Rooster Showing Dominance Toward People

[Rose66]

We have a black white crested Polish rooster who will be 11 months old May 3rd. He has been our pet for the most part because the hens pecked his head bald and we've had to keep him separated trying to get his crest to grown back in. Before we separated him from his hens there were two times he bowed up at me while I was in the pen feeding. He was about 8 months old. Both times I immediately chased him several times around the pen yelling and then caught him and walked around holding him for a few minutes in front of his hens. The dominance behavior did not happen again in that pen. Shortly after that we noticed the hens were pecking his crest bald again so we put him in a smaller separate pen until his crest could grow back out. He's been in the smaller pen by himself for coming up on two months. The last few days, he has started bowing up at both me and my husband. We react by catching him and holding him but it has escalated and he's now jumping up trying to spur us and peck us when we put our hand in his cage or if we've taken him out of his cage and let him walk around on top of it, he will jump at us and try to spur and peck us. Once you catch him, he is fine, no pecking or any bad behavior.

We like this rooster as a pet and want to keep him if we can get him out of this attitude. Otherwise he'll make chicken and dumplings for us. Does anyone have any suggestions on this? Is perhaps this just a hormone phase he's going through and maybe he'll grow out of it or do roosters not go through a rebellious teen type phase? Are we reacting correctly when he tries to spur/peck us by catching him and walking around with him for a few minutes or just holding him down with our hand for a few seconds? Any suggestions, advice, or thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Rose
*****

 

[gboysmom]

Our Auracana (sp) rooster is aweful! He will chase any male that walks into the backyard. He doesn't go after me much, but he'll get the dogs. The only thing that comes to mind for mine is elimination! Hope you find some answers!

 

[duckinnut]

I have a ten White Rock that likes to square off with me every now and then, more during spring. So to show him that I am the boss I do a couple of things. Catch him and hold him upside down by his feet and then put him on the ground and place my foot gently on his back and hold him down to show dominance then pick him up and carry him around for a bit. He will show less aggressive behavior for a while to where you can actually pet him. With all this EVERY rooster has their own personality so what works for one might not the other. If all else fails, chicken,sausage and kale soup with a warm piece of cornbread sounds mighty tasty.

 

[RedDrgn]

Stop acting like a chicken and he'll probably stop treating you like one.

Seriously, if he's jumping you, then he either thinks that you're a threat or a rival. Pay close attention to how you present yourself around him and start working on just being his keeper. So avoid doing things like standing/leaning directly over him, moving very quickly, or randomly grabbing for anyone (at least until you've convinced him you're not worth attacking). Until he settles some, always approach with treats and offer the treats out of your hand to him first thing every time. Associate yourself with being the mobile feed dispenser and he'll have no reason to go after you.

If you make all of this routine, he should settle with you quite a bit within a week or so (though it could take longer). At that point, start randomly picking him up (don't chase him down to do it, just pick him up if he's within reach). Give him a good head scratch and then put him down. Pick the hens up, too, but never push them to the ground and pet their backs in front of him (it'll look like your breeding them and then you're back to presenting yourself like a chicken).

All of that's worked wonders on our roo. The only time he runs at my DH and I is when he wants treats. We don't even get a ruffled feather or a wayward look from him any more. It also took longer for my DH to make peace with him, because he always wanted to bend at the waist and lean over him to reach down at him...and kept getting pet/attacked for it. Once I convinced him to stop "lording over him" and squat down in front of him before reaching/handling/etc., their relationship significantly improved and is now everyone's all good.

Also, since yours is a polish, you may need/want to trim any feathers obstructing his vision. It'll help avoid possibly spooking him or him not being able to tell what, exactly, he's dealing with.

Not all roos can be tamed down (in which case it's dinner time), but most can if you're patient and persistent.

 

[Kaitie09]

I had my rooster jump and spur me once while I was holding a broody hen. I was trying not to get cut and somehow pushed/threw him across the coop and he hit the far wall (pretty hard too). He has never gone after me since. Evey once in a while out in the run I will walk him backwards if he stares at me a little too long. I'll just stand up and start walking towards him. He'll either walk backwards, or just get away from me.