Roosters and young children

[dogkahuna]

I'm by no means an expert as I've only had chickens for 2 years and maybe I've just gotten lucky. Over those 2 years I've had 2 full grown roosters (gifted from the neighbors) and multiple cockerels, most of which have been culled for meat. Currently we have one 10 month old cockerel and 19 hens/pullets. My flock is free range and so are my 5 kids...the youngest is now 2 1/2 and the oldest is 9. We have had exactly 0 incidences. The kids regularly scoop up the hens and pullets and carry them around, collect eggs, feed treats and scratch and are always playing as the flock ranges in the same area. Our roosters and cockerals are generally unhandled, but are docile and have friendly demeanors when close. The kids know not to full on chase the roosters, but they are often running near them or through the rest of the flock, yet the roosters never seem to be phased by these actions. I can only assume that by being confident and not handling them, that they respect myself and my kids and don't perceive any of us as a threat. Again, maybe we've just been lucky, but I've not once seen concerning behavior around my kids, so I feel like coexistence is definitely possible.

Check out post #2 of this thread...you are playing with fire. This site is replete with accounts of what hormone-driven roosters are capable of doing, so if you think all chickens are cuddly, benign creatures, do some on-site research. I USED to have similar beliefs about how if you just use positive reinforcement strategies (I'm a professional dog trainer), all will work out with roosters. I have been soundly disabused of this notion, by reading the accounts of more experienced flocksters and then by what has happened at our place.

 

[BlueShadow]

Check out post #2 of this thread...you are playing with fire. This site is replete with accounts of what hormone-driven roosters are capable of doing, so if you think all chickens are cuddly, benign creatures, do some on-site research. I USED to have similar beliefs about how if you just use positive reinforcement strategies (I'm a professional dog trainer), all will work out with roosters. I have been soundly disabused of this notion, by reading the accounts of more experienced flocksters and then by what has happened at our place.

Fortunately, I am able to easily keep the roosters and kids separate. If I can keep the roosters and feel like my kids are reasonably safe with them (kids are only allowed in the coop if I am with them) then I would prefer to do that. If either rooster decides to show aggression again, to anyone, then they will have a date with the soup pot. This afternoon, I was more assertive with them (didn't attack them, just walked around like I was boss) and they kept their distance and were respectful. I hope that continues.

 

[BlueShadow]

You state he doesn't get out of your way when you move through the coop. that's the cardinal rule here---the lesser always give way to the dominant. I'm the dominant, I'm the human. Every animal on this place moves a step or two out of the way when i walk toward them.

The rooster had a bad morning this morning. As soon as I saw what he did, I scooped him up and tossed him out of the coop. He landed on his feet and sat down right where he was and stayed there while I checked my daughter and made sure she was okay (fine, completely untouched, just scared). After that I clipped his wings so I could identify him (not a very aggressive clipping since it was just for identification purposes) and tossed him back in the coop. I wasn't mean in my handling of him, he didn't get bumps or bruises, but neither was I gentle. I was mad and I meant business.

All other times I was in the coop today, he AVOIDED me. I couldn't get him to go outside because the guineas had flown into the chicken yard and they terrorize my chickens

but he put himself in the farthest corner of the coop and stayed there. The second rooster decided he didn't need to make way for me but changed his mind when I continued assertively in that direction and almost stepped on him. After that, both roosters kept out of my way and I was happy. I was particularly glad that I didn't have to do anything too aggressive - I want the animals to behave respectfully but I don't want to hurt them to get that. I will keep a watchful eye and see how it goes.

 

[Lizardlicks]

That's pretty much the exact opposite of everything I've read about handling and taming roosters. Picking them up and holding them off the ground shows them you're bigger, stronger, unafraid to be in their space, and not intimidated by them. 90% of dominance is convincing the other guy you're better than him before a fight even happens. I should clarify, the only peck he's ever given my kid was also the only peck he's ever given anyone, and was not accompanied by any other aggressive behavior or dominance displays. The kid got into his space and made him uncomfortable, so told him to back off in the only language a chicken has. I showed him that that behavior would NOT be rewarded by what he wanted (being left alone) and that his only other option is leaving the area, which he has done so from then on. Zeb was also raised as more of a pet; we got him from the pet section of the feed store where they keep the mutt puppies and kittens, and he was much smaller than our girls as he was about 2.5 weeks younger than them at the time. They pecked him constantly until he really grew his wattles out, so he'd run to us for protection the poor thing. I think getting bossed around a bit was good for him in the long run though, he is gentle and respectful of people, the dog, the kids, and his ladies. Though I would not trust any other rooster to be so, he's been consistently deferential in his behavior the whole time we've had him.

 

[Beekissed]

I've been around chickens and roosters all my life...Grandma had free range birds with roosters and about a thousand grandkids running around, from toddlers to teens all those years and no one got flogged. Then we had the same at our place(I'm the youngest of nine and many grandkids followed)...roosters in every flock, never even threatened to flog. Then my own kids were raised around chickens with roosters and never once were bothered by a rooster.

Now I am raising my own 2 yr old granddaughter around my rooster and no behaviors noted...she comes in the coop with me, collects eggs, walks through the free range flock without incident, squats up by the coop and shovels in the dirt for hours...nothing. When she is in there messing around while the flock is eating, I watch my good and docile rooster....I watch him for any overt attention towards her and then I step towards him if I see him even stare at her for half a second. He immediately goes back to the business of eating....he's been given the warning. Any rooster can break bad at any given time and who knows the reason...keep your eye on them when you have the little ones around, but don't do it in a fearful way, do it with a "I'm in charge here and she is mine...just so you know" attitude. If you raise them right, that rooster knows you as well as you know him and he isn't about to cross the line.

