence. If they try the flock leader will knock them off. It is a test for the little rooster to build confidence and if the flock leader ignores it. The little rooster sees the flock leader as weak and will start challenging for the top spot.

I'm not overly aggressive to my roosters but do reprimand them if they try to mount a hen. The rest of the time I treat them like the rest of the flock. Rarely if I do find a treat I may toss it to a rooster without the hens seeing it. They tidbit it to the hens and take the credit. I believe I show them that I'm the leader but we can get along and haven't had a single people aggressive rooster the 4 years that I've had chickens. The ones we had as a kid would chase cars pecking at the tires and nobody went outside without a stick lol I almost wish that I could get an aggressive roo from someone and see if I could break him from being aggressive but it would mess up the fact I have 5 roosters now that get along great together.

 

[junior67]

I think I figured out what it was. We were in the process of expanding the run and adding another coop... So there was a ton of noise and commotion going on. I went in with my rake for a bit but he never even tried anything again so I stopped using it. Things had calmed down with the noise from building as well so think he relaxed again with that being done. I think the building had him on edge and overly protective.