Roosters

[Julie Becker]

My rooster attacks me whenever he can. I have been spurred by him on my bare legs. He is a silver laced Cochin. Very beautiful. He has two hens He is very protective of them. How do I get him to stop attacking me. Even when I’m giving them treats he suddenly comes at me! I don’t want to get rid of him. Any advice will help. I’m a first timer

 

[U_Stormcrow]

CULL HIM.

Being flogged is a much more expensive injury to you than the cost of replacing him with another bird.


"When the need arises - and it does - you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don't farm it out - that doesn't make it nicer, it makes it worse." - Robert A. Heinlein

I don't expect a chicken to act like a human, but I DO expect it to know its place in the flock. It is no kindness to allow an aggressor to live and continue abusing the innocent (or yourself) for reasons of emotion. Nor do I think it appropriate to "rehome" a rooster to someone unaware of his aggressive behaviors. As an NPIP certified breeder, I take flock security very seriously - poultry leaves my property, it doesn't re-enter.

Aggressive Roosters become meals for myself and my family.

I take no joy in it, but neither do I shirk from the duty. The bird has chosen its place in the culling line by its behaviors, I merely give motive force to its election.

You can try to rehabilitate - no doubt others will come along and offer emotional or moral pleas for not culling, and various means for retraining a Roo. Maybe it works. Usually not. Recommend you not delay sentence too long, that someone doesn't suffer significant injury from the delay.

Full disclosure. Both myself, and my wife, have been flogged by an agressive Roo. Those spurs have been in very dirty places. The tend to penetrate, quite deeply, into soft tissue areas - around the ankle, under the knee - bleed profusely, and are prone to infection. I gave my Roo one "freebie" while defending his girls while I handled them roughly for a mass wieghing. When he attacked my wife while she fed the flock, I culled him THAT DAY. Even though he was my only breeding age Roo, and it set my project back a month or more. Simple risk management. My wife's and my health are worth a lot more than he is.

[Same advice I have offered many times - its a cut and paste at this point]

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks all. I’m not hearing what I want to hear. He is beautiful and takes such good care of his two hens. If I’m really careful I can save myself but this behavior is becoming more frequent. I can’t love my hens like I want to

My (admittedly self-appointed) role here on BYC is not to tell people what they want to hear, its to be an honest information broker and convey what I believe to be true based on research, experience, and the anecdotes of others.

Your question is a frequent one, and the overwhelming majority of posters who have owned chickens for a significant quantity of time will answer substantially as I did. I could easily link dozens of recent posts to that effect.

Ultimately, your chickens, your body, your choice. I wish you every fortune in whatever you decide.

 

[Mrs. K]

It absolutely dumbfounds me how one can want to keep an aggressive animal.

I think the problem comes with the idea of being the kind of person that is good to animals. With dogs and cats, this works quite well, but chickens did not get the memo.

I always solve for peace in the flock, and my peace too. I like having a rooster, but it needs to be on my own terms. Being attacked is not.

I almost think that some people are too sensitive to have chickens, and can be bullied by chickens because of their personal belief. Personally I cringe from people being encouraged to take abuse from anything, and given guilt that they are at fault for the behavior of a bird with a brain smaller than the meat of a walnut and testicles that are bigger.

Mrs K

 

[Miami Leghorn]

This article may help you out.
It is quite possible to come to a working arrangement with an aggressive rooster.
There is a phrase "violence is the last resort of the incompetent". Killing any rooster that gives you hard time is the height of incompetenence and imo it's only excusable if you have children mixed in the equation.
If he's good to his hens then that's all one should want.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

I have the perfect solution that should keep even the bleeding hearts happy as well. Donate the rooster to a restaurant in town that donates to soup kitchens. I'm sure there's a homeless that would enjoy a nice warm cup of chicken soup at least once in a while. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I am keeping a homeless person from having a decent meal.
It would be irresponsible and incompetent not to do that. Anything less will be uncivilized.