It can be done, it's been done since time began. Farm kids have always been told "watch out for the rooster"~the same way they are told to watch out for that bull, that billy goat, that dog, that hog, that old sow, etc.~, so are usually wary and give the rooster a wide berth~ or they don't and are confident enough to give the rooster a sense that they are not to be messed with. Either way, it's usually the city kids that come out to the farm that wind up getting flogged or chased by the rooster.

It's all about attitude and I'm not talking about the rooster's. Farm folk generally don't care if the chickens are scared of them, so they don't pussy foot around the flock and especially around the rooster. Roosters are 2 ft. tall if they are lucky and that makes them the bottom of the food chain...you walk through them, not around them, you push them out of the way when they are underfoot, you move them around as you see fit and you don't worry about if they won't be your friend in all of that. Any rooster that dares to flog a human should be given a lesson he never forgets...ever. If you do it right, he will never forget the day he thought he should do that and he will fear any and all humans...and rightly so...he's food and we like the taste of chicken.

I'd take that little girl in one hand, a limber rod in the other and I'd move that rooster where you want him to go, tap him on the head, the back and the bottom until he's running to get away from you both. I'd lie in wait for him and smack him when he least expects it, just enough to make him hop and run in terror. Do it and have fun with it. Don't wait until he's attacking and then go on the defensive...that is playing the game like a subordinate in his world. Go on the offensive and act like he would...no flapping of your arms or shouting needed...he'll get the picture real quick and in a hurry that you are bigger, smarter and faster. It's even more terrifying if you are quiet about it...just go about it like you would any other job, with purpose and a reason. Your goal is to make the rooster more scared and wary of you and yours than you are of him and his.

Roosters are not your friends, not your buddies, not your pet...they are just chickens with a job and they can get confused as to what the job entails. Help them understand it...and good...he will be looking over his shoulder for the humans and will keep a wide berth between himself and any human that arrives in the vicinity, be they tall or short. If you care about him, help him learn the rules of the farmyard.

 

[donrae]

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All other times I was in the coop today, he AVOIDED me. I couldn't get him to go outside because the guineas had flown into the chicken yard and they terrorize my chickens

but he put himself in the farthest corner of the coop and stayed there. The second rooster decided he didn't need to make way for me but changed his mind when I continued assertively in that direction and almost stepped on him. After that, both roosters kept out of my way and I was happy. I was particularly glad that I didn't have to do anything too aggressive - I want the animals to behave respectfully but I don't want to hurt them to get that. I will keep a watchful eye and see how it goes.

If you hurt an animal, they're going to be afraid of you, not respectful of you. Folks often confuse the two. My animals respect me, and I never had to hurt them. Not into causing pain, really....not my thing.

Will I swat/boot/etc an animal that isn't responding? You bet. Does that hurt them? Nope.

 

[Beekissed]

Exactly. A thin, limber rod cannot hurt a fluffy, feather covered rooster unless someone is really going to town like they are chopping wood on him. Taps and swats just startle the bird but doesn't cause anything painful or harmful to him. It's sort of the same methods they use upon each other to settle the pecking order....never any blood drawn but when that hen pecks another, the other jumps, squawks and MOVES away in a hurry.

 

[TeeMom]

Check out post #2 of this thread...you are playing with fire.  This site is replete with accounts of what hormone-driven roosters are capable of doing, so if you think all chickens are cuddly, benign creatures, do some on-site research.  I USED to have similar beliefs about how if you just use positive reinforcement strategies (I'm a professional dog trainer), all will work out with roosters.  I have been soundly disabused of this notion, by reading the accounts of more experienced flocksters and then by what has happened at our place. 

I did read #2 and I have also read countless accounts of problems. Though I have only had chickens for a couple of years, I was a vet tech for 10 years before I earned the title "mom", so I do understand animal behavior. As @Beekissed posted, we treat our roosters exactly in that manner. I watch their interactions closely, but I have yet to see even an inkling of dominant behavior from a rooster on my property. The kids move through the flock confidently and roosters and hens yield to their movements every time. Perhaps I am playing with fire, as you say, but raising chickens is nothing new nor is raising a family among them. I will be the first to admit it if we do face a run a in, but I do believe a peaceful coexistence is possible.

 

[BlueShadow]

If you hurt an animal, they're going to be afraid of you, not respectful of you. Folks often confuse the two. My animals respect me, and I never had to hurt them. Not into causing pain, really....not my thing.

Will I swat/boot/etc an animal that isn't responding? You bet. Does that hurt them? Nope.

Thanks for the clarification. I read several different threads on BYC about rooster aggression and some people make it sound like they wage an all-out war for dominance over the rooster. I guess my comment had those posts in mind.

My thought is also that I do have little kids. If all that is required for the rooster to behave is acting assertive, then he probably genuinely isn't an aggressive rooster, but rather was confused about who is in charge. If any more force is required, then that is just too much "asking for trouble" and I don't want to keep him around.

 

[centrarchid]

There is more to this than hierarchy. The human perception of hierarchy later is where the response goes down the wrong path. Neither I, nor my kids, dominate the roosters. We operate outside their pecking order. Emphasis now is for kids to move about deliberately without responding to roosters. We are lawn mowers as far as most of the chickens are concerned. Breed is important with this arrangement. Some of the games do have rolls difficult to parse from being outright pets and I use them for work around kids. Those work birds are expected to work close quarters with kids not familiar with animals in a positive manner. Considerable effort is invested in those events where kids are managed more than the chickens / roosters.