Rooster hurt his leg while attacking me!!

[MissChick@dee]

I don’t believe in hurting a animal to correct bad behavior. Here’s a list of what I’ve tried before culling.
Picking him up and carrying him.
Holding his breast to the ground until he submitted.
Using a stick under his breast and stearing him away.
All these he learned how to attack me.
Couldn’t pick him up he’d go for my hands and face.
He’d submit on the ground and the second I let him up he’d go for my face, hands and legs.
The stick worked but that meant every time I went outside all I could ever do was walk a Roo on a stick!
Went through 3 Roosters.

When ever I wanted to enjoy myself or yard or the hens. I’d put him in this fire pit.

If they start mean...they stay mean!

 

[microchick]

Oh that is just too funny. You are a lot more patient than I am. I've had luck gentling cockerels using your technique. Usually the juveniles will test the waters by pecking. They are small enough that I can dangle them upside down for awhile with one hand and do coop work with the other then foot ball carry them until they get the message. Ones that don't break go to the neighbors and help feed their 12 kids.

 

[shannon84]

View attachment 1595662 I don’t believe in hurting a animal to correct bad behavior. Here’s a list of what I’ve tried before culling.
Picking him up and carrying him.
Holding his breast to the ground until he submitted.
Using a stick under his breast and stearing him away.
All these he learned how to attack me.
Couldn’t pick him up he’d go for my hands and face.
He’d submit on the ground and the second I let him up he’d go for my face, hands and legs.
The stick worked but that meant every time I went outside all I could ever do was walk a Roo on a stick!
Went threw 3 Roosters.

When ever I wanted to enjoy myself or yard or the hens. I’d put him in this fire pit.

If they start mean...they stay mean!

I actually have a fire pit just like that. He gets out of his pen maybe 3 or 4 times a week and I have to walk with a broom or something to keep him steered away he attacks it and that's how he got hurt this time, he landing wrong on his leg. He tries his best to manuver around the broom and he is fast he may get a quick peak in. These chickens are actually pets. I couldn't or wouldn't know how to cull a chicken if I needed too haha. But I will try these methods! Thank you so very much for the tips!!

 

[kissezmychicken]

Get a fishing net!! Only takes one time of scooping him up when he comes at you...after that one time, they won't come near you when he sees you with it. Works 100% of the time.
Promise.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Personally I cannot cull my own chickens. They are my beloveded pets. BUT being a realist I have a friend who can and does for me. He’s very skilled. And I knew getting into chickens there’d come a day ya know?
I’d much rather have someone eat them than abuse them.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

These chickens are actually pets.

No one I know will keep around a dangerous dog. To me size is irrelevant... whether it's a Silkie or Marans, a chihuahua or retriever... the behavior is equal and treated as such. Makes me crazy when people think smaller sized animals can't be taught manners or held accountable.

His true colors have shown... but you choose to take the abuse.

Someone could be blinded by his flogging or worse. Even if the blunting and tape stop penetration or broken skin... it still hurts to punched full force by a full size rooster.

Pet or not... attacking is not acceptable and it's effecting YOUR life. We (at least I) have pets to enhance our experience here not to make it scary or painful for us.

He is NOT a good protector of your flock or he wouldn't be attacking the giant that brings food everyday. He is a hormone enraged idiot with NO discernment. Any rooster requiring special attention to spurs due to attacking is WORTHLESS to me. But I completely understand not being able or wanting to cull your own chickens when that was never your intent. Even those of us who go in with eating being our intent STILL struggle with it, especially early on.

I'm sorry you face this. The writing is on the wall regarding his behavior in my experience. I hope you will set some limits for yourself as to just how much you are willing to tolerate. See if this link will help you. It hasn't worked for me with attacking bastards, but all animals are individuals. Post # 18 I think is the one that really gets at it...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/aggressive-rooster.1149551/

 

[shannon84]

No one I know will keep around a dangerous dog. To me size is irrelevant... whether it's a Silkie or Marans, a chihuahua or retriever... the behavior is equal and treated as such. Makes me crazy when people think smaller sized animals can't be taught manners or held accountable.

His true colors have shown... but you choose to take the abuse.

Someone could be blinded by his flogging or worse. Even if the blunting and tape stop penetration or broken skin... it still hurts to punched full force by a full size rooster.

Pet or not... attacking is not acceptable and it's effecting YOUR life. We (at least I) have pets to enhance our experience here not to make it scary or painful for us.

He is NOT a good protector of your flock or he wouldn't be attacking the giant that brings food everyday. He is a hormone enraged idiot with NO discernment. Any rooster requiring special attention to spurs due to attacking is WORTHLESS to me. But I completely understand not being able or wanting to cull your own chickens when that was never your intent. Even those of us who go in with eating being our intent STILL struggle with it, especially early on.

