Rooster's behavior? What should I do?

[bloom chicks]

I have 2 roosters and my BR Rooster was running up behind me so I turned around and squatted down and put my hand out for him to rub his chest. When I put my hand out he pecked my hand so I pecked him back with my hand he continued to do so a couple of times but harder and then bit me. So I stood up to show him that I am alpha, well my alpha rooster showed and started chasing him. What should I do about the rooster trying to challenge me?

I want to keep him but I don't want a mean rooster.

 

[Beekissed]

It's really easy to discourage this behavior. Your roo needs to stay out of your personal space and you need to see that he does. There are folks who will tell you to pick him up and carry him around, put your hand on his back and hold him to the ground, etc. I've never used those methods...some say they work, some claim they tried them with no success.

I can only tell you the method that I use and it works with 100% efficacy. You must confidently approach the bird when you enter your yard or pen and crowd his space until he moves away. When he starts to move away, relent. Try it again. Does he move away? If not, you need to force him to move away by startling him...either approach him quickly, smack a stick into the ground near him making a big noise, wait for him to relax and forget you are there and then jump towards him suddenly, etc. Anything that makes him think you are unpredictable and maybe dangerous to him. Keep him moving away from you.

If he does move away consistently, I doubt he will try this again. If he doesn't always move away from you, the above tactics will reinforce his desire to do so. All of this only takes a few minutes out of one day....I've never had a roo that I raised that would approach me aggressively. I start them out as youngsters with this method and it never really gets to the dancing, pecking, biting, flogging stage for me.

It's time to stop petting the roo and start establishing a mutual respect and distance.

 

[bloom chicks]

Thank you for your advice! If I do that will it make him mean with other people? They are free range chickens.

 

[aoxa]

Never let your rooster be any less than afraid of you. If they are NOT afraid, they will become aggressive.

I don't coddle my boys. This is counter-productive. You should only pet your girls. If you get a hold of him, only pet him while you are holding him. He should never like to be picked up. He should tolerate it if you have him in your arms though.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I believe you can be kind to the rooster by giving him his space and he will return the kindness to you by not attacking you.

First, what are you keeping the rooster for - because that will help determine how you should treat it's behavior. If he's there to protect the free ranging flock and provide future generations of chicks - treat him with respect and give him his distance - he may be a pet but to him he's king of his castle and you were invading his kingdom. But if he's there to be a show rooster - you will need to handle him often so that he does get used to you handling him. Of course still treat him with respect. I don't have experience with show roosters - maybe someone else can give you advice in that arena.

This is what I tell my 10 yr old son to do - first don't tease or run around the rooster - he's still an animal that is somewhat unpredictable. However, if the rooster chases him - stop turn around and take control of the situation. Do not get down to his level - stay large. If he keeps coming at you - you will probably have to kick him to get him to back off. He needs to understand you are not there to get mated with or to kill him. Once he backs off - you can occassionally do what Beekissed suggests to keep the rooster on his toes & in his place. My Foghorn will now let me touch the side of him as he eats mealyworms on the ground -but only briefly. I still have to treat him at night in the coop if he needs medical attention.

Of course I'm not wanting to hold my rooster - just have him coexist with my flock and watch over them.

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
Good advice

I've been to shows where on the game roosters cage it read - I bite.

You should not breed an aggressive roo. You do not want to pass the trait on to his young.

http://shilala.homestead.com/roosters.html
Best link for taming your rooster. I do this for my two guys. They don't come close to me. If they look at me the wrong way I will stomp towards them and send them running. I have too many neighbourhood kids coming around to play with the hens. I really don't want to have to deal with an aggressive rooster.

I know it's blurry, but here is my very sweet silkie rooster allowing a neighbourhood child play with his hens. She wanted to put them in groups for breeds. Kids are weird LOL. I don't have kids of my own, but I enjoy the company. The kids help me with chores! It's wonderful! We have a group of 5 that come daily in nice weather. This makes my girls used to being handled.

 

[bloom chicks]

I keep them to protect the flock and I would like to have chicks. I have 2 roosters. I don't try to pick them up. I do understand that they are there to protect my girls. The reason I turned around was because I could hear him running behind me, I was on my way in the house when he did it. I do stand my ground with them. I don't hit them or kick them.

Thank you so much for all the imput.

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
You should never hit or kick them. You should chase them though

I have pinned my silkie who was aggressively trying to mate everyone in site in my presence. I pinged him on the back of his head and held him down for 10 seconds. After I released him, he stopped the bad behaviour.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
There's no one way to do this & I'm not gonna say how I would do it. But I will say that be sure you keep your eye on him. Alot of times its when you turn your back is when he will try & attack you. Another bit of advice don't ever let him think you fear him.

 

[Beth K.]

I have a 4 months old Black Australorp cockerel (Gregory Peck) who is a grouch. He grabs the girls by their combs or head feathers for what seems to be no reason at all. This morning he was chasing the other cockerel Chunky (Buff Orpington) around the coop and got him by the neck feathers.

Is this normal or do I have a problem? After reading this thread I realize I've probably been too cuddly. (But Gregory isn't aggressive toward me.)