Silkie Roo ATTACK!!!!!!

[Silkie Enthusiast]

Once I was feeding my silkie roo Toby some leaves and when I left he ran after me and threw himself at my legs. Mom was really scared because my dad was shooting his gun out back behind our house just cause to show the foreign exchange student how to shoot. So I ran up to the house, screaming, because I thought he was soooo mean! Any ideas why? I also have some pullets but they weren't even close by so it wouldn't make sense if he was defending them would it?

Anything would help,
The Silkiezzz

 

[luvchicks8]

My silkie was very aggressive, H ewas fine for a whole year then he turned real nasty abd I have no answer as to why.

 

[sourland]

He's developing a bad attitude (maturing), and you must assure him that you are boss. If you don't adjust his attitude, it will become worse. Good luck. Mean roosters are a pain!

 

[rosecreek]

My white silke roo is a pain. He attacks my daughter, and attacked me once. He has never made the attempt to attack my husband, because he knows my husband is one bad dude. And once I showed the roo that I was bigger than him, he has never tried to attack me again. Just show him who is boss.

 

[featherbaby]

Maybe he was spooked by the sound of gunfire and just lashed out at you because you were closeby. Birds (parrots in particular) have "displaced anger" issues. What that means is, if they are afraid or upset at something, they will direct their anger to the person closest to them and act completely out of character. They don't think like we do, and you can't expect them to know what is safe and what is dangerous. Watch your roo on a better day when external things are not so upsetting. Then judge his behavior. If he is overly agressive, I would take a spray bottle of ice cold water to spray him directly in the face when he acts out. It won't hurt him but will definitely get his attention. In my opinion (and not everyone agrees with me) if you act aggressively back to a bird that is attacking you, it only serves to make them meaner and tougher....and may physically harm them. All the big famous animal trainers use the "reward only" method to train all kinds of animals. They reward good behavior and ignore bad behavior to keep from training them to repeat it. In this case a good squirt is not punishment, it's to redirect his attention. Chickens may not be the smartest birds on earth, but they can learn and be trained if you are consistent and determined.

 

[silkieroo]

I had my silkie roo attack me twice but i pinned him down as soon as he did and i pick him up now everyday for some "tummy time".

I also file down his spurs now.... just in case

 

[featherbaby]

I forgot to say in my earlier post that I have a silkie roo that pecks me every time I reach into the coop. He is protecting his harem I know, but I didn't like it at all. Also I was afraid it would escalate if I did nothing. In this situation, I started picking him up and carrying him with me under one arm while I did the cage maintenance. Once I pick him up he turns into the calm, sweet baby I always wanted. When I put him down I usually have a special treat for him (reward for good behavior) like sunflower or millet seeds. I've been doing this for the last 3 months or so. Now he acts like he's coming up to guard and peck but he doesn't actually do it, and waits to be picked up. Is that spoiled or what???? Behavior modification successful.

Resistance is futile.........