Rooster getting crabby at me

[ND Sue]

Well I made it through my first winter with the chickens and all went even better than I thought!

But now that the weather is nicer and maybe some chicken hormones are pumping, my rooster has been challenging me lately. I'm not sure why else, if not hormones... I spend about the same amount of time with them.
Anyway, I see lots of posts with people saying their roosters are mean and since i know nothing about roosters, tell me if mine turned mean or if he's just trying!

First off, he's a standard cochin and was dropped off so unsure of his age. I was told they were probably hatched last spring. I notice spurs that weren't there last fall. I will need to get rid of those because his favorite 3 hens are having some bald backs.

For the most part, he would just walk away and avoid me as I cleaned and fed. But now he will fluff up and takes a sumo wrestler stance and block my path! He has his head down a bit and legs wide. If i take a step toward him, he will jump up and kick both his feet up at me. Because he's so heavy, his jump up isn't real high and either are his kicks! He has never made contact but the first time he jumped at me was last winter and I reflexively kicked out, made a connection and sent him rolling! He got up and avoided me like usual for the rest of the winter. Now lately he did it again, so I kicked him again hoping he just needed a reminder and this time he was just knocked back on his tail (I didn't kick hard, my reflex was hard, but when I did it on purpose, I couldn't put much frce behind it) and got back up and was even more mad!

I thought Cochins were supposed to be mellow! He actually hasn't been real aggressive and physically, is too big and slow to do much anyway. So is this what they mean when they say Cochins are quieter..... because they physically can't attack all that well? Or is he a mean one just getting started and I better watch out?

If I get a chance, I'll have to do a short video clip to show how he acts!

I'd appreciate any rooster experiences and opinions on how bad or not bad he sounds!

Edited to add this pic so you can see how cute he is! lol

 

[Gonzo]

That sucks! My standard cochin rooster "Blue" is so mellow, I trust him in a temporary coop with 3, 9 week old polish! They all snuggle in his fluff at night. I don't think I could trust ANY of my hens like that. I think I would be devastated if anything ever happened to him... We've never had any aggresion out of him towards people at all. I wonder if you were to hold him on a daily basis if that would reaffirm that you're the head rooster in the coop, maybe he'd docile down some then... we did that with all of our boys...

He's Beautiful! Looks like ours too!

 

[sianara]

In my experience once they start challenging you it's the beginning of the end. At least that's my outlook. I refuse to put up with a rooster I have to watch my back from. I've had eight or nine roosters that went far, far away because their challenges just kept getting bolder and bolder and some of those boys were BIG suckers. I worried about getting some serious gauges on my legs.

Other people have a more relaxed attitude about the roosters role and that's fine, don't misunderstand me I'm certainly not judging. I'm personally just not willing to put up with it. I've also found that those more aggressive roosters ended up beating up on the hens too and that's the end of the line for them as far as I'm concerned. My hens are here for the eggs and my viewing enjoyment and for that a rooster is not necessary.

My very first rooster went loco at about 5 months old. For most of the others it was around a year old so yours sounds like he's right on track.

I have one 5 year old bantam rooster Alexander the Great. He's a beautiful Mille Fleur d'Uccle. He is very kind to his 5 hens and treats them wonderful. He's not too crazy about me and I share the same view about him. However, he is very small (about 2 lbs) and I understand he is doing his job protecting his flock but every month or so I have to remind him that I am the boss not him. I pick up my child sized little red shovel and carry it into their yard by my side. I tell him to go to the run (with the shovel pointing at him mind you) and usually he retreats immediately. He is not fond of the red shovel. When he forgets he is not fond of the red shovel, I remind him he is not fond of the red shovel with a swift scoop/pat on/of his tail feathers

. This situation works for us.

 

[ND Sue]

Thank you both for your thoughts and experiences. Crap. I do like him and will give him a few more chances, I just was wondering what I was dealing with... an honest to goodness mean roo or a lot of bark with no bite.

As far as hens, he has been nice to them. He does his little buk buk and shows them food when he finds it. His mating is a quickie off and on but his feet are moving so he probably pulls out feathers that way. He never chases, pecks or is outright mean to them.... just me!

I do notice at night, 3 of the hens sleep with him on the poop board rather than on the roost and he sleeps sitting on them. I thought he was trying to keep them warm during the cold weather, but he still does it now. It's been 40's -50's at night. 2 of the hens he sits on at night don't have any feather loss. So that's not doing it.

I love the red shovel idea! I have a little plastic shovel I could try carrying with me.

They have been in a coop all winter and out in the run all winter, weather permitting. We have had spring flooding, but now that it has dried up for the most part, I will start to let them free range a little in the evening.
Do you think that may help his disposition?
Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[sianara]

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I would suggest you give him more time. You may just end up with a situation like mine and Alexanders. I hope you do

 

[sianara]

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He may just be testing you. If you can keep him in line with your own red shovel that may be all you need to do.

 

[sianara]

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Alexander is definitely more ornery during the winter when they are limited to their coop/run which is only 51 sq feet for 6 birds as opposed to their normal yard with 441 sq feet. I would never stick my hand into their coop because I know it's his domain. If I have to do something, I lock him in the run and go about my business. That way I don't have to worry about him spurring me. It wouldn't really hurt it would just tick me off

And yeah, I think it will help if they can free range some. He sounds as though he is a very protective rooster and as long as he's not hurting the hens and doesn't get MEAN and I don't just mean a little charging at your but really mean by not backing down from you when you go after him then he'll probably be fine. Keep us posted.

 

[InsaneBreeder]

When my first rooster (the one in my avatar) reached adolescence he became extremely aggressive and would viciously attack me whenever I set foot within 30 feet of him. I tried the kicking method; it didn't work. I tried isolation; it didn't work. I thought about getting rid of him, but he was my first chicken and I had raised him all by himself and was (and still am) extremely attached to him.

So I endured a month or two of his violence. But one day as I came up to the barn, he slipped under one of my feet as I was taking a step and began pecking the tarnation out of my boot. Well, I had absolutely had it by then

My retaliation was simple, actually. I stepped on him gently, pushed him into the ground, and held him there until he exhausted himself. After that day, he never attacked me again (although I didn't hesitate to inflict similar discipline every once in a while if he gets a little too cocky) and he has been the sweetest rooster ever since. Other things that have helped are holding him for lengthy periods of time in front of his hens (so he will be gentle and and slightly humiliated), and keeping his spurs trimmed just in case. He also naturally mellowed after he turned 1, and the only things that will get him to show any aggression are men.