Taming a Rooster?

[ScottKelly1974]

I've had roosters who liked to bite. Roosters don't like to be held so I would try grabbing them. I would catch them and they would try to get free. The roosters were good with the flock, but I would not allow them to push me around. They learned I was not someone to mess with, but they would back off if I came near them. They maintained their aggressive behavior, and that helps with other animals that come into the yard and cage going after their food.

 

[Rammy]

What I usually do is I always refuse to tolerate any aggression. If the rooster walks sideways around me, like he's trying to show off I stamp my big leather booted foot near him to make him jump.

If he ever tries to peck me or slash at me I grab his neck and pull it down to the ground, and with the other hand I push his body down to the ground so he is basically sitting. Lean over him and don't let him get back up.

When you remove your hand and he no longer tries to get back up, he has at least "accepted" you as something not to easily mess with.

If the rooster is breeding a hen push him off with your foot. That's your hen and he can't breed your hens when you're around since you're the "head rooster". He may still be a mean rooster, but he'll be less likely to assault you.

I tried all that with a BO rooster I had. Carried him around, kicked him off hens, you name it. Even took a 2 x 2 to him when he flogged me leaving the coop one night. Thought I killed him. Nope. Each time I "disciplined" him, he'd be good for two weeks, then start up with his attitude again. He got invited to Sunday dinner as the honored guest.

 

[Abriana]

I have a rooster named Napoleon who was a real meanie in the beginning. He chased me across the yard at one point! There would be good days and bad days, sometimes I was on top, sometimes he was. One day I got tired of it and went out there and walked into the pen like I was the boss. He came at me and I gently tossed him backwards with my foot. After a few tries, plus me coming toward him and shuffling like another rooster would, he got the point and backed off. Occasionally he has little issues but I've gotten pretty good at warding him off with my foot positioned so that the spurs don't get me, and if he gets ornery I always stop what I'm doing and put him back in his place. I love him dearly and the key is to be gentle but firm. Do what another rooster would do when dominating. If you yell at him or hit him, he'll just get agitated. Think like a rooster would, it's definitely more effective.

The spurs can really hurt, and it's hard to be confident when you've been spurred before. There are methods to take them off, but they can cause severe bleeding if not done properly, so I prefer to use duct tape. Just wrap it around the spur and make sure it covers the tip. You'll probably have to re-tape every week or two weeks, depending on the strength of tape. I use Gorilla Tape which works really well--regular duct tape falls off pretty quickly. Always wear long pants, preferably jeans, when working with him. I am confident with Napoleon, but I rarely wear shorts when taking care of the birds. You just never know what he is going to do.

With children around, especially little ones, it is dangerous to have a nasty rooster around. Even if you can get him to respect you and your husband, he probably won't have that same respect for your two year old. I would consider giving him away/culling him.

Hopefully it works out one way or another!

 

[timothyyoung]

Sadly, our 2 year old Americana roo “Noodles” was culled a couple months ago. Tried every trick we could find and he just got more and more aggressive.

 

[MROO]

Sadly, our 2 year old Americana roo “Noodles” was culled a couple months ago. Tried every trick we could find and he just got more and more aggressive.

It works for some, but definitely not all ... all we can do is try ... unless we're Jedi ...

 

[Nin8705]

I honestly think that each rooster is going to respond a different way, and you need to work with him to find out what works best for you and the rooster.
I posted a message like this one time, because I have a mean Rhode Island Red rooster. He was supposed to be a girl chicken (pullet) but turned out to be a male. I got all of my girls in the same month, so all of them are bonded pretty well, and the rooster definitely knows he is the king of the group.
What didn't work for me was when I would defend myself by putting my foot out like I was going to kick the rooster. When I showed the bottom of my shoe to the rooster (mainly to defend myself) he just became more aggressive. I tried a variety of different things that didn't work.er
But what did work was to, first of all, show no fear of the rooster. Let him know you are not afraid of his antics (easier said than done!). When he attacks me now, I get down on his level and actually, I talk nice to him, and address him by name. I walk toward him and act like I am going to pet him. He usually just walks away when I do this.
I don't show him anger. That seems to make it worse. For the past couple of days, I had been screaming for different reasons (one was because we have a puppy, and I was yelling at him to get out of the garden. The next day, a squirrel jumped on my back and I didn't know what it was so I screamed (again). Both of those activities triggered the rooster into attack mode.
He has attacked me the past 3 days. But if I can calmly address him and get down on his level, and calm him down, it seems to work. I think, because spring is coming, the roosters are going to be more aggressive now, and we need to be proactive. When I go out there, I intentionally look at him and talk to him, as if I am having a conversation. It doesn't solve the problem, but it does seem to calm him down.

