rooster rant

[sugarjax06]

I'm tired of watching my back every time I go to hang out with the chickens! Yeah you are a big beautiful protective rooster - I get it but I am not the one to fight here LOL What am I going to do when this guy has real spurs going on? Our second roo just flew at my head when I bent down but I did have feed in my hand so I'll pretend it was just a fluke for now.

Anyways, I just wanted to vent about this for a second. I know I can scoop them up and try to show them I am alpha roo but I just wish I didn't have to watch myself and prepare to constantly grab them!

 

[sourland]

Nip this behavior in the bud or it will become worse. If you are unable to convince them that you are dominant, eat or rehome them before they do serious damage. Spurs and toenails can serious damage with resultant infections.

 

[Baymule]

Eat them.

 

[silkiechicken]

There are to many good roos in the world to put up with a bad one if his only reason for existing is to be a rooster. Eat him and get a new one.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:

ETA: Where are you located? I have a bunch of nice ones slated for freezer camp just because there are too many of them. One is a super sweet EExBO that I'm probably going to keep just because he's such a doll to the girls and not at all aggresive to humans, but I don't really need/want the third roo so if you're close and interested.....

 

[sugarjax06]

We ended up with 7 roosters and ONE hen so we gave away 3 roos, kept 2 and butchered 2. The butchering just wasn't worth it to us - our chickens were tiny and tough....maybe we messed up the butchering LOL

I usually just keep my eye on him and walk further away from him then I would the others but I would love to just walk out there and not have to feel like I'm being preyed upon! He has never actually hurt me, mainly just threw dirt onto my feet but I know it can get worse. Would you suggest that I start picking him up daily for a while as in me initiating? Or am I supposed to wait until he shows aggression to grab him up?

Kittymomma - I'm in CA, dang it!

Thank you all for responding!

 

[silkiechicken]

I think user rooster-red has a tutorial on rooster calming. I would handle him all the time if I was going to try and reform the guy. If you do eat him, if he is under 6 months old or so, you can butcher and be sure to age for a few days before cooking. They will be tougher than store birds, but store birds are like tofu to me at least.

If roo is olde rthan 6 months, slow cooking methods after aging would be best.

 

[BarkerChickens]

I can sympathize! We had a bad roo like that that would go after DH EVERY time he went outside! Once he tried to go after a neighbor's kid...he was in the freezer within a f w days. Beautiful roo and nice to me, but pushed his luck a few too many times. We had a 2nd roo at the time...exact opposite. Great roo, everything you would want except we were concerned about his love of crowing at 3 am (DH is a light sleeper and we really didn't need a roo...we just wanted one).

Also,

I live in Hesperia..not far from ya!

 

[cfdf]

I hear your pain! My little cochin roo got me in the back of the leg this evening. This was a first. My knee jerk reaction sent him flying across the coop. He is fine but it was a real shock for me. I won't turn my back to him again.

He is usually in the bachelor pad but we are expecting a lot of rain from the hurricane so I put him in the big coop. Good luck with your roo!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Only once did one of my roos get cockey with me. I convinced him not to mess with me. But my roos can't be trusted with small children. I wouldn't allow small children to go in my coop alone anyway though. But the day I can't control the situation in my coop, I will plan for my roos replacement.
I do need a roo. I don't just eat and sell eggs. I also sell chicks and raise my own meat chickens, so I need fertile eggs, but when Ballboa and Marcianni get too much for me to handle, they might be allowed just enough time to fertilize the eggs I need to fill my incubator......maybe give them 3 more weeks to insure I have a good hatch and then I guarantee they will be prepared for a nice gumbo.
If for some reason I need to keep them before I'm ready to incubate, they will go to jail until I'm ready for them to preform their job duties. The day may be coming. Sometimes I think one of them might jump me. They, for the most part, accept me and my 20 year old son.....he is a big boy.
Do what you have to do. You probably did fine with your slaughter job. Just needed to keep the birds in the fridge a few days to loosen up. An old bird will be tough, but there are things you can do about that.
Plenty of time in elementary school to be scared of the bullies, without having to worry about one in your coop. I'd tend to it.