Super sweet rooster suddenly aggressive?

[BubbaBubbles]

So, this is my rooster Zazu. A beautiful welsummer bantam with his own ladies. No fights with the other roosters. In fact, everything's in order for them all.

His main lady is Bambi, same breed and age. Both full grown. Bambi is broody and gets upset when I collect her eggs, of course. She pecks and growls. This has NEVER alerted Zazu before until last week when he started attacking my legs and ankles when I got too close to the pen. Even when I had food and even if they saw me loving on the other birds. Idk why but he just has a thing against me. He doesn't attack anyone else in the household. He was a super sweet roo just a month prior, enjoyed cuddles and being talked to. But now I can't enter the pen without him grabbing onto my leg. The only way I can make him stop is spraying him with the water hose or (gently) kicking him away while scolding. What the heck started this!?

 

[LaFleche]

Bambi is broody and gets upset when I collect her eggs,

This ^^

He is protecting the broody and his future offspring.

Better gather eggs when he is not around to see you doing so.

 

[aggiemae]

So, this is my rooster Zazu. A beautiful welsummer bantam with his own ladies. No fights with the other roosters. In fact, everything's in order for them all.
View attachment 3640648
His main lady is Bambi, same breed and age. Both full grown. Bambi is broody and gets upset when I collect her eggs, of course. She pecks and growls. This has NEVER alerted Zazu before until last week when he started attacking my legs and ankles when I got too close to the pen. Even when I had food and even if they saw me loving on the other birds. Idk why but he just has a thing against me. He doesn't attack anyone else in the household. He was a super sweet roo just a month prior, enjoyed cuddles and being talked to. But now I can't enter the pen without him grabbing onto my leg. The only way I can make him stop is spraying him with the water hose or (gently) kicking him away while scolding. What the heck started this!?

How old is he?

 

[BubbaBubbles]

How old is he?

He'll be a year old next year.

 

[chickens4ver]

So, this is my rooster Zazu. A beautiful welsummer bantam with his own ladies. No fights with the other roosters. In fact, everything's in order for them all.
View attachment 3640648
His main lady is Bambi, same breed and age. Both full grown. Bambi is broody and gets upset when I collect her eggs, of course. She pecks and growls. This has NEVER alerted Zazu before until last week when he started attacking my legs and ankles when I got too close to the pen. Even when I had food and even if they saw me loving on the other birds. Idk why but he just has a thing against me. He doesn't attack anyone else in the household. He was a super sweet roo just a month prior, enjoyed cuddles and being talked to. But now I can't enter the pen without him grabbing onto my leg. The only way I can make him stop is spraying him with the water hose or (gently) kicking him away while scolding. What the heck started this!?

Check out Rooster Allies on Facebook. They have great non-violent advice about keeping your roosters friendly.

 

[BDutch]

Check out Rooster Allies on Facebook. They have great non-violent advice about keeping your roosters friendly.

@Shadrach wrote a very good article about roosters on BYC. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[Luv Ducks]

It sounds like he has just become mating age and he does not want you to disturb the eggs for that reason. Like someone else mentioned, he is protecting his offspring. Good luck with reading up on how to change his behavior. With you being the one to go into the coop most often to feed and care for them, he would see you as a threat more than others that are not around as much or that close to them that often.

 

[Leatherworker]

So, this is my rooster Zazu. A beautiful welsummer bantam with his own ladies. No fights with the other roosters. In fact, everything's in order for them all.
View attachment 3640648
His main lady is Bambi, same breed and age. Both full grown. Bambi is broody and gets upset when I collect her eggs, of course. She pecks and growls. This has NEVER alerted Zazu before until last week when he started attacking my legs and ankles when I got too close to the pen. Even when I had food and even if they saw me loving on the other birds. Idk why but he just has a thing against me. He doesn't attack anyone else in the household. He was a super sweet roo just a month prior, enjoyed cuddles and being talked to. But now I can't enter the pen without him grabbing onto my leg. The only way I can make him stop is spraying him with the water hose or (gently) kicking him away while scolding. What the heck started this!?

This article is great! It will help you understand. He is protecting his future line. Your taking this from him.
His sole purpose is to produce more of his line. Thats why he does anything he does.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[jBabychickn]

Check out Rooster Allies on Facebook. They have great non-violent advice about keeping your roosters friendly.

I LOVE THIS FB GROUP!!

 

[jBabychickn]

This article is great! It will help you understand. He is protecting his future line. Your taking this from him.
His sole purpose is to produce more of his line. Thats why he does anything he does.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

This article is a good one too!


https://bitchinchickens.com/2022/04/28/understanding-responding-to-rooster-behaviour/

I like this paragraph in particular—
Quote:
“The most problematic period of hormone overdrive is likely puberty which occurs for young cockerels from 3-4 months up to about a year of age. This period also coincides with when most first report that their ‘sweet’ boy has become ‘mean’. This, however, is an erroneous interpretation of what is happening. When hormones enter the picture, that baby bird who was only concerned with exploring and playing suddenly realizes he has a very important job to do. He is destined to be a protector, but he doesn’t know yet what he is supposed to protect against. What follows is often a series of bad guesses, some understandable, some downright laughable. I once watched one of our young boys let out a predator screech at a butterfly as it flew past. It’s not uncommon for that same confusion to come out in ways that are inconvenient, and sometimes downright painful, for the keeper.”