Taming a Rooster?

[Dominique Fan]

Your Roo is your Roo. I had one named Charlie, loved that little guy but he was a bastard. In his mind he was doing what roosters do so I couldn't fault him But when he fluffed up on my grandson I gave him a chance, I steeped in between them and made him back of. That night he came at me, I punted him back and hoped that worked. Unfortunately it did not last, a few days later he looked like he was going towards my grandson and Charlie lost. Honestly I felt terrible for culling him. But we have one unassailable rule for any animal at our place. You do not go for the granbabies, period.
Surprisingly getting rid of Charlie was the best thing we could have done. Our hens relaxed, got in better condition and laid better. I wasn't tense going to tend the chickens and my grandson started coming out to help again. Something he loved to do.
No one can tell you what to do with your rooster but you. As several people have said 'no matter how good a ......... he is, if hes aggressive hes not worth it". I have to agree.
DO try and retain him, if it doesn't stick, get rid of him. You won't regret it in the long term.
Also you can try carrying a Homer Bucket, yes one of those bright orange ones from Home Depot. I had a co-worker who had a mean banti rooster named Henry. He adored that little cockerel but he flogged him every single time he went in the coop, I suggested the bucket because Henry went for the brightest thing he saw. So he went after the bucket instead of Mark or his wife.

 

[Dominique Fan]

Shardrach I agree with , we follow a Darwinian principle here. I also do not remove predators, I have lost chickens to dogs (my own) I have lost chickens to foxes and hawks. The only time I had to take corrective action was the dog and it was a failure on my part by not training them properly to be around chickens. That has been resolved and we are all good. The dogs and I where retrained.
But I still believe in removing problem birds in my flock by cull or re-home. I believe as a responsible person the health and well being of all live around us. Sometimes that means we as supposed apex being need to intervene. If you have the means, ability and fortitude to keep everyone, I commend you. But sometimes we have to intervene.

And I agree with you on predators helping us. Other than the dog, the losses to hawks and foxes have improved our flock. I am not saying I wasn't bothered by the losses but I also say we have to pay the rent. We moved into their space (out in the country). We let everything live as it will as much as we can. So there are mice, rats, rabbits and squirrels for the predators to eat. But sometimes a chick or hen is on the menu for whatever reason we can't see.

 

[Shadrach]

Shardrach I agree with , we follow a Darwinian principle here. I also do not remove predators, I have lost chickens to dogs (my own) I have lost chickens to foxes and hawks. The only time I had to take corrective action was the dog and it was a failure on my part by not training them properly to be around chickens. That has been resolved and we are all good. The dogs and I where retrained.
But I still believe in removing problem birds in my flock by cull or re-home. I believe as a responsible person the health and well being of all live around us. Sometimes that means we as supposed apex being need to intervene. If you have the means, ability and fortitude to keep everyone, I commend you. But sometimes we have to intervene.

And I agree with you on predators helping us. Other than the dog, the losses to hawks and foxes have improved our flock. I am not saying I wasn't bothered by the losses but I also say we have to pay the rent. We moved into their space (out in the country). We let everything live as it will as much as we can. So there are mice, rats, rabbits and squirrels for the predators to eat. But sometimes a chick or hen is on the menu for whatever reason we can't see.

I wouldn't take issue with anything you've written.

