Rooster hurt his leg while attacking me!!

[shannon84]

A long, hot bath with some aromatic veggies ALWAYS does the trick!

The really "sweet" ones who don't "fear" (or in the chicken world, respect) you... are the meanest little bastards once they turn. No he doesn't see you as a threat but a challenge to be taken down. I would NOT be trying to get him to eat out of my hand... I would reinforce his thought that he should avoid me... If I was planning to let him stay.

I agree that aggression breeds forward. And it doesn't matter the breed of rooster ALL are individuals.

I won't have any more lap "roosters" (cockerels), as it puts them at the disadvantage once hormones kick in. Since that first boy, that I quit coddling too late and withstood TOO many attacks because he was sooo sweet and "rare" breed with intending breeding purpose.... Only thing I regret... Is waiting so long, it almost ruined MY perspective on roosters and took me a while to disassociate his antic from all boys. They can be fantastic creatures... protective and supportive but not stupid...

Oh at first when you said hot bath I thought you meant a hot Epson salt bath for his leg I get it now yeah I don't ever want a mean rooster again. So is it just a gamble with a rooster, meaning not know if he is going to be mean or sweet until he hits mature age? I think that's my problem, I put up with so much from him because he is so beautiful

 

[shannon84]

If you can figure out a way to get it too him, you can give him a baby aspirin for pain.

@shannon84, this sounds like a dangerous bird. I had one bite like that. He isn't around any more but I am still bearing the scars.

There are so many nice roosters around. You might consider creeping up at him at night after he has gone to roost and then invite him to freezer camp or Sunday Dinner as I like to put it.

You would be amazed how much fun and how beautiful a nice rooster is!

View attachment 1593793
Two of my Silver Duck Winged Old English Game Bantam roosters with three bantam hens. These guys are little dolls, always pleasant, I handle my roosters from the time they are chicks on up. I can bend over and pick them up with little fuss.

Those really are beautiful birds you have!

 

[MissChick@dee]

What ever you do DONT cuddle or baby him. TRUST ME.
If your lucky and he’s going to be a decent Roo. He’ll learn to not do that again.
With that being said chickens live in the moment. He’ll forget about it tomorrow. You’ll have to remind him. Hopefully he’s not a slow learner if so get the crockpot ready. Best wishes

 

[Abriana]

I wish I could do that with mine, but he doesn't give me a chance, those thick spurs of his hits like a hammer, I had no idea a bird could hit like that! Seems like most bad roosters flog or peak, but this one bites shakes his his head like a dog and tugs with your skin in his mouth. Hurts soooo bad too! It's like I can't use any of those tactics on him BC he is ready to give me full blown pain before I can even get to the little devil. What would you recommend for him?

My rooster wasn’t quite that bad, but it was close. I went camping one year and found a beautiful walking stick, about four feet tall. I used that with Napoleon while I became confidant to herd him away. At about the time the battle of dominance was over, with me on the top, my sisters ran over the stick with the go-kart and broke it but I never needed a stick again!

Anyways, I would begin by covering or blunting his spurs. I use gorilla tape or regular duct tape. Gorilla duct tape stays on for a long time—you wrap it around the spur so that the tip is covered and press the extra together at the tip of the spur so that it is covered completely with extra extending from the tip. Or you can try to blunt them, but if he begins to bleed in this area it is extremely difficult to stop (you can try to use corn starch or blood stop powder) and many roosters die from blood loss out of their spurs. If you can make his attacks pain free it will really help you to become more confidant.

Always wear jeans when you go out to see him, even in summertime. I love my rooster and am confidant around him but he is an animal and I always wear jeans around him, in case he decides to test me. He can’t grab your leg skin or pull you now. It is possible to blunt his beak, you can use dog clippers I’ve heard. Don’t go too far up or you’ll hit the “quick” of the beak. Once my sister accidentally kicked Napoleon in the beak and broke it and a lot of the quick showed. He could hardly drink but it healed and his beak grew back (if you do, you can use Neopsporin with painkiller, which a vet recommended, on the beak)

Don’t ever bend down around him! He will go for the face if you do and you don’t want him getting an eye, or any other place. It will really make you nervous around him!

Let me know if this helps! After you have grown confidence while using the stick and after duct-taping his spurs I’m sure you will be able to win this!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So is it just a gamble with a rooster, meaning not know if he is going to be mean or sweet until he hits mature age?

Not really... his actions are a direct reflection of YOUR misunderstanding of the expected human/rooster (cockerel) interaction. The ONLY boy that ever attacked me was the one allowed to sit on my lap and hang out when he was young. ALL others have generally kept a respectable distance. Checking me out some. On occasion one will drop a shoulder and try to dance at me if he is feeling to confident. I quickly correct the behavior in a way he WON'T forget... which does NOT mean kicking at them which just escalates the behavior. I give him a good chase and schooling. I've raised dozens. And only one plotted and attempted my demise... An alleged nit human aggressive breed. Also one of those hens passed from egg binding despite not being known as a high production breed. While there are SOME things you just can't control... it's important to know that some of what happens is a direct reflection of our management style.

