Roosters and the color red?

[ReneeW90]

My RIR rooster has always been very friendly to my mom and I. He has on a few occasions kicked my dad. Tonight I was feeding them when all of a sudden my rooster jumped up and gave my a strong kick. I then noticed I was wearing different shoes than usual that have dark pink stripes. He then tried to chase me but I stood up to him. I then kneeled down next to him and he was fine. It was only when he saw my shoes. I definitely think there's a correlation between color and behavior. He's never done this before and we've had him almost three years.

 

[Pinkaboo]

I'm hoping I don't get scary roosters!
I'm trying to socialise my chicks with kisses and cuddles
But I guess all that will go out the window when
He's protecting his hens

What is RIR? I keep seeing it in posts

 

[ReneeW90]

RIR stands for the breed of chicken, Rhode Island Red.

 

[jmfleish]

We have a special Serama hen who lives indoors with us and we also have a number of parrots. She is fine with all of our parrots except our Rose Breasted Cockatoos who she seems to absolute hate and will go after. We've had a number of near in-air collisions between chicken and parrot because she likes to go after them so much. We assumed for quite a while that she was just jealous of them because they like attention from us and she does too (she's quite attached to us) but we started to realize that she doesn't do it with our greys or our Amazons. My SO suggested yesterday that he thinks it's the color of the Cockatoos, the pink in them which is close to red. I didn't even think about it but maybe he's right. It's very, very strange, but perhaps he's got something there!

 

[OurFurryFriends]

I had a chicken peck me really hard on my leg today and I was wearing a red nightshirt that came down to my calves. She got me through the night shirt but was so hard that it really hurt. Never done that before.

What's the best way to handle that separate from the issue of the color red - I just scolded her. Is that enough?

 

[Folly's place]

I would have chased her a while instead, while saying bad things in a snarly voice. Has she gone after you at all before? How old is she? You may have to reform her attitude; make her move away from you every day; walk 'through' her as you would with a rooster. Take a squirt gun or some weapon if needed. I don't make excuses for colors or clothes worn at the coop; It's still a human regardless, not to be attacked in any way. Mary

 

[OurFurryFriends]

Thank you so much Mary. I went in today and worked in the same way I might have with a horse or dog who was being rude in my space. I did have my red night shirt on again. And I watched each chicken as she came towards my feet or ankles and if it looked like they were going to peck at all on me I shooed them away and slowly they stopped doing that. If one was standing near me and minding their own business and not coming at me I left them alone and nobody bit me. I also picked her up at one point and just held on to her for a little while. So I read somebody else's post and decided that if I was being treated badly that I would stand my ground even though I want them to start being comfortable around me. I think this is working - thanks.

 

[sobepidge]

I have never warn the color red around my chickens. Today my brother came over to see "Big Red". My rooster has never even met my brother. He was wearing red shorts, and Big Red attacked his shorts. Big Red is very sweet, and has never shown aggression to anyone! I googled, "Roosters, and the color red", and saw your post. I'm sure there is some kind of connection with the color red. He's NEVER acted like this, and anyone can walk up to him, pet him, and pick him up. It was quite amusing. lol

 

[eandsm]

I realize this is an old post, but it helped confirm my suspicions. My BO rooster is usually pretty gentle (sometimes he'll allow me to pet him, but my husband picks him up). The last few days he's showed signs of aggression towards me. The first time it happened, I was wearing a new shirt that had red. Usually, since it's been winter and they're just 8 months old, I wear a gray "chicken" jacket, but now it's too warm. Today, I had sweat capris on, along with pink/reddish socks while wearing my Crocs. When I went into the pen the first time earlier, he immediately pecked at my socks. I thought it was odd, but didn't think too much about it. When I let them out later on, he followed me around more than usual. When I was putting them back into the pen while holding the scratch bucket, he lunged toward me two or three times. I yelled at him sternly, and my husband, who was watching from the window, immediately saw what was happening and came outside. I told him I wondered if it was the red, or possibly because of my change of "uniform." lol I'll see how he acts tomorrow while I'm NOT wearing red to see if he acts any differently.

 

[ronnijean]

Just adding my experience to this post. We have an EE roo that we adopted from the shelter. He was sweet at first, but then I ordered some bright red rain boots for me and my kids to wear s our "coop boots" and our rooster seems to attack us more often, especially my younger son who is afraid of our roo now (whereas I stand up to him). I wondered if the bright red boots could have anything to do with it. When I've worn other shoes, our rooster isn't as aggressive. So I'm going to order new shoes in different colors I guess. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who this has happened to though!