I'm sorry you face this. The writing is on the wall regarding his behavior in my experience. I hope you will set some limits for yourself as to just how much you are willing to tolerate. See if this link will help you. It hasn't worked for me with attacking bastards, but all animals are individuals. Post # 18 I think is the one that really gets at it...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/aggressive-rooster.1149551/

I totally agree, it's not acceptable behavior at all. He is mostly pinned up, if he is out I'm out with him the entire time, and armed. Oh I've definitely took more b.s from him than any normal humane would, I'm just really soft with animals. Yeah it hurts like hell to get hit by him even when I removed his spurs.... Thankfully my husband and I are the only ones that's around him. It sucks my very first rooster is mean and violent. Thank you so much for the link!!

 

[Rachel TW]

I think you're doing a great thing by not giving up on your rooster. It's easy to cull him and throw him in the stew pot. It takes patience and love to show him empathy and try to work with him. I suggest you take a look at this blog post on how to deal with aggressive roosters:
http://www.backyardchickentalk.com/rowdy-roosters-training-time-rehabbing-vinny/

In your case, the spray bottle method may be particularly helpful.

Actually, you will find numerous blog posts on that site that pertain to working with roosters and preventing or ending aggression. If you simply think in terms of a dominance hierarchy, one of you has to lose. The methods used on this website (which is created by a professor of Animal Behavior and poultry specialist, also runs a poultry sanctuary) instead take the view of how you can learn to show your rooster you are his partner, his friend, not his master or competitor. You'll also find blog posts dispelling the myth that if you are kind to a cockerel chick you will necessarily have problems later. So much good information here!

In response to one of your earlier posts, please do NOT EVER hold your rooster upside down! There are two reasons for this.
1) Chicken's don't have diaphragms - when you hold them upside down, their organs smush their lungs and they slowly suffocate. This means if you hold him upside down for too long, he will die from suffocation. If you don't do it too long, you are still torturing him.
2) You may put your rooster into a state of tonic immobility. This is what happens when the rooster stops struggling and doesn't move at all - it can last a few seconds or several minutes (even after you turn him right side up). There were many studies done in the 1970s and earlier to understand tonic immobility in chickens (many of them very inhumane) and it seems to be that chickens in this state are literally paralyzed by fear and they are in an extremely high stress state. Some chickens may actually die from this fear and others may experience long term emotional trauma. It is a common misconception of chicken keepers that hanging a chicken upside down to "calm" him, or even to kill him, is peaceful for the chicken because he is no longer struggling. It is the opposite. He is in a state of absolute fear and stress. .

Hope some of this is helpful.

 

[shannon84]

I think you're doing a great thing by not giving up on your rooster. It's easy to cull him and throw him in the stew pot. It takes patience and love to show him empathy and try to work with him. I suggest you take a look at this blog post on how to deal with aggressive roosters:
http://www.backyardchickentalk.com/rowdy-roosters-training-time-rehabbing-vinny/

In your case, the spray bottle method may be particularly helpful.

Actually, you will find numerous blog posts on that site that pertain to working with roosters and preventing or ending aggression. If you simply think in terms of a dominance hierarchy, one of you has to lose. The methods used on this website (which is created by a professor of Animal Behavior and poultry specialist, also runs a poultry sanctuary) instead take the view of how you can learn to show your rooster you are his partner, his friend, not his master or competitor. You'll also find blog posts dispelling the myth that if you are kind to a cockerel chick you will necessarily have problems later. So much good information here!

In response to one of your earlier posts, please do NOT EVER hold your rooster upside down! There are two reasons for this.
1) Chicken's don't have diaphragms - when you hold them upside down, their organs smush their lungs and they slowly suffocate. This means if you hold him upside down for too long, he will die from suffocation. If you don't do it too long, you are still torturing him.
2) You may put your rooster into a state of tonic immobility. This is what happens when the rooster stops struggling and doesn't move at all - it can last a few seconds or several minutes (even after you turn him right side up). There were many studies done in the 1970s and earlier to understand tonic immobility in chickens (many of them very inhumane) and it seems to be that chickens in this state are literally paralyzed by fear and they are in an extremely high stress state. Some chickens may actually die from this fear and others may experience long term emotional trauma. It is a common misconception of chicken keepers that hanging a chicken upside down to "calm" him, or even to kill him, is peaceful for the chicken because he is no longer struggling. It is the opposite. He is in a state of absolute fear and stress. .

Hope some of this is helpful.

Awe thank you so much, I really do adore that chicken, just not his attacking of course lol. Thank you for that helpful link I read up on it and I'm going to try these with my Franklin! Hopefully him and I can come to have a good relationship. He is my first chicken that I've ever owned. Oh and I absolutely will never hold him upside down. I'm so happy you sent me that link. Thank you for being helpful and replying to this thread....

 

[Rachel TW]

Yeah, I totally understand that you still adore him. I have a huge soft spot for roosters myself and when you try to see the world from their perspective, it's much easier to be motivated to work with them. I think I read in one of your posts that he was really sweet until you got him hens. This tells me that he just doesn't understand what your relationship with the hens is. He thinks you are his competitor rather than his helper. He is confused. It's just a matter of working with him and getting him to understand that you aren't competing for sexual access to his hens. Easier said than done of course.