Rooster Dumplins???

[wyle711]

I have a black star? rooster and he takes great delight in catching me looking the other way or in a bind and then letting me have both barrels. His spurs are less than 1/2" so he isnt doing any damage. He bows up when i turn around and seems to like to spar with my boot when i hold it towards him. I mean he really goes at it. He whips my boots until his feet bleed. As far as i know he doesnt do this with anyone else, but then again, i am the one that puts the most time with my chickens. He isnt a dominant rooster and isnt pet like most of my flock. What do you guys think....Dumplins before his spurs grow out or what? This question will be mute if he hits one of my girls but like i said he hasnt acted this way with anyone else sofar.

 

[debilorrah]

First of all, quit holdin your boot out for him!!!! Second, have you tried making him know whose boss? Run at him, flap at him, yell while you are doin it, etc?

 

[Fay at Frizzled Feathers]

Like debiraymond said and if that dont work ........ Dumplins !!!

 

[wyle711]

yeah i showed him who is the boss and as far as the boot that started as me trying to fend him off for a min. now he seems to like it. i may have created a monster. He will run clear across the yard to pick a fight.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Pick him up when he does this and hug him, squeeze him and kiss him alll over, my rooster comes after me like that too and i pick him up for about 10 minutes every time and he is starting to settle down a bit.

 

[PortageGirl]

You have become his sparring partner, or maybe I should say your boot has. You need to take him off of his feet which totally unsettles him. No feet, no leverage, no confidence because he's lost all leverage and balance.

Here's the thread we usually reference in these cases, "Thanks Rooster-Red!" https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior I have used parts of this advice before having ever read it, getting them by the ankles and holding them upside down is sort of terrifying to them, but better scared now then stewed later if you want to keep him around.

I've always gotten a hand on their neck/shoulders and pushed them down flat (sort of flat) so they have to squat like a hen... I'd say it embarrasses their macho-selves, but chickens don't have human emotions, so embarrassing isn't the right word. What they do have is a 'pecking order' though and he's on the bottom of the rooster pecking order, and he's trying to convince you that he’s more dominant than you are. If you can’t convince him otherwise, yeah, there’s some good recipes here and he might be young enough to taste half decent! After he ‘conquers’ you, he’ll move on to other targets so nip this in the bud is my advice.

[edit] hehe,,, not sure about kissing him, ugh feathers!!! but holding him up and petting him a lot is unsettling to him and also shows you aren't dangerous. heheh,,, that's cute! *ptoooeeee! feathers!* [edit again] Sorry Chickenaddict! not trying to be mean! I know what you mean. hehe just *ptoooeeee! feathers!*

 

[wyle711]

Thanks for the info. i read the article and liked the advice a little better than giving him a big ole smooch. He isnt a problem as far as anyone else, he just likes to take shots at me. i am not sure he is trying to dominate me as he will run from me anytime i walk towards him and i rarely get my hands on him. he wont take a shot at me if i am kneeling faced towards him but will hit me in the back at will. Also i have waaay too many roosters. My wife says i can't eat them. This guy may go swimming in dumplins though.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

So keep fighting him. My Silkie always had a reason to fight me when he was younger. He'd come at me too. I'd give him some harsh kicks and one time, I even kicked him into a tree.

Not a funny sight, but he went at it anyway. Fight him until he runs off, grab a few hens and DON'T RUN. That would be a rooster's way of saying 'I forfeit.'

Grabbing a hen would be you enforcing the rules. If he gets mad and goes at you again, kick him again. All you have to do is knock some sense into him for a few weeks. If he doesn't stop and you're tired of showing him who's boss without let-up, then you can make some dumplings.

Act like the big boss. Because, quite frankly, you are.