Rooster Getting Aggressive

[bobbi-j]

Oh I understand the need to toss them in the pot...but jeesh...I'd like to do what JT is doing...and try an alternative first.

If I were unfamiliar or uncomfortable with roosters, or had young children who are in regular contact with my chickens (or advising someone in a similar situation), the stewpot would be my solution. Every situation is different, we have to consider them all.

 

[Chickassan]

I'm glad you tried a different approach than the stew pot...with good results. Gosh...this whole knee-jerk-toss-him-in-the-pot reaction thing just baffles me.

I'm going to start out by saying i really adore roo's i do! But there are always going to be some that you're just not going to get along with no matter what you try. It might be him,it might be you who knows? I don't eat chicken so my reaction isn't to just off him,i do however try to find a better fitted situation for him. I've given away roo's that didn't care for me at all but are absolutely fine with a new owner, and I've rehomed just pure jerks always with full disclosure lol! I keep the ones i don't have to dilly dally with for my girls,
i don't know if that's lazy or smart but it's certainly less stressful on both sides. It can't hurt to try and see if you and your roo can find common ground though, i wish you luck.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

I'm going to start out by saying i really adore roo's i do! But there are always going to be some that you're just not going to get along with no matter what you try. It might be him,it might be you who knows? I don't eat chicken so my reaction isn't to just off him,i do however try to find a better fitted situation for him. I've given away roo's that didn't care for me at all but are absolutely fine with a new owner, and I've rehomed just pure jerks always with full disclosure lol! I keep the ones i don't have to dilly dally with for my girls,
i don't know if that's lazy or smart but it's certainly less stressful on both sides. It can't hurt to try and see if you and your roo can find common ground though, i wish you luck.

Oh, I have no problem tossing a bird into a pot...if it became evident that the bird is indeed going to be a daily rendition of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. But it's the "into the pot you go" after one instance that I have issue with... I like JT's approach...try something first and see how it goes.

So far, my Mr. King is cool with me. We talk and hang out in the run. He coos at me when I put them to bed and when I open the coop to start their day. When I stand up from my chair in the run, he moves away. Like I said...so far, I have no issues with him. He's just a chatty little fella. Sometimes he'll hop up on the stump next to my chair while I'm having my morning coffee.

If he develops an issue...I think I'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt at least...and try to re-establish my Alpha position before sentencing him to the gallows...

 

[Chickassan]

If it's going like that then you probably don't have anything to worry about. Rooster's reactions have as much to do with the person as they do the roo.JT's roo is young and dumb...you know how the rest of that goes and is trying to be the man even though his "competition" is a giant, that's probably due to testosterone and will cease in time. He's doing very good, but not overdoing it I'm actually pretty impresed.

Oh, I have no problem tossing a bird into a pot...if it became evident that the bird is indeed going to be a daily rendition of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. But it's the "into the pot you go" after one instance that I have issue with... I like JT's approach...try something first and see how it goes.

So far, my Mr. King is cool with me. We talk and hang out in the run. He coos at me when I put them to bed and when I open the coop to start their day. When I stand up from my chair in the run, he moves away. Like I said...so far, I have no issues with him. He's just a chatty little fella. Sometimes he'll hop up on the stump next to my chair while I'm having my morning coffee.

If he develops an issue...I think I'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt at least...and try to re-establish my Alpha position before sentencing him to the gallows...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

When you see "toss 'em in the pot" you have to consider the situation,
and the adviser.

Many owners are afraid of their rooster, that feeds the attacks, and those people can never act confident enough to get control of a situation that goes quickly out of control once it starts. So attitude of the keeper can dictate the outcome the most in my opinion.

 

[aart]

Many owners are afraid of their rooster, that feeds the attacks, and those people can never act confident enough to get control of a situation that goes quickly out of control once it starts. So attitude of the keeper can dictate the outcome the most in my opinion.

AbsoLUTEly!

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Many owners are afraid of their rooster, that feeds the attacks, and those people can never act confident enough to get control of a situation that goes quickly out of control once it starts. So attitude of the keeper can dictate the outcome the most in my opinion.

Well I reckon Mr. King and I will be just fine then.

