Rooster Has Attacked Me. Now what?

[SwampPrincessChick]

A male's aggression towards humans has been altered before, but it takes a long time and it is probably like a .01% chance so he is not worth your time when he is already being aggressive. You staring at him and doing nothing is showing that you are weak and not up to fight—you need to kick him back every time he flogs you to prove that you are not backing down and decrease your chances of getting hurt. In the meantime, you can search for a new home for this male, work on separating him, or simply plan to kill him because he is not going to be useful.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I too was in denial when my sweet EE cockerel started to turn mean. I only started thinking of culling him after he attacked my dad, my sister and then me. Too bad something beat me to it and beheaded him. The next up and coming cockerel is much better behaved, no more worrying about being pecked, kicked or jumped on. Bonus points for actually dancing and flirting at the pullets instead of chasing and forcing them. Extra bonus points for not crowing constantly.

You can try to make it work as others have said. You'll have to prove that you are the dominant "rooster" but that doesn't guarantee he won't come back at you later down the road. Roosters will fight to the death before giving up so if he is strong willed it probably won't work.

Unless you want to use him for breeding, I'd make plans to cull him. If you want to get chicks from him do it before you cull him, just be aware aggression can be passed down to his young.

 

[LadyLuckLysa]

Make Stew. There's no going back.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

"The meaner the roo,
The better the stew "

I read that here once ...

 

[Twilia]

I have 32 chickens: 8 pullets/1 cockerel (8 weeks) and 21 hens/2 roosters. The hens are of varying ages but the roosters are 1 year 3 months.

We’ve had 4 roosters before these ones, unfortunately losing them all to predators. I have never experienced rooster aggression towards me before.

I actually wasn’t even sure it was happening the first two times. Both times I had my back to the chickens and he ran into my leg. I honestly thought he just didn’t see me next to the 4x4 I had just walked past. Similar situation the second time. Both times I think I just continued doing what I was doing.

Today when I picking up the bottom half of a feeder (I had left on the ground while I filled the feeder) that the chicks wer

Chicks were pecking at the bottom half of the feeder that I had left while filling the top half. When I leaned down to pick it up, the rooster jumped at me and got a scratch on my arm. I don’t know if he was feeling protective over the juveniles or what.

I kind of just stared at him. I didn’t know what to do.

I still don’t. It didn’t hurt, but obviously I don’t want this behavior to continue.

My dad read to get a water bottle/squirt gun and spray them. I’m not so sure about that. Also, if he’s already backed away, should I be becoming “aggressive” (moving towards him, big arms…kicking?) or is that just escalating the situation?

Is he calming down because he thinks he won and I’m cowering?

This is an old thread. But for future reference I suggest those with roo aggression check this informative article : )

Ask about Roosters: How to Deal with Aggression, Explained.

After realizing the need for clarity, I decided to create an article for those of you who have roos with behavior issues, those thinking about adding one to your flock, or if you are just curious since the issue is natural to come up for each of us in even the most docile of males. It is...

• Twilia
• Mar 21, 2025
• 4.00 star(s) 2 ratings
• Comments: 3
• Reviews: 2
• Category: Member Pages