Rooster suddenly showing aggression overnight!

[hurricanearran]

This morning when I went into the coop, I noticed one of my hens still up in the roost while the other were off running around outside. I checked her over and physically she seems okay but is clearly not well for whatever reason.

Then just after lunch, I went into the run to make sure everything was okay and out of nowhere my always docile and friendly Wyandotte rooster attacked me. He pecked my leg, drew blood and chased me out of the run with high aggression. We have absolutely no history of him being the lease bit defensive or aggressive. I was caught unawares!

This roo and the 6 hens are just a few weeks shy of a year old.

I don't know if there is a connection between why the hen is acting sickly and the sudden overnight aggression of the rooster. I literally live in the middle of no where where blacks bears, wolves, eagles, hawks and mink share our property so perhaps something happened yesterday that the rooster needed to defend and now his guard is up.

I've been reading about rooster aggression and how to deal with it but I'm more curious about is if anyone has thoughts on why this rooster would go from being a docile dude to a raging beast over night?!?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Hormones plain and simple. Mine usually always start at about a year old if they are going to be aggressive. You just need to show him whose boss. But be leary of visitors coming to your place as he will see them as a threat too. Will you be hatching any of your own eggs out? B/c I usually rotate roos every year, just for that reason.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You didn't have a rooster before. You had a cockerel. Now you see what he really is. Sorry.

 

[hennyannie]

My barred rock who was always calm did the same thing one day. I sent my daughter to get his feeder and he flipped when he saw her red rubber boots. Unfortunately he never calmed down and I had to sale him.

 

[Lisa202]

I so don't want this to happen to my roo...I mean cockerel. He's only 28 weeks old. Do you think it's inevitable that he will be aggressive when he becomes a "roo"? He's a bantam brahma, if that makes a difference.

 

[spiritdance]

No, it's not inevitable. Not all roosters are that way, and there are too many good roosters out there for me to tolerate one that is. They get two strikes around here. The third strike lands them in freezer camp. I have 3 RIR roos, several silkie roos (okay, so they really don't count!), several bantam cochin roos (and they DO count ... they're pit bulls with feathers qua the other roos), a Delaware, two EEs, and an assortment of mixed breeds. I can walk in the pen with any of them and not worry. That's not to say I didn't have to educate a few of them ... I did, by pinning their heads, flipping them upside down for a few, whatever it took ... but they know humans are NOT to be messed with. Unfortunately, not all roos take to "education," so sometimes you have to decide if the behavior is offset by other good attributes - good genetics, awesome hen defense, etc. - or if it's time to cull.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
Brahmas are very sweet natured birds, The roo I had was such a doll and would never hurt a fly.

OP he could very well have his guard up, I had a wyandotte rooster who flipped the switch on me at about 11 months old, he didnt get agro he was trying to mate

There are ways to try and tame him, when he gets angry like that pick him up and hold him tight for about 10 minutes every time. Doesn't hurt to try anyway especially if you really like to have him around.

 

[hurricanearran]

I've just come home to find the sickly hen, dead

Will have to check her out and see if she has some kind of injury but the roo ( I mean cockerel ) won't let me in.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I hope it works out for you. I have zero tolerance for ugly roos. None. That's just me. With so many great roosters it is a pity to have to deal with a bad one, and even worse, these guys often get to pass on their personality through breeding.

Again, I hope it works out for you.

 

[Mofarmgirl]

Quote:
LoL..so true about bantam roo's usually. All my roo's are currently very gentle(1-3+ yr.s old) except the Mottled Houdan..gotta watch him.