Thank you. That seems like a good idea. I have went out there the past couple of days we got a new automatic water feeder for them and I was taking up the wood chips and noticed he wouldn’t come near me while I had the rake. I also just stood in there at one point with my husband and he was fine. I am getting more and more confident each time I do go out there with being around him so that definitely helps

 

[Nin8705]

youll never tame him or make him nice by being mean. he MAY not attack you, but he sure wont be friendly.
but you CAN tame roosters - heres the link to an article i followed and ended up with SIX friendly roosters. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/raising-roosters-to-be-family-friendly.66749/

Thanks there was a lot of good pointers on what to do

 

[Nin8705]

I talk to my guys as well.
All of my birds.
Especially if I’m wearing unusual clothing.
People forget that chickens can see in color.
Mine know when I have a different coat on.
My rooster becomes suspicious and investigates.
I stop and just stand still and talk to him in a low voice.
He’ll look at the new coat on me and then at my face, back and forth, over and over again.
After a couple of minutes (sometimes less) he will decide its me and that I’m not a threat and move away.
The same thing if I have a hat on.

My husband refuses to do this (I just think it’s reasonable) and he gets flogged a lot.
My roo also hates my husbands cordless drill. He’s convinced it’s a threat and he must attack it!

But I will say that I had 3 cockerels that were raised together and two went in the freezer and we kept our current one because he was the most skittish of humans and less aggressive than the others.

I like to recommend bantam roosters to people who want a rooster for a flock lookout.
Bantam roos can still be aggressive but I’ve had good luck with them.
None of mine were aggressive.
They’re also not as intimidating as an 8-10 lb rooster.
Another bonus is that they don’t usually cause feather loss in the hens when they breed with them.

Good luck!

My husband thinks I’m crazy for talking to them and trying to make nice. I have thought about bantams before but we have so many other larger breeds I wasn’t sure how well a bantam would fit in

 

[Nin8705]

I adopted my rooster a year ago from the local SPCA to care for my hens. My hens love him.

My birds free range during the warmer months and stay in their coop & run during the cold season. So this winter I have been taking advantage of the birds' confinement and working with my rooster to trust me and not see me as a threat to his flock. Each day, I hang a "tether ball" of a head of lettuce, spinach, or other greens for the birds to peck at, and I sit with them for 2-3 min at lunch time. My rooster with stand sideways right in front of me, scratching and pecking at the ground while the hens are pecking at the tether ball. I know he's watching me but is not taking a protective posture as he always did before. As soon as he turns his back to me, I stroke his tail feathers. He turns around quickly and looks at me as if to say "WTF?!", and I slowly put my hand out with a handful of meal worms. He pecks at the snack calmly (vs. fast jabs indicating lack of trust), so I know I'm making progress. My plan is when they're free ranging in the summer, I can approach the flock without him seeing me as a threat.

In the past, if he saw me as a threat and looked as if he's preparing to lunge at me, I slowly wave my hand over his head and to the side to distract him from his "target" and disarm him.

I ALWAYS wear my muck boots, so if he has jumped or pecked at me, a) it doesn't hurt; and b) I don't budge.

Patience is key, but each situation is different. This is working for me so far. Keep trying!

I’ve thought about bringing him out little snacks and offering them to him, but my him thinks I’m crazy. I always wear my muck boots and I just also ordered some bib overalls to help as well. I think me starting to go out there daily has helped too

 

[Nin8705]

I can only share my own experience. It may not work for you.
When my boy reached puberty he suddenly changed from my sweetheart to ninja warrior. After reading so many variations of how to train him I realised his hormones dictated that he must protect his ladies from all threats. Considering that my run is second only to fort knox (ok maybe not but I've had no predator problems YET) the poor boy had no idea what he was destined to protect his ladies from. The only non-chicken creature that invaded their space was me, therefore I must be the thing his hormones were driving him to chase away. For awhile I tried carrying him. Then I tried the *push him to the ground, pinch the back of his neck, push his head to the ground, hold him till he lays still, all in front of his ladies* method. I'm still not positive this contributed to my goal but I won't discount it. What did seem to be the final method was to ignore him, he doesn't exist. I started this by stopping moving forward when he would approach but never ever back away. I didn't look at him directly but I monitored his movements. If he jumped at me I stood my ground without flailing at him, as if there was nothing happening. Once he realised he was having no effect and that I wasn't accepting his challenge to fight he stopped. I'd move forward without trying to avoid him. If he doesn't exist there is nothing to avoid, so I moved right on through. Yes he would jump again and I'd repeat the process. It took awhile but eventually he gave up. Now I go in the run, he joins the ladies in greeting me at the door and follows me to where I scatter treats. Once in a rare blue moon he will "fluff" at me, a jump that makes no contact, as if to remind me he is the boss. Then he ignores me. I must add that it was probably after his first molt that he finally started ignoring me.
Now as for hubby...he still feels the need to protect himself by shooing my big boy away with hands or feet. Roopecca sees this as accepting the challenge. Hubby gets bit. He just doesn't get how I just walk through.
Here's the thing. Your cockerel is young and doesn't yet know what is needed but is driven to supply whatever it is. Once he learns you aren't on his list of things to protect the ladies from he should calm down. This won't be true for all cockerels, some are just mean. Give him a year from puberty onset to learn. You may have a wonderful rooster. If not you can have a wonderful Sunday dinner.
Good luck!

I’m hoping it’s still his teenage phase. Hey when he was first starting to get mean I would just stand there and he would realize I wasn’t going to harm him so I am definitely going to try that again as well.