rooster

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks Lady's! That helped a lot I got him the beging of feburary so he's 8 months old won't he be to tough to eat?

simmer him, or crock pot.

 

[DanEP]

Nice crock pot chicken soup will be fine

 

[roostersandhens]

Where do you live? Please don't murder them! What if it were you? Try putting yourself in the place of them. See yourself in them, then what harm can you do? Why not chose love instead of hate? If you tell me what town you live in I can try to find them a loving home.
- Zoe from Happy Hen Chicken Rescue
www.chickenrescue.org

(Feel free to email me, [email protected])

 

[junebuggena]

Where do you live? Please don't murder them! What if it were you? Try putting yourself in the place of them. See yourself in them, then what harm can you do? Why not chose love instead of hate? If you tell me what town you live in I can try to find them a loving home.
- Zoe from Happy Hen Chicken Rescue
www.chickenrescue.org

(Feel free to email me, [email protected])

When a bird is so full of raging hormones, that he sees absolutely everything, and everyone as a threat to 'his' flock, it's not a healthy situation for anyone. The owner needs to be able to care for the flock, and should be able to do so without getting attacked. An animal that aggressive is acting out of terror and panic. Imagine having to live every moment of your life in complete terror of your flock disappearing. Imagine living a life so full of stress, being on constant alert for the next threat, to the point that even the person that brings the food and water is considered a danger. It's not a healthy way to live, and there isn't really a safe alternative. Caponizing is a very risky procedure. And I could not, in good conscience, pass a rooster like that on to someone else. It's just too much of a liability. And it's not fair to force those roosters to exist in such a state of mind. At least they can serve a purpose and be useful, by becoming a meal.

 

[roostersandhens]

When a bird is so full of raging hormones, that he sees absolutely everything, and everyone as a threat to 'his' flock, it's not a healthy situation for anyone. The owner needs to be able to care for the flock, and should be able to do so without getting attacked. An animal that aggressive is acting out of terror and panic. Imagine having to live every moment of your life in complete terror of your flock disappearing. Imagine living a life so full of stress, being on constant alert for the next threat, to the point that even the person that brings the food and water is considered a danger. It's not a healthy way to live, and there isn't really a safe alternative. Caponizing is a very risky procedure. And I could not, in good conscience, pass a rooster like that on to someone else. It's just too much of a liability. And it's not fair to force those roosters to exist in such a state of mind. At least they can serve a purpose and be useful, by becoming a meal.

I strongly disagree. I think aggressive roosters are happy.And why does he need to serve a purpose? That's sure speciesist. What if my mom decided to cook me because I wasn't serving her? It's no different then cooking a rooster. We should all act on love, not hate. Be peaceful, not violent. Compassion is key.

 

[izziebean]

My favorite rooster has been jumping on my legs when I turn my back. All of the attacks happened when I was bringing food out to the flock and my back was to him. Now, he's waiting on me to walk away. Today, I had my shorts on and got some nasty scratches/bruises where he landed. I brought him in and gave him a good talking to. He sat in the bad rooster cage for a few hours. Once dusk hit, my favorite hen was nowhere to be found. I ran in the garage and got out Don King (yes.. that's his name. yes he is a white crested blue polish and kind of looks like Don). He ran outside and immediately found Happy. She had wandered outside the wooden fence and was hiding behind the trash cans with a neighbor's cat a few feet away. He quickly herded her back inside the garage and came back out to herd my two mottled houdan hens into the garage. He leads those three things around all day.

I know it's weird.. I should be mad at him. I am mad.. but I trust him with my hens. They are my little buddies that keep me company outside. I feel like they can free range in the afternoon only because he is there. He's skittish. He's polish. He's beautiful. He's a handful. He will give his life to protect my hens. At night, I have to chase him into a corner to pick him up. Once held, he is very kind. He melts in my arms. We sit on the swing and just.. exist. It's my place of calm.

Out of 24 chicks I bought in the spring, 20 of them were roosters. I've re-homed most of them. I had some mean roosters. They would just go up and grab the neck of any bird next to them and try to pull the head off. I had others that would peck ME... try to pull skin off of my hand. That I wouldn't take. The jumping on my legs.. I think it's his way of trying to put me lower in the pecking order... that's why it usually happens when I have the food in my hand. Another poster said to not let the rooster eat first when I bring food out to force him lower into the food chain. I can tell you when I shoo him away and let the others eat first, he gives me a stern look. So there is some psychology to that. Like training a dog to behave, I am working with my rooster because I really want to keep him.... but he has never pecked me. Not once. Just the run and jump on the back of my legs. With jeans.. it's just more of an annoyance.

BTW when he got my legs today, I was trying to put an apron on my hen who has lost feathers on her back. She squawked and he didn't like it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Don't ever let him come forward for food, and never give him your back, he should give you his, one of the roosters job is to round up stragglers at night.

Being he's a polish rooster I would try the squirt bottle on him, he would be a good candidate because of his limited eyesight. Just squirt him whenever he comes forward or won't back down during a face to face, make sure to get him again as he's retreating just like a dominant rooster would do.

 

[Folly's place]

He'll be really good soup or in the crockpot. With children involved, it's not worth the risk to them. Faces and eyes can be severely damaged in seconds! Mary

 

[izziebean]

Yea, he's just started doing the 'round up' at dark thing. I find it fascinating. The hens are a bit fussy, but he has several tactics to keep them moving in the right direction.

I'll try the squirt bottle and see how he does. I do back down when he turns around, but you are probably right.. that is when to keep going a bit. I do randomly poke his side sternly (but barely touching him) as if I'm pecking him like the alpha roo would do. Thinking about it though, he backs up from me when I point at him, but I don't remember the last time he turned his back unless I was going to pick him up. He can't stand for me to pick him up unless his head is hidden. He doesn't mind the touch, but his anxiety level goes up sooooooooooooo high when he knows I'm going to pick him up. You can see the panic on his face. On facebook, I noticed a polish show bird who had painters tape around the top crest that they usually keep unless they are showing him. Perhaps that might help with his being so skittish. I will keep working with him.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My head roosters would get pretty agitated when some of the younger hens wouldn't go in at at bed time, he would come charging out and chase those screaming girls into the shed. Roosters really can add a lot to a flock.