This is what we have posted on our web site and what we live by around here.
Dealing With Aggressive Roosters
We are asked many times a month how to deal with aggressive roosters. There are a few different ways to deal with this situation. But first you have to understand why a rooster gets aggressive.
Roosters are aggressive for only one reason and that is dominance. It is part of the pecking order. Now a rooster can just be mean in which case it would be best to just relinquish him to the soup pot. But a rooster who is aggressive is "one who charges or attacks only certain people when they come near". A mean rooster will attack anyone and everyone.
Say that you can go out and feed and water the chickens and never have a bit of problem with a certain rooster. As soon as your husband or wife steps into the pen the rooster starts dancing and charging and maybe even going as far as to spur and flog this person. This is being aggressive. And a full size rooster with spurs can do some serious damage. What causes him to act this way and what can you do about it?
Every flock has a hierarchy with the rooster generally being at the top followed by the lead hen and so on down the line. In a flock with multiple roosters there is still a lead rooster. This is called the pecking order. Pecking orders have a tendency to be challenged about every three months or whenever a new bird, young or old, hen or rooster, is introduced into the flock. Pecking order is established by a series of small battles amongst the birds until one bird is dominant over the rest. And it is not always the largest bird that is at the top of the pecking order. In our free range flock, we currently have 5 large heavy breed roosters and 3 bantam roosters. It is one of our bantams that is the top of the pecking order. And if the little battles get out of hand then it is one of our heavy breed hens that steps in to break it up.
But back to the aggression issue. A hierarchy pecking order is what causes it, now what can be done to correct it? The easiest would be to just get rid of the rooster. But I know, he is your most prized breeding bird. You could butcher him, but again, he is your most prized bird. So that leaves correcting the problem. But how do you correct a flurry of feet and feathers coming at you? Boot him! The rooster is expressing his dominance over the human and will continue to do so until the human replaces him at the top of the pecking order. Many people, when faced with the thought of a rooster coming at them with malice intent, will pick up the nearest long object and swing at the rooster. This only reinforces the dominance aspect over the human because the rooster can sense and see fear from the human. The rooster may learn to respect the stick but not the person holding it.
Roosters fight with their feet and therefore so must the human. A rooster sees us as just an oversize strange looking bird. For the person who the rooster is attacking I say this "Stand Your Ground". That's right. Even if you have to put rolls of Charmin in your pants, you need to stand your ground. One day when you are feeling confident, get up the nerve to show this bird that he is not the boss of you. Be mentally prepared before you enter the pen. Be as calm as possible knowing that this bird is going to come at you but you are no longer going to put up with it. Walk into the pen and face the rooster. Let him do his dancing and such. Just don't turn your back on him. The rooster will generally come at you much slower if you are facing him verses having your back to him. Let him come to you. Do not provoke the attack. As he gets close to you give him a good boot. Make sure he is close enough and that you connect with him. He will get up and shake himself off and wonder what just hit him. He may come at you again and do the same thing, give him a boot. It will take him longer and longer to come towards you as it starts to set in that you are establishing your dominance over him.
Once he decides to back down, then leave him be. Back your way out of the pen, always looking directly at him. The next day do the same thing until he backs down. Some roosters learn much quicker than others. Once you have established the head of the pecking order then you should be able to enter the pen without him attacking you. He may look at you crosswise but that is ok as long as there is no aggression.
It is much easier to establish dominance when they are still young cockerels but not impossible when they are older. In some of the more typically aggressive breeds, this establishment of pecking order may have to be repeated every few months. If it seems that the rooster is just not getting it, then you may have to resort to one of the other plans. Out of all the roosters that we have had here on the farm, we have only ever had to get rid of one rooster. We have roosters that don't like to be handled, which is fine, but we also have big heavy breed roosters that love to be held and cuddled. I don't ever want to have to worry about my wife going into any of the pens because of a rooster.
I gave him a deep noise and a few stomps to let him know I am boss...and attempting to FEED them. Thought it was a one time thing and went out yesterday to
