Take the mean out of game rooster?

[ashleyrobin]

I rescued a small flock from someone who couldn't care for them. All he really knew about them was that they were game chickens. I haven't had any problems with the hens but the rooster is really aggressive and kinda hard to handle. Is it possible to retrain him?

 

[ashleyrobin]

 

[Weehopper]

If he is aggressive to you, I would either rehome or cull him. If you choose to rehome him, you must be honest about his aggressiveness to whoever wants him.

 

[centrarchid]

First, get to the point of being able to photograph him standing naturally while he not also covered in mud or feces. He looks underweight but that may be an artifact of the photograph.

Second, you must demonstrate you know how to handle a game rooster.

He is very likely in molt, therefore will naturally be a little testy. For the next 45 days or so minimize actually handling him.

See about getting him into a pen that is elevated to roughly the level of your chest. You may need to work in getting pen so he feels comfortable. That needs elaboration later.

I would emphasize getting him to feed from your hand. Go all out and getting him an insect or two, possibly consider purchasing some live mealworms. Restrict his feeding to he is always a little hungry. For now you do not want him to fill crop up so much he does not want to deal with you.

Get an old heavy coat and heavy gloves if he already puts it to you. There will be more of that and it is not something you will be avoiding.

 

[centrarchid]

OP, most of the training will be of you. You did not elaborate on what the rooster does although I assume it involves man-fighting where aggression is directed towards humans.

 

[BrandoMan]

I have a Spanish Game Cock and he is a mean SOB. He is a man killer and will attack anything in his space but I deal with it because it's in his genetics.i just work with it, takes some work to feed and water him but that's what I signed up for. See for me I adopted him from a couple who hand raises him since hatching and he was good boy bit at three months went cray cray and started fighting other chickens and killing his siblings, actually he killed all of his siblings. Reason is cause unlike alot of today's "game" fowl he was bred to fight not just for show. Now before everyone gets all hyper I do not fight chickens nor have I ever I don't believe in it but I do appreciate the old custom and how they were selectively bred for cut ability, stamina and gameness. Like a warrior or athletic. My guy was bred such a way. His bloodline as current as his grandad was a bare heels fighting rooster. I live in New Mexico and we were one of the last states who outlawed the sport so u still can get actual gamecocks who are game. I put up with him only because of the earth and the gameness and the fight in him because really not much such game fowl are this way anymore unless you leave states. Just have to plan ahead and be smart to keep such a animal.

 

[centrarchid]

I have a Spanish Game Cock and he is a mean SOB. He is a man killer and will attack anything in his space but I deal with it because it's in his genetics.i just work with it, takes some work to feed and water him but that's what I signed up for. See for me I adopted him from a couple who hand raises him since hatching and he was good boy bit at three months went cray cray and started fighting other chickens and killing his siblings, actually he killed all of his siblings. Reason is cause unlike alot of today's "game" fowl he was bred to fight not just for show. Now before everyone gets all hyper I do not fight chickens nor have I ever I don't believe in it but I do appreciate the old custom and how they were selectively bred for cut ability, stamina and gameness. Like a warrior or athletic. My guy was bred such a way. His bloodline as current as his grandad was a bare heels fighting rooster. I live in New Mexico and we were one of the last states who outlawed the sport so u still can get actual gamecocks who are game. I put up with him only because of the earth and the gameness and the fight in him because really not much such game fowl are this way anymore unless you leave states. Just have to plan ahead and be smart to keep such a animal.

Why not toughen up and break him gently of the aggression. If you have a small number of birds, then it is more doable.

 

[BrandoMan]

Can't break him of his aggression.previpus owners tried. 4 other people wanted him before I cam around who actually breed Spanish Game Fowl and they couldn't even catch him. He would chase them around going for the face and Spanish gamecocks can actually sustain flight pretty well being light fowl I was the only one even able to catch him and I got my butt kicked while doing it. That's after I spent a week feeding him and talking to him gently from outside his pen bit as soon as I stepped into his domain it was on. I got video of it. Thought maybe taking him back to my place which is 2 hours away would keep him from being territorial since it was new location. Nope he was ******. When I feed him he tries to do a beak hold on his chicken feed and flogs it. When I'm trying to fill his water bowl he will fight the water bowl and try to bill hold the actual water as its pouring and tries to cut any object I try to use to flip his bowl back over. He will stomp his bowl over to pic it down just so I can't pour his water. When I do finally get his bowl flipped over I gotta use a stick to hold the bowl down while I fill it while he attacks the bowl, the water and the stick but once the water is full and I remove the stick he will stop fighting and drink but if his bowl goes empty he will fight his bowl tell he determine its dead. Lol his name is Turbo and he cray cray. Plus side, no one tries to steal my chickens anymore.. Thinking if I go on a trip outta town to just let him in the house just in case someone tries to rob me. Would be one hell of a story on the news.H E does seem a little bit calmer with my 9 year old daughter.

 

[centrarchid]

I keep games and they are very, very similar to Spanish Games as they have very little if any Oriental Game in them. Man-fighters are a pain but in most instances you can break them of it without impacting other attributes. Man-fighting is such a big deal that I cull aggresively against it unless I suspect it is caused by something environmental and the birds has a lot of good characteristics otherwise. Fact bird killed others already indicates somebody was major sloppy in taking care of them. The Aseel games are even more problematic yet you can greatly limit the controlled fighting with a little effort.

Instead of bragging on the rowdiness of the bird, invest in approach where you can get bird easier to handle. A gamecock coming after your face is not something you want to tell friends about. It is like saying you do not wear underwear. Someone that knows their way around the birds would stop it immediately. For starters I would yank it out of the air by its neck and get control over those legs.

 

[ashleyrobin]

Thanks for the tips. Like I said he is a rescue and from what I can tell his previous owners didn't take very good care of any of them (the hens were beaten up pretty bad). I'm going to work with him and see if I can get him to calm down some. You're probably right about the molting; he also has a band that cut into his leg and was probably causing him pain so I'm working on getting that healed up too. He isn't aggressive towards the hens he was rescued with but doesn't do well with my others and he doesn't necessarily come after me but he doesn't like me in his space.