Shy Rooster turned aggressive. Can I soften his attitude toward me?

[Yazzo]

So glad I could help!

If you have any questions about the techniques, I'll be happy to do my best to answer him.
Cheers to having a great, tame rooster!

 

[frankie088]

Yazzo, I found your info on a google search and it all sounds good. I, however, have a little different situation and I am hoping you can help me out!

First, it is just my daughter and I and we are new to having chickens -- our first one was actually our little bantam rooster, he's an Old English game rooster. He's been tame from the beginning though he was full grown when we got him. Now, he wasn't so tame he would come right up to us, so he usually had to be caught in the evening when he roosted, but was always content for us to hold him. In fact, he'd just close his eyes and sigh when we held him. About 2-3 months ago, we got him a hen, from the same friend who gave him to us. I think she's a Buff Orphington. Still all has been fine. About 5-6 weeks ago we got a five more hens, all NHR. About two weeks ago our dog got out and killed two of the newer hens. Still our little Banty has been fine.

We've not had any eggs (so a friend told us to put Karo syrup in their water) until about five days ago when one of the hens laid her first, but she never did sit on it, even though we left it there undisturbed for a few days. Another egg was laid yesterday - we have no idea which hen is laying nor if it's the same one, but we are assuming it is because though they free range, there were laid in the same spot and actually, believe it or not (we're so excited), were in the nesting box we built. Yes!

Anyway, two days ago our little banty suddenly charged me when I had my back turned walking away from him. He actually startled me!! Three times in a row, whenever I turned my back on him, he would charge at me, stopping the instant I turned around to face him. I didn't act in a threatening way and I didn't notice anything unusual so I'm not sure what is going on.

At first I found it rather funny because he's always been so pleasant and tame - I even brought my 11 year old daughter out to show her what he was doing and we just laughed. Well, now, he has worsened - he's began charging my daughter who is the one feeding them every day - they free range but we give them a bit of scratch as well as all our scraps, which is a lot lately since I have gone on a 30 day raw vegan diet! Ok, so now he has spurred her twice - once was yesterday when he just flew up at her when she was trying to catch him to hold him....and then today she picked him up and held him for a few minutes, brought him in the house, all the usual as she's always done with him and when she went to let him go, he spurred her again. He's pierced the skin both times, so he means business. My theories are:

1. He is protecting "his" eggs.

2. He is being territorial over his hens.

3. The Karo syrup, lack of regular food, or too much organic produce scraps has made him loopy.

4. All of the above!!!

I am hoping you have some insight because it seems like this is a bit different than what you described because A) he was already tame, B) he is a bit more of a problem because of those spurs and C) he is attacking the very people who have always held him and fed him (and who have saved him a couple of times from becoming a victim of various neighborhood dogs!) I don't feel comfortable recommending my daughter hold him more often when he is using his spurs against her. Any insight would be appreciated!!!!

 

[Yazzo]

Hi frankie088 and welcome! It's pretty neat that someone joined BYC just because of the rooster info I posted.

I'll try my best to give you some tips about your rooster, but as we're communicating over the internet, it may be a bit hard. First off, I have had cases like this, but not many, so I'm sure there's still plenty to learn about roosters who behave in that way. Now, there are probably going to be people who will tell you to 'kill him right away', but as long as you protect your daughter (or she protects herself as I'm sure she can do), and anyone who comes over, I think if you work with him a bit you can improve his attitude.

Small roosters seem to have a tendency to be feisty. Some people may call it stupidity, but I think they just have a overload of testosterone or something. I don't think the food you're feeding him will have much to do with his behavior changes, but it's always possible that it's helping to make it worse by giving him more energy or raising his aggression by raising his testosterone levels. Whether that's true or not, I think the main thing that's making him that way is the hens. He is almost certainly being possessive over them, and doesn't want you getting in the way. I doubt he has any interest in the eggs, but if he's quite a young rooster, and has been introduced to hens, and think that would be the main cause of his behavioral changes. I think that he'll get better as he ages, but only if you work with him. Now, as I said, I haven't had many roosters like this, so to be honest, I'm not totally sure what would be the best way to stop it. I had a rooster recently that was very much like yours, but I didn't get much time to get to know him. I think that handling your rooster more than usual, really showing him who's boss, and 'humiliating' him will help. However, at the same time you have to be showing him that you aren't a threat. As tame as he is, or was, he may very well see you as roosters, or possibly even dangers to the hens, and thus, threats. So you're either going to have to show him that humans are not 'romantic rivals', or show him that you are such a formidable rooster that he won't want to mess with you. I think the first option is by far the best for obvious reasons. I haven't actually had a time to try this, but I think that having a spray bottle of water around could possibly be a good idea. Just spritz him whenever he gets aggressive. It's possible that that may turn out to be counter-productive though, so if you want to experiment with that technique or not is up to you, although I think it may be well worth a try.

Another method you can try is to act like a hen yourself around him. That may sound crazy, but if he sees humans as 'hen-like' creatures that aren't rivals, he may calm down. You could try making hen noises at him, 'pecking' with your finger when he finds some food, and observing in a non-threatening way when he interacts with the hens.

The rooster I had recently who was like that didn't even have any hens with him, but he was still aggressive. I think it was still that 'hen-possessive' instinct that made him do what he did though, and I'll admit, I also thought it was funny, because he was such a pathetic fighter! XD I was working with him, and he was getting better, especially when I handled him a lot.

All these techniques and more may well work, but the main point is that he is almost certainly being possessive over the hens, he sees you and all humans as rivals or threats, and you need to try to change that view. I have to think about this more, because there are probably many more ways to go about it (WITHOUT killing him as seemingly most people on this forum seem to believe), and it's certainly well worth thinking about.

I hope I helped you a bit, and I'll post more ideas if I think of them!