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

I don't tend to try to kill predators here despite free ranging. I do understand why people do and I try to keep my views to myself when I read such posts.
I also eat the chickens here; not many, but I'll kill to eat and sometimes to manage flocks, but that is very rare.
The predators strangely help me out with this and I would rather they did the job. My understanding is that is what nature does.
I have re-homed a number of pairs (brother and sister) to people who want to start a flock but want proven health. I can give a 6 generation family tree for some of the chickens here.
In general my objection to some of the content in threads such as this is the view that it's fine to kill one rooster after another, until you can find one that you can control, or one you're not scared of. That isn't really competent chicken keeping in my book.
My other objection is how easily the life of a creature gets so easily dismissed because it's a bit of a inconvenience and requires some knowledge and patience to deal with.
There is a view I often read that states you do what's right for you in your circumstances. It's not a view I agree with.
My view is try to do what's right for the chickens you keep. I doubt many will agree but it is my view.
The accidental rooster is an accident that an intelligent person can see coming. Fifty percent of all chicken hatchings are going to be male. When people excitedly put those eggs in the incubator, or let a broody hen sit, half of what hatches is going to be male when averaged out over time.
It seems that there isn't a worse outcome than to be born male if you're a chicken kept by humans. I don't know what the percentage of males to females is in kept chickens but I would guess it must be 95% female to 5% male, including the battery hens that supply our eggs.
Given the chickens ancestors managed a 50/50 ratio I don't feel any sympathy or empathy for those who get roosters and find that they are not the cuddly little fluff balls they were hoping for.
So, if your original intention is to eat the males that hatch, that's reasonable to me. We are after all the chickens most voracious predator.
Keeping chickens requires both sexes imo. I'm not really the slightest bit interested in reading peoples opinions on chicken keeping who a) just keep hens because they don't really keep chickens at all and b) those who kill roosters because they can't handle their behavior.

That was very interesting to read! Thank you. I don't agree with some of what you say but I won't talk about it here because this isn't the place for it. A couple things I will say though:
Keeping chickens requires both sexes imo. I'm not really the slightest bit interested in reading peoples opinions on chicken keeping who a) just keep hens because they don't really keep chickens at all
I apologize if this comes off aggressive or condescending, I truly don't mean anything by it, but who are you to set the bar for what "real" chicken keeping is? Sure, I'm sure people are missing out on observing certain behavior because they don't keep roos. But that does not mean their experience becomes any less valuable. I can understand that for you and you only chicken keeping is only valuable if you have both sexes, but you can not determine what is valuable or meaningful for someone else like that.

And I understand where you're coming from with the sexed chicks. But what are people supposed to do? Are you saying you should ONLY keep chickens if you can have roos? What about people like me who aren't allowed to keep roos because of city limits? And while I have planned to re-home any accidental cockerels it would feel dishonest of me to give someone an aggressive roo that's gonna be a problem and a threat to their well-being.

Anyway, that's my "holier than thou" mantra . If you'd ever like to discuss these topics with me in a PM, you're welcome to.

 

[ejtrout31]

taming a roo is so possible i had one trained for agility he would sit run walk stop and stand at my command the trick is time and patience

 

[Shadrach]

That was very interesting to read! Thank you. I don't agree with some of what you say but I won't talk about it here because this isn't the place for it. A couple things I will say though:
Keeping chickens requires both sexes imo. I'm not really the slightest bit interested in reading peoples opinions on chicken keeping who a) just keep hens because they don't really keep chickens at all
I apologize if this comes off aggressive or condescending, I truly don't mean anything by it, but who are you to set the bar for what "real" chicken keeping is? Sure, I'm sure people are missing out on observing certain behavior because they don't keep roos. But that does not mean their experience becomes any less valuable. I can understand that for you and you only chicken keeping is only valuable if you have both sexes, but you can not determine what is valuable or meaningful for someone else like that.

And I understand where you're coming from with the sexed chicks. But what are people supposed to do? Are you saying you should ONLY keep chickens if you can have roos? What about people like me who aren't allowed to keep roos because of city limits? And while I have planned to re-home any accidental cockerels it would feel dishonest of me to give someone an aggressive roo that's gonna be a problem and a threat to their well-being.

Anyway, that's my "holier than thou" mantra . If you'd ever like to discuss these topics with me in a PM, you're welcome to.

