Rooster charging behavior - normal?

[vanstovi]

I guess I'm not really cut out for chickens, at least not roosters. I tried the carry him around like a baby doll trick...it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. Honestly, I don't want to suit up in special gear or always carry a stick to go into the run. I was just curious if anyone else had a roo that flipped out depending on what they wore. It is all academic at this point. Thanks for the advice though....I'm going to try again with another roo so I'll keep some of this in mind as he grows.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Chickens don't do different. Anything different is often just freaky to most chickens. In fact he may not even recognize you from costume to costume or even from hair style to hair style.

 

[Beekissed]

I guess I'm not really cut out for chickens, at least not roosters. I tried the carry him around like a baby doll trick...it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. Honestly, I don't want to suit up in special gear or always carry a stick to go into the run. I was just curious if anyone else had a roo that flipped out depending on what they wore. It is all academic at this point. Thanks for the advice though....I'm going to try again with another roo so I'll keep some of this in mind as he grows.

You missed the point of that whole post....sorry now that I went through the trouble to even type all of that. You don't always have to carry a stick or suit up...you merely have to do that for one 10 min. session and, if you've done it right, then you won't have to do it again.

Try it again with another rooster, by all means. They all reach sexual maturity at some point and most will try this behavior on a weaker creature that approaches the flock. You may luck out and get a rooster that has low testosterone levels and don't attack you. You may not.

In the end roosters are just being what roosters were designed to be and if one cannot work through that or around that, it's probably best to not have them at all. It's not HIS problem, he's just acting like roosters act that have no leader and are trying establish leadership.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Never walk around him. walk through him. make him move out of your way. If he's standing somewhere, take a few minutes to stand where ever he thinks he wants to be. In other words, make him move, and keep him moving. Don't let him eat until the girls have eaten.

This is called 'inserting yourself into flock dynamics' and in my opinion and experience, it does nothing but make things worse. You are not a rooster - you shouldn't be acting like one.

A rooster that isn't the dominant rooster spends every little CPU cycle he has trying to figure out how to mate behind the dominant roosters back, or become the dominant rooster. They're sneaky, opportunistic, and violent.



To the OP - Cull the rooster - find one that doesn't consider you a threat. You'll be safer, you'll enjoy keeping the birds more, and you'll get better chicks.

 

[Beekissed]

In my opinion and experience it works VERY well. We are inserting ourselves into flock dynamics each and every time we go to feed or collect eggs, regardless of how we do it. How we carry ourselves and how we move is very instrumental in how that rooster reacts....just like it is with dogs, horses, cows, etc. That's one reason little children and women are more of a target than men. Men walk confidently and through the flock, where most women do not and children move even more timidly or erratic.

You can keep killing all the roosters that do that in the world and only breed those that do not have normal rooster behavior and, in the end, you'll have docile, low testosterone birds not fit for much of anything but putting on weight at the feeder. Just because a young rooster attacks a human, it doesn't necessarily mean it's "mean" or a "man fighter"....it merely means he doesn't know any better yet and needs to be taught the pecking order in that flock.

Some roosters cannot be corrected and are too stupid to "get" it, I'm sure. I've never encountered one in the past 40 yrs, but I'm sure they are out there...somewhere.

 

[lazy gardener]

This is called 'inserting yourself into flock dynamics' and in my opinion and experience, it does nothing but make things worse. You are not a rooster - you shouldn't be acting like one.

A rooster that isn't the dominant rooster spends every little CPU cycle he has trying to figure out how to mate behind the dominant roosters back, or become the dominant rooster. They're sneaky, opportunistic, and violent.



To the OP - Cull the rooster - find one that doesn't consider you a threat. You'll be safer, you'll enjoy keeping the birds more, and you'll get better chicks.

You're welcome to your opinion and your experience. But my experience and the experience of many others begs to differ. Part of animal husbandry is knowing how to manage animal behavior. And part of that is knowing how the animal in question functions. Observation of animal behavior, including horses, poultry, and even getting down to the basic level of being able to "think like a fish" enables the animal steward to manage and work with the behavior specific to the species while minimalizing stress to all parties involved. Sorry it hasn't worked for you.

 

[DylansMom]

I did the carry him around like a baby thing and it worked great for me. I had a very nice SLW Roo who would challenge DH and DS, but never once did he look at me cross-eyed and I turned my back on him all the time, I am the chicken caretaker so this was good enough. Unfortunately he also challenged my 35 lb. turkey hen once too often and she killed him for it. I also have a Double Laced Barnevelder rooster who has moved up to top position now and he has never needed any behavior modification, not an aggressive bone in his body. I have read numerous times that these Barnevelders are very docile roos and you can have 2 or 3 without them fighting. Might be the next breed you want to try.

 

[CrazyTalk]

You're welcome to your opinion and your experience. But my experience and the experience of many others begs to differ. Part of animal husbandry is knowing how to manage animal behavior. And part of that is knowing how the animal in question functions. Observation of animal behavior, including horses, poultry, and even getting down to the basic level of being able to "think like a fish" enables the animal steward to manage and work with the behavior specific to the species while minimalizing stress to all parties involved. Sorry it hasn't worked for you.

It's worked perfectly well for me - I don't act like a threat and my animals don't see me as one.

Kicking, carrying around, running at, and all the other things you suggest doing to roosters doesn't in any way minimize stress to anyone - they all escalate the situation and make it very clear that you are a threat. Go out and watch your pasture - you won't see a horse, sheep, or cow running at a rooster, carrying one around, or "walking through wherever he is" or making a point to stand where he was standing. They don't go out of their way to present themselves as threats, so they're not perceived as them. They're ignored - they're scenery.

 

[Beekissed]

Actually they DO walk through wherever the chickens are. All the larger livestock know he's no threat to them and so they just make him move and walk through him and all the other birds. They don't walk around him while ignoring him, they intentionally walk directly towards him and make him move out of their path. I've even had sheep that pursued the rooster just for the fun of it...sheep have a quirky sense of humor.

 

[lazy gardener]

It's worked perfectly well for me - I don't act like a threat and my animals don't see me as one.

Kicking, carrying around, running at, and all the other things you suggest doing to roosters doesn't in any way minimize stress to anyone - they all escalate the situation and make it very clear that you are a threat. Go out and watch your pasture - you won't see a horse, sheep, or cow running at a rooster, carrying one around, or "walking through wherever he is" or making a point to stand where he was standing. They don't go out of their way to present themselves as threats, so they're not perceived as them. They're ignored - they're scenery.

I don't think I ever suggested kicking a rooster. Deliberately making him move is a far cry from kicking or running at.