Good luck!

 

[Ptera]

I've had great success over the years with this method (no pain inflicted at all, other than to their dignity): First NEVER show fear (no flinching, no running, no screaming, no "OWs!" not even scared facial expressions). If you have to get a peck or scratch or two in the beginning, just suck it up and don't react to it. Second, when they come at you, cup your hands around their body with their wings pinned to them and gently push their belly down to the ground into a sitting position, and hold them there until a minute or two after they stop struggling. (If you come from behind it's harder for them to peck you). Do this a few times & they're cured. It's worked for me on lots of roosters. My theory is that squatting down on the ground like that is a submissive female position. You're in a sense saying, "you're not the head rooster, I am, and I will treat you like a hen." Either that, or they just realize that I have full control over them so they might as well not attack me.

 

[shannon84]

What ever you do DONT cuddle or baby him. TRUST ME.
If your lucky and he’s going to be a decent Roo. He’ll learn to not do that again.
With that being said chickens live in the moment. He’ll forget about it tomorrow. You’ll have to remind him. Hopefully he’s not a slow learner if so get the crockpot ready. Best wishes

He definitely didn't learn his lesson, he actually seems more hateful, I made the mistake of giving him lots of treats and being nice to him. I'm a sucker

 

[sourland]

Time for chicken soup.

 

[shannon84]

My rooster wasn’t quite that bad, but it was close. I went camping one year and found a beautiful walking stick, about four feet tall. I used that with Napoleon while I became confidant to herd him away. At about the time the battle of dominance was over, with me on the top, my sisters ran over the stick with the go-kart and broke it but I never needed a stick again!

Anyways, I would begin by covering or blunting his spurs. I use gorilla tape or regular duct tape. Gorilla duct tape stays on for a long time—you wrap it around the spur so that the tip is covered and press the extra together at the tip of the spur so that it is covered completely with extra extending from the tip. Or you can try to blunt them, but if he begins to bleed in this area it is extremely difficult to stop (you can try to use corn starch or blood stop powder) and many roosters die from blood loss out of their spurs. If you can make his attacks pain free it will really help you to become more confidant.

Always wear jeans when you go out to see him, even in summertime. I love my rooster and am confidant around him but he is an animal and I always wear jeans around him, in case he decides to test me. He can’t grab your leg skin or pull you now. It is possible to blunt his beak, you can use dog clippers I’ve heard. Don’t go too far up or you’ll hit the “quick” of the beak. Once my sister accidentally kicked Napoleon in the beak and broke it and a lot of the quick showed. He could hardly drink but it healed and his beak grew back (if you do, you can use Neopsporin with painkiller, which a vet recommended, on the beak)

Don’t ever bend down around him! He will go for the face if you do and you don’t want him getting an eye, or any other place. It will really make you nervous around him!

Let me know if this helps! After you have grown confidence while using the stick and after duct-taping his spurs I’m sure you will be able to win this!

My rooster is probably as bad as they come, did yours spur you every chance he got and bite? I'm hoping there is hope for him, he is too big of a rooster to be attacking. He is good as gold as a protector, he let's be know if a stranger or a car pulls in. But he is just hateful. I can't wait to try that gorilla tape method! I got to have a good relashiirela with him before he turned mean. I think that's why I'm soft with him thank you though for the great advice I'll try these on him and do an update!!!

 

[shannon84]

I've had great success over the years with this method (no pain inflicted at all, other than to their dignity): First NEVER show fear (no flinching, no running, no screaming, no "OWs!" not even scared facial expressions). If you have to get a peck or scratch or two in the beginning, just suck it up and don't react to it. Second, when they come at you, cup your hands around their body with their wings pinned to them and gently push their belly down to the ground into a sitting position, and hold them there until a minute or two after they stop struggling. (If you come from behind it's harder for them to peck you). Do this a few times & they're cured. It's worked for me on lots of roosters. My theory is that squatting down on the ground like that is a submissive female position. You're in a sense saying, "you're not the head rooster, I am, and I will treat you like a hen." Either that, or they just realize that I have full control over them so they might as well not attack me.

I'll definitely have to wear gloves haha . It's so hard not to flinch or scream, he is very intimidating, it's crazy I can't get in between two pit bulls fighting and not give it a second thought or be fearful of it, but an 8 pound rooster scares the hell out of me I like the idea of holding him down. I to scared to hang him upside down because I heard they can choke to death??