You may have read more into what I wrote than what is there.
Those who just keep hens can educate me about keeping hens; I know nothing about it.
Chickens are not just hens.
I hope I haven't even attempted to devalue the hen only experience; but once again they aren't really keeping chickens. That's fine. I find a lot of what the hen only keepers observe fascinating.
I'm not setting the bar, nature and reality sets the bar. Chickens come in two sexes.
Yes, I come over a bit strong on some of the rooster threads but roosters are being killed because people don't think they are behaving the way they should or the way they want them to. It's not as if there are marauding packs of roosters pecking people to death in the shopping malls! Most of these roosters are bing killed because they are doing what nature intended them to do, protect their genes and thus their flock. When humans do that we understand more often then not. I've had more damage inflicted on my person by broody hens than I have by roosters.
There is a word under my name in the box at the side of my posts. It says 'roosterist' and if I can make just one person stop and think before they kill, every post I've made here will have been worthwhile imo and I've made a few.
If I'm rude, sure pull me up. I'll make amends if I can.
If I'm wrong, fair enough pull me up and teach me and I'll learn.
If I'm passionate about a subject I know a bit about and care about please just try and understand.
I

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

You may have read more into what I wrote than what is there.
Those who just keep hens can educate me about keeping hens; I know nothing about it.
Chickens are not just hens.
I hope I haven't even attempted to devalue the hen only experience; but once again they aren't really keeping chickens. That's fine. I find a lot of what the hen only keepers observe fascinating.
I'm not setting the bar, nature and reality sets the bar. Chickens come in two sexes.
Yes, I come over a bit strong on some of the rooster threads but roosters are being killed because people don't think they are behaving the way they should or the way they want them to. It's not as if there are marauding packs of roosters pecking people to death in the shopping malls! Most of these roosters are bing killed because they are doing what nature intended them to do, protect their genes and thus their flock. When humans do that we understand more often then not. I've had more damage inflicted on my person by broody hens than I have by roosters.
There is a word under my name in the box at the side of my posts. It says 'roosterist' and if I can make just one person stop and think before they kill, every post I've made here will have been worthwhile imo and I've made a few.
If I'm rude, sure pull me up. I'll make amends if I can.
If I'm wrong, fair enough pull me up and teach me and I'll learn.
If I'm passionate about a subject I know a bit about and care about please just try and understand.
I

Ah, I'm sorry. I guess we had a bit of a miscommunication about the chicken-hen thing! I agree with you to an extent about the rooster issue, and I really admire your devotion to your ideas and passions and I'm sure you've made a difference. It's all the different opinions that make this forum truly what it is. As long as you're not being short-sided or condescending (and I am NOT accusing you of doing that) keep doing what you're doing!

 

[Shadrach]

Ah, I'm sorry. I guess we had a bit of a miscommunication about the chicken-hen thing! I agree with you to an extent about the rooster issue, and I really admire your devotion to your ideas and passions and I'm sure you've made a difference. It's all the different opinions that make this forum truly what it is. As long as you're not being short-sided or condescending (and I am NOT accusing you of doing that) keep doing what you're doing!

Absolutely no need for an apology.

 

[Awestruck]

Trying to push him away and showing anger to him probably won't work. Dealing with animals is very different than dealing with people! I would get angry with my rooster, and it made him more aggressive against me. I talk to him and pet him, etc. and he walks the other way.

 

[McKennA]

Honestly, I would get rid rid of him. Although, culling is a perfectly acceptable way to deal with a jerk rooster, imo, you don't have to cull, you can sell him, or give him away. Just be sure to disclose that he is human aggressive, so they know what they are getting. We had one that was human aggressive, tried the various "show him who is boss" techniques that didn't work, and one that was a jerk to the hens, we don't have them anymore.

The rooster we have now is good to the hens, and a well behaved boy around humans also. Anyone can go out in our pen, man, woman, child, and he is the same well mannered, non threatening rooster to everyone. He was that way from the very beginning.

I am sure that there are some instances where you can modify behavior, or learn to coexist with a less than ideal rooster, but I don't think human aggressive roosters are worth the hassle or the risk.