Rooster chased my little girl today

[needmorechickens!]

I am speaking on behalf of the children when I say rehome the rooster or have him for dinner. If its only adults around and they agree to work with the rooster because they care for it and want to keep it, then that's great. But with children around, it is not worth the effort to try and re-train an aggressive rooster for months only to find out one day that it hasn't worked and your child has a huge scar on their face or lost an eye.
Its the same with dogs...if I had a dog and it snapped aggressively at my child, it would be gone.
Now if you keep your rooster penned where it cannot get to your child, then that's different.
~Rebecca

 

[the1much]

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This is true, the1much, but I do have to say as a mother of 5 and having a wonderful rooster that turned aggressive, there does come a time when you have to say enough. We hand raised my roo and he was held and loved on everyday. He was babied all of the time and one day, when provoked by my little girl, turned bad. My little girl was punished for teasing the hens (she's only 4 and was being a 4 year-old) and the rooster was held. From then on out, my rooster got more and more aggressive. We worked and worked on the roosters behavior. Held him, had my little girl hold him, went on walks with him, sat in the swing with him, hand fed him, etc... It just seemed like the harder we tried, the nastier my rooster got. He never tried to attack me, as I established that I was alpha roo with him but everyone else was getting attacked for no reason at all (he even went after my DH one night

). If anyone was close enough for him to chase them down, he would do it and attack them. This became a daily ritual for this bad boy and I finally decided it was time for him to go before he really hurt one of my kids badly. My little girl always took the brunt of the attacks (one time he got her with his beak from the bottom of her chin all the way down past her belly button) and I just couldn't tolerate it any longer. You can teach and teach an animal, but sometimes the teaching doesn't work for whatever reason. That is when you have to decide what is more important. The child's safety or the rooster. I loved my rooster and it was very hard to get rid of him, but I love my kids more and wasn't going to have an animal in my yard that hurt them. I really do hope that you can retrain your rooster, OHMYCHICKIES. I wish I could have retrained mine. He has been missed, but I do not regret my decision in getting rid of him. I know my kids are safe now when they go outdoors to play. That peace of mind in itself has definitely been worth my beloved rooster being gone. Good luck with your rooster! My fingers are crossed for you that he will be a good boy.

yes,, SOME roo's just cant be taught,, then their dinner,,,, but your biggest mistake,, was all that holding and loving in the begining, you made him your equal , and thats not a good thing in roo terms lol. and some are just mean no matter what. some are like hens from day 1 till they die,, but the % of roo's are plain roo's , they are there for a purpose, its in their instinct, procreate, and protect.
this is my big MEAN leghorn when my girls come in the yard..

today i'll try to get a friend to walk up to the fence and take a pic of him "doing his job"

 

[the1much]

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never seen a rooster that well trained. If you want mean roosters, no problem for me.

I'm old school, if a rooster gets mean and I don't need him for anything, he's lunch. Guess mine are all lazy, free loaders.

My roosters jobs are to crow, make babies w/hens, and fend off cats. We're pretty laid back here--ie lazy....

roo's are just like dogs,, they KNOW their family, and they KNOW strangers. and i have some roo's that are gonna be dinner from day 1 ,, i love roo meat

and my freeloaders are always called dinner

 

[the1much]

needmorechickens! :

I am speaking on behalf of the children when I say rehome the rooster or have him for dinner. If its only adults around and they agree to work with the rooster because they care for it and want to keep it, then that's great. But with children around, it is not worth the effort to try and re-train an aggressive rooster for months only to find out one day that it hasn't worked and your child has a huge scar on their face or lost an eye.
Its the same with dogs...if I had a dog and it snapped aggressively at my child, it would be gone.
Now if you keep your rooster penned where it cannot get to your child, then that's different.
~Rebecca

ALL roosters are "mean" by nature,, if people dont want to teach, then they shouldnt even get a roo in the first place. if your worried its too much work to teach, then dont even put the roo through it, rehome it the minute you know its a roo, or put it in a pen to wait for dinner weight

 

[horsejody]

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That is absolutely correct. My roos are pretty tame, but I do believe they would come to a hen's rescue if a hen squawked because a child tried to pet them, pick them up or even shoo them out of the way. It's best to supervise kids with most animals for the protection of the child and the animal.

 

[OHMYCHICKIES]

I think it takes training the child and the roo. The roo doesn't come after me. After he saw my daughter run from him, he probably saw her as a hen getting away. So far my daughter has gotten stronger from that day that she cried like mad and gave up, and she now will chase the roo once in a while but of course with stick in hand

Not sure what will happen when his spurs grow but we'll see.

 

[Salt and Light]

Will a rooster really try and put out a child's eye?

 

[the1much]

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not try for an eye,, they jump, and whatever they get they get

 

[geareduplyn]

There is always at least one thread of this type on this forum. This is a "no brainer". Who do you value most, your little girl or the rooster? Man fighters should not be tolerated or bred from period.

 

[OHMYCHICKIES]

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I see it this way. My daughter, of course, is the most valuable although she also has to learn not to be afraid. Of course I will not let the rooster tear into her again and again till she learns, but I will show her that there is nothing to be afraid of. So far she has done great and the rooster is no longer bothering her. I would hate to get rid of a good rooster just because he was doing his job. He just needed to know his position. I think we caught it early on in the game that he changed his tune, thanks to most of ya'll.