Secrets for taming roosters?

[freestargirl]

My hubby carried a stick into the run when he did the chicken chores and never had a problem with either of our roosters. But they were relentless and stick just made them come at me faster. We ate those 2. We do have a nice picture of Pretty Boy that we're going to frame and hang in our kitchen. And this was before our hens were sexually mature! And those 2, I really wanted to be able to keep Pretty Boy, but he wasn't nice to our hens, so I would have had to have kept his brother, Red Floyd to keep him in check, and the more I tried with them, the meaner they got. And they were Maran/Langshan mix and those are supposed to be docile breeds!
Our new rooster, Big Red,another of Red Floyd's & Pretty Boy's brothers- he's not as vicious, if he charges me, he gets the point alot faster, but you still gotta be quick in the mornings & go down to the coop after he's asleep to shut them in for the night.
If I had to go to the coop with either of my kids in tow (which defeats the purpose- my 9 yr old is supposed to be picking up eggs!), I would not have the rooster. He would be dinner, like his brothers.

 

[XenArgon]

I don't have backyard chickens, but there was a wild rooster that lived in the complex where I was. He seemed fairly young, as he hadn't gotten spurs, and he was very used to people, a product of living in a vacation complex. He became interested in me because of the orphan chicks I took care of, and I think he started trying to claim them from me.
For the longest time I was wary of his approaches, and although I never once hit him, I did have to chase him off a couple times when he made advances on my chicks. Nonetheless, I got to the point where he followed me around wanting food, and I managed to pet him a couple times.
I haven't had to deal with a directly agressive rooster, but if you want my advice, this is what I'd do.

1. Be around him when the flock is eating. Make yourself a part of the flock. That also helps all animals associate you with positive thoughts.
2. Reciprocation. Be relaxed if he's relaxed, but return any and all forms of dominance with similar force. Not violence, ideally, but scare him, because your goal is to make yourself the alpha male.
3. Physical proximity/contact. I never grabbed my rooster and held him, but I've done similar things with shy cats. The goal in this is to make him handleable, so ideally you'd want to grab him and hold him until he calms down. Reward pacifism with what he wants - to be let go.
4. Food. Animals will quickly fall in love with you if you give them food, as everyone knows. But sitting with your flock and giving treats to the rooster when he's calm helps to make your dominance over him more of a pet/owner relationship than an unpleasant alternative. After all, you want a happy rooster too.
5. Don't always be taming him. The best ways to create consistent behavior is a mix of consistency and spontaniety. Reward the same behaviors the same way, and meet force with force, but try not to punish. On the other hand, try not to pick up your rooster at the same time each day or anything like that. You may be able to make him calm, but he'll learn that he only has to put up with you during that time in order to be rewarded.
But also, be part of the flock. Just wander around with all your chickens, so your rooster can see you as a member of the family rather than a human that shows up sometimes to feed them or grab him and hold him until he stops fighting.

I haven't had to deal with a rooster that wanted to hurt me so maybe my suggestions aren't practical, but I did have success with taming a wild rooster, and I've had plenty of experience with acclimating shy animals to humans. I know it's not the same, but it's always useful to try to think from the animal's perspective. These, of course, are just my suggestions. I don't believe any animal is hopeless.