Roosters & Toddlers?

[CrazyForCochins927]

Do roosters generally stay away from kids, or try to interact with them? (These are our first chickens).

 

[Mahonri]

not to beat a dead horse, but just never let your little one around the roo. I remember a game roo attacking me at age 10 and I'll never forget trying to get his spur out of my leg. It was very painful.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Quote:
A rooster may very well see a small child as someone/something that needs to be challenged and put in it's place. They may see the child as a threat, you just never know what that little chicken brain will or won't think of and a child won't be able to read rooster lauguage and know they are about to be attacked. Heck, sometimes there is no warning, my rooster has tried to surprise me on a few occasions which then results in his rooster butt getting chased around the pasture a few times.

 

[Qi Chicken]

I think so much depends on the rooster. We had two in our new flock and roo #1 showed his stripes early. At only about 18 weeks or so he began being aggressive and chasing the kids. Kids are 6 and 4. We hadn't handled him because people said not to handle your roos.

We had another ee that we thought was a pullet, cutest one and we handled her a lot. Turned out to be a him and he is awesome. I have never seen him be the least bit aggressive with anyone. He likes to be held. He is currently recovering from a dog attack. He saved his flock though.

The problem we had with the bad one was that since he had never really been handled we couldn't catch him to do all the rooster training stuff on him. In retrospect I don't think I would have wanted to because his basic nature was aggressive. I would have been worried all the time. Whether that was because we didn't handle him and he felt threatened by us I don't know.

My 6 year old spends a lot of time with the chickens and I don't worry about her. My 4 year old I watch. I don't think a one year old can ever be unattended anyway, rooster or no, so it is not really an issue.

The rooster will decide if you are a threat or not. If not he will ignore you. If you are he will chase you. Kids do things that are unexpected so I guess I would be cautious. Just like with a dog. We got rid of roo #1 obviously. Our kids give them lots of treats and also held them when they were young so I really don't think they are perceived as threats by the chickens. I do think that it would be a one chance and you're out kind of thing.

 

[Lbrad7]

Quote:
I agree with Cafarmgirl completely! I don't even let elementary age children around my roos. They are all well behaved but for some reason roos can go from docile to incredibly aggressive around childeren. I think it could be due to their smaller size.

I do think if you are going to have a roo, Cochins are the best choice. I have never had a Cochin roo that was aggressive to anyone but I'm sure there are some others out there who have had different experences. All of that being said....I would still NEVER have a toddler around a any roo period! There is just too much chance of something going wrong and once its done you can't ever take it back.

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
Ed is right. A rooster can jump in a child's face and do major damage in a split second. If the child were more than a foot away from you when it happens, there would be nothing you could do to prevent it. The rooster won't always give warning that he's about to attack.
I would keep the roo if you like him, but never allow such a young child around him.

 

[FreeRangeGirls]

Please do not allow a small child anywhere near a rooster. I still remember the day my four year old son ran out the door, to go play on his swing set. Our rooster was in the front yard with the hens, when all the sudden he went on the attack. Mind you, at no point was my son anywhere even near the hens when the rooster attacked him. No matter what I did to that rooster, it would not back down. I finally had no choice, but to grab it around the neck and do the deed.

 

[Autumn Mama]

We had a hand-held, much-loved rooster and when he became about a year old, he became a pecker. Once, when my son was carrying him, gently like he always did, he turned and delivered a nasty peck just below his eye. I felt beyond horrible and he was dispatched that same afternoon. My boys loved the roo, we all did, but that was my last time letting them be around an aggressive, unpredictable roo. We still have another roo, and he leaves us alone, so we leave him alone. The boys stay away and he just tends his flock. He is mellow, but after that horrific and sickening afternoon when my son was pecked I won't allow any holding anymore, and when the boys are outside (5 and 9) they give him a wide berth.

IME, it's simply not worth the risk. Please learn from my mistake.

Erin

 

[Surehatch]

Quote:
Very, very good point

 

[MeatKing]

I did the wait and see with our roosters and how they acted around kids. They were never aloud in pen unless I was there.. Ages 2 & 4. The rooster went at 4 yr old. (I chased roo off) Even with me in the pen, I realized my reaction time is limited, and not worth the risk. So then I decided that they couldn't go in the pen till roo's were gone. The roo's are now in my deep freezer

My 4 yr old, now collects eggs with me safely