 

[Chullicken]

Tons of what to do's online about aggressive roosters, really its not common to fully change genetics by hugging him or telling him no. Some methods out there involving different methods that can have a semi positive chance, reality is he is a rooster doing what roosters where designed to do. Try forming a food association with him, if not I don't believe you want those same genetics passed on within domestic fowl.

 

[chickendreams24]

Lots of good advice here.

I'm of the opinion a lot of it has to do with genetics and of course how they're treated. We keep multiple roosters and we also grow out cockerals every year for meat. I currently have a bachelor group that is penned separately but free ranges with my main flock. These boys are destined for freezer camp but time has been an issue.

We have no aggressive birds here, I won't keep them. They get a few chances and we use corrections and such but generally third time acting up after corrections and they're gone.

Now we do give them a grace period when they get their hormones not that it means they can attack us. Just that we give them corrections as needed and and use positive re-enforcement.

I always keep an eye out for tid-bitting towards me and other challenges.

I have had a couple roosters that we could not change. They were raised the way everyone seems to agree upon but were just savage. One of them attacked me so badly I have some minor scars on my thighs. This was a cockeral with no spurs and he left bleeding wounds. It was summer and I was in shorts.

Always always take an aggressive bird seriously, even if they just hint at aggression. Another of our cockerals stepped in to protect me and fought off the offending bird in the aforementioned case. I have seen this one or two other times. Keep and breed the birds like this.

I would also like to mention I was not afraid of any of the birds that ever attacked me of which we've only had two seriously aggressive birds and a few minor challenges from cockerals coming of age.

It sounds like Henry is testing his boundaries to me. Show him the line.

With cockerals we do the pick up and carry method, along with tones of voice. Believe it or not just like dogs chickens are capable of hearing if you are displeased or not. Also we absolutely walk through them. Never move for them.

I do however disagree chickens are not naturally aggressive in the way they are in regards to this post. People bred them more and more aggressive for fighting. Nearly every older person I know fears chickens because they were aggressive. This is something I feel needs to be bred out of them. I have old English game bantams as well as large fowl and they cohabitate with my other roosters beautifully and with each other. They also never show people aggression.

It's really sad that we've done this.

I'm not going to lie we lived with a rooster that had aggression only towards us his keepers for nearly 1.5-2 years before he was take by predator defending a broody chick. I'll always be grateful to him for giving his life as we had decided to cull him. The only reason he had stayed around so long was he was wonderful with his flock, so gentle with the hens. He had always been very strange in his reactions. When he was gone though it was so amazing the difference.

I won't ever keep another aggressive bird.

It can also happen with even younger birds. I had a chick hatch nearly two years ago that I could tell right away was a cockeral. He was huge, had huge feet, and a major attitude. At 24 hours old when I pulled him from the incubator he attacked, bit, and tried to spur me. I know chicks are said to be flooded with testosterone to help them hatch. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it continued for weeks. I was worried. This was not my egg but rather a shipped egg from a breeder. The chick was indeed a cockeral and he grew up beautifully at about 8 weeks his aggression stopped completely and he never so much as gave me the evil eye again. Sadly we lost him to a mink this fall.

My point is I'm not sure there's any rhyme or reason. Sometimes you can do everything right and they turn out badly, other times you do everything wrong and they turn out great. For us with small nephews and nieces and other visitors I won't breed an aggressive bird regardless of gender.

As long as there's full disclosure I can understand rehoming a bird you're attached to. That's not an option for us as we have found out that we have Marek's on our property, from who knows where as we are extremely cautious about our shoes etc. Only one group of juveniles were ever affected.

My theory is give them a shot and if it doesn't work out there are many more deserving cockerals and roosters out there looking for a home.

 

[jthornton]

@chickendreams24, Thanks for the lengthy reply. This is a learning experience for me for sure. I have broken the aggressive attitude to me when I wear my tan Carhartt bibs. When I wore my blue jeans the other day another training session started. For now I'll stick to wearing my Carhartt bibs so as to not confuse him. The one thing I don't want is for my wife to be afraid to go into the chicken yard by herself. If it gets to that then Henry will become Coq au Vin.

JT