Sultan Roo Attacking!!!

[Heatherella]

I think I know what the response to this post will be but I’d like some feedback!

I have a hand raised Sultan rooster who is almost a year old. Let me say, he has been spoiled from the time he was a chick! He’s been held and hand fed daily! He is in a coop with three Sultan/ Polish hens.

Everything was wonderful...until last week when warmer weather hit here in Maine. Now, he has started attacking me when I go out to collect eggs and hand feed the hens sunflower seeds, a daily chore that I enjoy. I actually had to kick him to get him off my leg the first time and the second time my dog saved me!

I have kids around all the time and I’m wondering if this is just a spring time behavior or if it will likely escalate as he gets older. Is there anything I can do to curtail this behavior?

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry that this has happened, and children are definitely at risk, in fact, and humans are going to be fair game for him.
If this is your first cockerel, you may have missed the signals he was showing before this actual attack; it takes experience to see what's coming ahead of time.
Wear at least jeans and boots or shoes out there!
There are some good articles here about rooster management; @Beekissed , @BantyChooks , and @Shadrack are folks to look up. There's also a lot of advice from other people, some good, some not.
Unless you have a real need to keep this guy, there's no reason to keep him one more day! And he shouldn't enter the gene pool, where he could sire more cockerels with the same problem attitude.
Both genetics and management are involved in this behavior. You can re-evaluate your management style, but can't fix his genetics.
Here, I expect my cockerels to get out of my path, I never walk around them. The pullets can be pets, but the cockerels need to respect my space at all times, are never hand fed, and are polite no matter what I'm wearing or what I do with any flock members.
I gave up trying to reform jerks years ago! Idiots who attack the giants who bring food every day just aren't worth it!
Mary

 

[Heatherella]

Thank you so much for this info!! This is my first foray into having a rooster and I naively thought if we were good with him and socialized him that he would turn out to be nice.

I definitely know what you mean about genetics! We have hens who were all raised the same way and some are lovely and others want nothing to do with us.

I was hoping for baby chicks but maybe that’s not such a good idea now. The hens he is with are super fun. One flies up to my shoulder and the others come running with they hear my voice. I hate to get rid of him but it will surely take a lot of enjoyment away if I’m attacked each time I go near the coop! Not to mention, I can’t have any kids getting hurt. Such a bummer!

 

[Folly's place]

If you try to rehome him, do it with full disclosure, and where there are no children involved. Sultans are so beautiful and unusual, it's too bad this guy isn't so nice.
Our first rooster was a total attack bird, and we kept him too long. He sired a number of cockerels, and we kept only the nice ones, and it worked out for us. We also learned a lot about cockerels over the years, and have a pretty good idea who's naughty or nice, befor that full out attack.
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

Our first rooster was a total attack bird, and we kept him too long. He sired a number of cockerels, and we kept only the nice ones, and it worked out for us. We also learned a lot about cockerels over the years, and have a pretty good idea who's naughty or nice, befor that full out attack.

Perhaps this needs to be in another thread, but could you tell us who you learned "who was naughty or nice?"