 

[Shadrach]

I have the perfect solution that should keep even the bleeding hearts happy as well. Donate the rooster to a restaurant in town that donates to soup kitchens. I'm sure there's a homeless that would enjoy a nice warm cup of chicken soup at least once in a while. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I am keeping a homeless person from having a decent meal.
It would be irresponsible and incompetent not to do that. Anything less will be uncivilized.

I got the mpression from the OP's second post that she would like to find some way other than killing the rooster to resolve the problem. It seems the OP can protect herself and is prepared to do so if necessary, but would like to keep her rooster if possible. It is possible. It may be more trouble than the OP is prepared to take but that's up to them.

For the rest of you, particularly the men I've read on this forum seemingly scared to death of a small flighless bird...

I mean seriously, we are talking about a three or four kilo bird here if that. Most are not even knee height! I know women under five foot tall not weighing much more than 40 kilos who can deal with a rooster without having to kill it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I got the mpression from the OP's second post that she would like to find some way other than killing the rooster to resolve the problem. It seems the OP can protect herself and is prepared to do so if necessary, but would like to keep her rooster if possible. It is possible. It may be more trouble than the OP is prepared to take but that's up to them.

For the rest of you, particularly the men I've read on this forum seemingly scared to death of a small flighless bird...

I mean seriously, we are talking about a three or four kilo bird here if that. Most are not even knee height! I know women under five foot tall not weighing much more than 40 kilos who can deal with a rooster without having to kill it.

Do not project your fears upon me.

I made a cost/benefit analysis considering the potential benefits and likely risks of various responses together with the necesasary time commitment, decided a replacement breeder was cheaper and more certain than the alternatives, and better, was offset by the bird's value on the dinner table.

No "manliness" involved. Just math.

 

[Folly's place]

I too put up with an aggressive first rooster, a little bantam who was motivated to fly up towards my face at every opportunity. It was a valuable learning experience for all of us here, and we learned that life is too short to be threatened or injured by a bird we were feeding and caring for.
Liability issues may be different outside of the USA, but here having a critter who could injure a visitor, especially a child, isn't a good plan.
And most people here have smaller coops and yards, so there's not a lot of space for a nasty rooster and his hens to be out of his perceived close territory.
I'm in the 'make him dinner for someone' camp.
Mary

 

[Julie Becker]

CULL HIM.

Being flogged is a much more expensive injury to you than the cost of replacing him with another bird.


"When the need arises - and it does - you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don't farm it out - that doesn't make it nicer, it makes it worse." - Robert A. Heinlein

I don't expect a chicken to act like a human, but I DO expect it to know its place in the flock. It is no kindness to allow an aggressor to live and continue abusing the innocent (or yourself) for reasons of emotion. Nor do I think it appropriate to "rehome" a rooster to someone unaware of his aggressive behaviors. As an NPIP certified breeder, I take flock security very seriously - poultry leaves my property, it doesn't re-enter.

Aggressive Roosters become meals for myself and my family.

I take no joy in it, but neither do I shirk from the duty. The bird has chosen its place in the culling line by its behaviors, I merely give motive force to its election.

You can try to rehabilitate - no doubt others will come along and offer emotional or moral pleas for not culling, and various means for retraining a Roo. Maybe it works. Usually not. Recommend you not delay sentence too long, that someone doesn't suffer significant injury from the delay.

Full disclosure. Both myself, and my wife, have been flogged by an agressive Roo. Those spurs have been in very dirty places. The tend to penetrate, quite deeply, into soft tissue areas - around the ankle, under the knee - bleed profusely, and are prone to infection. I gave my Roo one "freebie" while defending his girls while I handled them roughly for a mass wieghing. When he attacked my wife while she fed the flock, I culled him THAT DAY. Even though he was my only breeding age Roo, and it set my project back a month or more. Simple risk management. My wife's and my health are worth a lot more than he is.

[Same advice I have offered many times - its a cut and paste at this point]

Thanks all. I’m not hearing what I want to hear. He is beautiful and takes such good care of his two hens. If I’m really careful I can save myself but this behavior is becoming more frequent. I can’t love my hens like I want to

 

[JacinLarkwell]

No point in keeping an aggressive male unless he's the only one in your country for that breed, and even then sometimes it's not worth it