Stubborn husband, mean roo

[columbiacritter]

Well after being spurred in the head and getting some nice spur lacerations from his Dutch roo about a month ago my husband trimmed his spurs but not his wings. He didn't want to mess up his appearance even though he's not at all a show bird.

Yesterday for no reason what so ever the same roo flew up and spurred his head again. This time with little dmage because his spurs were blunted, still, he drew blood. The husband agreed to the wing trim finally, now the roo can't get much more than 3 feet off the ground. Been hilarious watching him try to launch up to his old crowing spots and not getting even close.

His brother, who is much nicer behaved is still allowed to fly up and ride on shoulders plus he CAN reach all the best crowing spots. It'll be interesting to see if their dominance standings change with each other.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
This always kills me... how does a grown man get lacerations from a very small bird?

Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Perhaps your husband needs some handling tips, and 'situational awarness' training instead of punishing the bird to a life on the ground.

 

[ILoveJoe]

Quote:
This always kills me... how does a grown man get lacerations from a very small bird?

Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Perhaps your husband needs some handling tips, and 'situational awarness' training instead of punishing the bird to a life on the ground.

This is what kills ME....attacking the OP for posting.

Maybe her husband is a 'small person' ...?

How is wing clipping a punishment? I would think eating the bird would be a harsher lesson!

Even the best handlers can be spurred on occasion.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Small person or not, proper handling should alleviate *most* if not all the chances of being spurred or injured by a chicken.

And wing clipping one bird, and not all the birds is a punishment as that bird is now limited to the ground when all the others are able to move around. Kinda like being the last kid picked in gym class, undue stress to the bird, simply for being a bird.

And that wasn't an attack, that was an opinion, as insinuated by the "doesn't make any sense to me" part.

 

[Judy]

Well, anyway, I'd also be interested to know if this changes the dominance situation. Let us know.

 

[mtcougar832]

Quote:
Yeah I'd have eaten him (or made dogfood if he is old). I clipped only 1 bird - the only one who flys out of the coop - for her own safety.

 

[JewellFarm]

I would have done exactly the same thing.

 

[chikenlady]

I had an aggressive rooster. When I went in the coop, I carried a walking stick. I didn't hit him just blocked him if needed.

I finally rehomed him...no need to keep an aggressive rooster when there are so many nice ones out there.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
This always kills me... how does a grown man get lacerations from a very small bird?

Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Perhaps your husband needs some handling tips, and 'situational awarness' training instead of punishing the bird to a life on the ground.

Have you ever really looked at a roosters untrimmed spurs???? They are very sharp spikes the roos know how to use to do the most damage.

This is a small Dutch bantam who could easily launch himself from the ground and hit you in the back of the head HARD! He was flying up to our second story deck rail to perch and crow his head off.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
This always kills me... how does a grown man get lacerations from a very small bird?

Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Perhaps your husband needs some handling tips, and 'situational awarness' training instead of punishing the bird to a life on the ground.

This is what kills ME....attacking the OP for posting.

Maybe her husband is a 'small person' ...?

How is wing clipping a punishment? I would think eating the bird would be a harsher lesson!

Even the best handlers can be spurred on occasion.

My husband is 5'6". The roo is a very strong flyer.

We thought we'd dealt with his aggression issues a month ago. He's shown no signs of being a problem at all since having his spurs clipped short. He'd been out and about in the yard many times and just been a happy roo.