Rooster 'dance' explanation please/

[AmericanMom]

Well spoken AM.

I think people need to remember that not all of us have had chickens for our whole lives, To many of us this is a new experience.. many people who start with them don't always end up keeping them and one bad experience can leave a life long mark on a child.. My neighbor is nearly 60 years old and she often talks about when she was a child and being attacked by her Grandmothers goose, to this day the sight of a goose will send her running for the house.

To tell a person that allowing the Rooster to attack again and again until the rooster grows tired is irresponsible. Someone could get seriously hurt and I am sure nobody would want that on their conscience. We all need to remember, we are here to help each other. A rooster can be a dangerous animal and God forbid the one that gets attacked by the "families sweet rooster" is a helpless child.

 

[Peeps61]

Hi American Mom,

I think Centrachid was trying to give us the benefit of his/her experience with a life long association with chickens. You are not required to follow the advice, or even advocate it. The idea is to dress yourself appropriately BEFORE allowing the rooster to flog you: i.e. thick denim pants, heavy shoes, long sleeves and a jacket as well as something to protect your head/face with. Animals function on classical conditioning in many cases, and I can see where a rooster would tire of an activity that would result in no reward for him - you running away or fighting back, for example. In no way was the OP suggesting you allow your rooster to hurt you or anyone else, so I don't see that as being irresponsible, but merely suggesting a different way if you cared to try it. Personally, if I end up with another rooster, I'm going to follow her/his methods and see how it goes. I've only had the one and he was a meanie. I a hawk had not taken him, I would have had to cull.

 

[lazy gardener]

However, if you allow the rooster to flog you, and he gives up on that idea, what's to keep him from challenging your visitor, or your 5 year old grand child, or the teenager you hire to tend your flock while you're away???? Yes, to each his own, but IMO to encourage someone who is new or inexperienced to allow rooster to human aggression is an invitation to a personal injury law suit, or even worse yet, may cause lasting injury to a child.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

However, if you allow the rooster to flog you, and he gives up on that idea, what's to keep him from challenging your visitor, or your 5 year old grand child, or the teenager you hire to tend your flock while you're away????  Yes, to each his own, but IMO to encourage someone who is new or inexperienced to allow rooster to human aggression is an invitation to a personal injury law suit, or even worse yet, may cause lasting injury to a child.

I agree, I won't tolerate an aggressive roo either. I've been injured myself before by one and I refuse to take a chance with my granddaughter or my soon to be toddling grandson. I value them WAY more than a roo.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

For those vested in roosters, the observed behavior is usually referred to as "cutting the wing" or "dropping the wing". Has an aggression component but can also be a part of courtship. I see it at most only once per male bird and then it stops as I do not provide proper response. My response is to provide no response. I do not have aggressive roosters despite not culling against it. I also have a lot of roosters, more than most have chickens.

First off this rooster is courting you his keeper. No one says that roosters are the sharpest knives in the drawer. I have often said that man fighting roosters are made, not hatched.

The poster I quoted above obviously believes as I do.

How you respond to him now will determine if you will be forced to kill him in the future, or it the person who you rehome him with will put him in the stew pot for you. From the age of 21 I have or with the help of a partner raised to maturity 35 to over 1,200 roosters per year so I have a little experience with roosters. So believe me when I say that my partner and I didn't have the time to cure bad habits. We avoided bad habits as much as was humanly possible.