Rooster Now Showing Aggression

[Chicken-newb]

Hello, I have a 6mo old barred rock rooster and 13 hens. I started with 17 and rehomed 3 roosters.

I didn't know to handle my chicks often so now they are not tame and often run away. When I need to check them for medical issues they make noises like I'm frightening them. This riles up my rooster but he has never done anything other than stand taller and flap his wings to show dominance. I usually just try to talk to him and he's fine. I have started giving them treats to make them more tame. The other day I was giving scrambled eggs in a container and my rooster bit my finger and cut it open (small cut but bled). I thought maybe he just missed the bowl. The next day I was handling the girls to put no Peck on many of their butts. They all got riled up so he started flapping and trying to tell me to bugger off.

Today I went to pick up an egg that was on the floor of the coop and he kept getting close. He normally leaves me alone so I got concerned. When I bent down to get the egg, I think he thought I had food but I didn't so he kind of jerked forward. I said, no, and then put my foot up just 8" or so. He started flapping and ran torward me. I put my leg up again slightly and he ran/jumped right into it. He did this three times! He also puffed his neck feathers which I haven't seen before.

*Wondering if I need to re-home him or take him to soup city. He has also recently pecked my two daughters toes (they did wear open toe shoes that I told them not to wear in the co-op).

 

[BigBlueHen53]

1. If you handle/ treat your chickens at night while they're on the roost, it will be a lot easier on them and you. If you can get a cheap little headlamp for $5 or so from Walmart (sport section) it will leave your hands free to handle them. Bonus points if you find one with a red light option, they don't see well in red light.

2. Children should not be around a rooster or cockerel of this age, they can get hurt, and you need to strictly enforce the shoes rule. No open toes around chickens, period.

3. Yes, it's time for the cockerel to go bye-bye. He thinks he rules you and it won't get better. Unless you plan to breed and hatch, you don't need him. And since you are new to chickens, you need a couple years of experience before you think about going there, in my opinion.

Also. If that cockerel hurts one of your children, it may put her against chickens for life, and will certainly dampen the joy of keeping chickens for you. Don't chance it. It's not worth it. Good luck.

 

[cavemanrich]

*Wondering if I need to re-home him or take him to soup city. He has also recently pecked my two daughters toes (they did wear open toe shoes that I told them not to wear in the co-op).

There is no need for a Jerk Rooster in a flock. There are too many kind roosters that need to find new homes.
I agree with BigBlueHen53 when roosters are around children.
Soup is a good option,, as well as Jerk Chicken

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[BigBlueHen53]

And it's not just children. A jerk cockerel or rooster can hurt an adult, too! (Ask me how I know, lol.) Him flaring his neck feathers at you is pretty serious. It's a precursor to a full-on attack. They have weapons: beak, wings, claws and spurs, and they can come at you like a whirlwind. I'm not trying to scare you, just to warn you.

 

[cavemanrich]

And it's not just children. A jerk cockerel or rooster can hurt an adult, too! (Ask me how I know, lol.) Him flaring his neck feathers at you is pretty serious. It's a precursor to a full-on attack. They have weapons: beak, wings, claws and spurs, and they can come at you like a whirlwind. I'm not trying to scare you, just to warn you.

Totally agree

 

[Altairsky]

When I need to check them for medical issues they make noises like I'm frightening them. This riles up my rooster

This is normal rooster behavior. If a rooster hears a chicken in distress, it's normal and very welcome behavior if he comes running to check what's going on. It means he's a good flock protector.
What is not normal is any kind of aggression. If the rooster attacks you when you handle his hens, then it's soup time.
Just make sure it's real aggression and not just him trying to sedate what he thinks it's a squabble between hens - where you are one of the hens -
If he attacks you out of nowhere for no apparent reason, then it's definitely soup time.

 

[Folly's place]

He'll make good soup!
And you are seeing a typical pattern, cockerels maturing into the human aggressive idiots that they want to be. Move him on to dinner before you are injured!
There are threads on this site about 'reforming' attack birds, and really nothing will make this bird safe.
Next spring get some straight run chicks and maybe you will get a 'keeper' out of that group. If you actually want to have a rooster; consider what your goals are for your flock.
Mary

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I didn't know to handle my chicks often so now they are not tame and often run away.

This doesn’t always work. My hens often become more tame once they start laying but I rarely handle them as chicks—especially once their feathers start coming in because it can actually be painful for them.

Cockerels raised by humans with pullets their own age can have a tendency to become human-aggressive in my experience. None of these things I mentioned are guaranteed of course.

If you do decide to get a rooster in future it is more likely you will get a good one by either adopting a full-grown rooster who is a known Good Boy or letting your older hens raise a rooster for you.

My previous cockerel was six weeks old when I got him. I put him in with several slightly older pullets and two older hens. He grew bigger than the pullets quickly and by the time he was six months old he had charged myself and my toddler. So he became soup. My current rooster is a known Good Boy from some friends who had too many.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you think of this behaviors as warning that the behavior will get worse, well that is what experienced chicken keepers do.

Newbies tend to make excuses for his behavior, generally thinking it is their fault, as in wrong shoes, wrong color, touching his hens.

I vote soup or planting him under a rose bush. Thing is a rotten rooster can ruin the whole chicken deal. You have a rotten one, and a lot of them are. You will be amazed how much more you will enjoy the flock when he is gone.

If your children are under 6 years old, do not let them in the coop, run or share a yard until he is gone. They can take an attack in the face.

Mrs k