Tips on working with a mean 2 year old rooster?

[ChickenCanoe]

When it comes to roosters and kids, I put kids first. Depending on the age of the kids it he were mine, he would be invited to dinner.

And no, he doesn't need to bring wine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not all roosters are prone to be human aggressive. Some breeds are more so than others.
Their main jobs are protecting their flock, breeding and finding food for the flock.
Their first priority is protecting the hens and how we move around them can sometimes give them the wrong impression. Young children tend to run around putting the rooster on guard. Handling hens during the day is also a bad idea with a rooster in the flock.

 

[mctom]

Don't blame yourself by thinking that you caused his aggression because you did not handle him much as a chick. Our first rooster was handled daily and hand fed to tame him because I had read that doing so would make it less likely that he would be aggressive. Not true. He clearly doesn't see us as a threat but he does try to attack and dominate us. (Perhaps due to seeing us as members of his flock?) Our second rooster was hen raised, with us around daily, but he was not handled at all. He has never shown any aggression toward us. I think that its just the luck of the draw what kind of rooster you get.

 

[hysop]

Have had a few roosters that met there maker from attacking the wife. My opinion is once they start attacking it is hard to get them to stop, they may seem to calm down but than a week later there back at the attitude again. Last thing you want is anyone nervous about being out with your flock. The experience with the birds should always be good for kids ect.

Yes, he is not free ranging anymore because I’m not a gambling person and in the past he’s calmed down and then out of the blue he went back to his attacking ways. He’s doing good right now so I have no intentions on making him chicken stew. He is really good with his hens so that’s a plus.

Any progress I see with him just gives me confidence that his aggression is due to wanting to protect his flock and not due to some aggressive gene so I will hatch some chicks with his genes.

Regardless my goal is for all my birds to be hatched at home which means eventually everyone who was shipped or store-bought will be food unless I find a buyer who would buy them for the amount of meat I’d get out of em.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't blame yourself by thinking that you caused his aggression because you did not handle him much as a chick. Our first rooster was handled daily and hand fed to tame him because I had read that doing so would make it less likely that he would be aggressive. Not true. He clearly doesn't see us as a threat but he does try to attack and dominate us. (Perhaps due to seeing us as members of his flock?) Our second rooster was hen raised, with us around daily, but he was not handled at all. He has never shown any aggression toward us. I think that its just the luck of the draw what kind of rooster you get.

X2
On the contrary, I believe the more handling and the calmer the breed, that can possibly increase the potential for aggression because they aren't afraid of the owner.
I never handle any of my birds during the day. I've had over 30 breeds of chickens and probably at least 15 breeds of roosters - everything from Rocks, JGs, Jaers, Leghorns, Polish, Buttercups, Cochins, etc..
I've only been attacked by calm, docile breeds like Plymouth Rocks. In the last several years, I've only raised one breed, which people call flighty. I think that is a misnomer. They are aloof and avoid human contact. That prevents them from wanting to be human aggressive. I've easily had over a hundred of these roosters and not one has ever showed any propensity to aggression. This may have been a different story if I had small children running around and handling hens. In that case, the rooster's only conclusion would be that he needed to go into protection mode.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

In a previous aggressive rooster thread I discussed Raptor, one of my RJF hybrids, that was human aggressive. I've since given him to family, but I can vouch for some of the info given in this thread.

Raptor absolutely read my body language. My 40 acre farm is in the middle of the woods and its full of venomous snakes. When I'm doing work out away from the house out in the woods or the blueberry fields I often wear knee-high snake boots. When I'm in the yard or around the barn and chicken coops, I'm barefoot and in shorts. When Raptor started puffing up at me and charging but stopping just short of me, I'd smack the crud out of him with my foot or a stick. Once I hit him so hard as to possibly break a wing or a rib based on how it changed how he carried his wing. As time went on he went to flogging me and I'd give him a wide birth if I didn't have a stick in my hand. He's hit my calf when my back was turned. But when I was in snake boots, he wouldn't touch me. He'd run if I walked close. I carried myself differently because I knew he couldn't hurt me.

When his spurs developed I locked him up and recently gave him to my mother to be her brood rooster. She tamed him within a week. Now he's as friendly to her as can be. First, she has no fear of him. She's a tough old Cracker woman who's been handling roosters her whole life and simply lacks a fear of a flogging rooster that I have. Second, Raptor probably hated me personally because of how I'd beat him down for showing the slightest aggression to me. Raptor's brothers were given to other family members and although they all puff up like he started with me, their owners don't hit them and the puffing never progressed to flogging.

I do have to disagree with the notion that human flogging is normal behavior from roosters to be accepted if one is to keep roosters. None of my childhood roosters displayed any human aggression across several breeds, and my dominant rooster Hei Hei, who is also a RJF hybrid, was dominant over Raptor but is as friendly to me as can be. I do believe that sometimes human aggression is a manifestation of insecurity. Those very confident roosters I've known were always fine with humans. And where all of the brothers from my first RJFH brood showed human aggression at adolescence, except 1, and the 1 looks physically different than the other brothers that share among themselves nearly identical traits, I do suspect human aggression also often a genetic trait. I do agree with the notion of trading out roosters until you get the one you want. When everything is said and done, they're just chickens. Trade away until you get one that suits you.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Also, Raptor took a strange interest in me since he was a few weeks old. He always stopped what he was doing and left the group of bitties to fly up and look me in the eye. Although he wouldn't puff up at me then.

 

[hysop]

In a previous aggressive rooster thread I discussed Raptor, one of my RJF hybrids, that was human aggressive. I've since given him to family, but I can vouch for some of the info given in this thread.

Raptor absolutely read my body language. My 40 acre farm is in the middle of the woods and its full of venomous snakes. When I'm doing work out away from the house out in the woods or the blueberry fields I often wear knee-high snake boots. When I'm in the yard or around the barn and chicken coops, I'm barefoot and in shorts. When Raptor started puffing up at me and charging but stopping just short of me, I'd smack the crud out of him with my foot or a stick. Once I hit him so hard as to possibly break a wing or a rib based on how it changed how he carried his wing. As time went on he went to flogging me and I'd give him a wide birth if I didn't have a stick in my hand. He's hit my calf when my back was turned. But when I was in snake boots, he wouldn't touch me. He'd run if I walked close. I carried myself differently because I knew he couldn't hurt me.

When his spurs developed I locked him up and recently gave him to my mother to be her brood rooster. She tamed him within a week. Now he's as friendly to her as can be. First, she has no fear of him. She's a tough old Cracker woman who's been handling roosters her whole life and simply lacks a fear of a flogging rooster that I have. Second, Raptor probably hated me personally because of how I'd beat him down for showing the slightest aggression to me. Raptor's brothers were given to other family members and although they all puff up like he started with me, their owners don't hit them and the puffing never progressed to flogging.

I do have to disagree with the notion that human flogging is normal behavior from roosters to be accepted if one is to keep roosters. None of my childhood roosters displayed any human aggression across several breeds, and my dominant rooster Hei Hei, who is also a RJF hybrid, was dominant over Raptor but is as friendly to me as can be. I do believe that sometimes human aggression is a manifestation of insecurity. Those very confident roosters I've known were always fine with humans. And where all of the brothers from my first RJFH brood showed human aggression at adolescence, except 1, and the 1 looks physically different than the other brothers that share among themselves nearly identical traits, I do suspect human aggression also often a genetic trait. I do agree with the notion of trading out roosters until you get the one you want. When everything is said and done, they're just chickens. Trade away until you get one that suits you.

I was just talking to my husband and he told me that even as a young cockerel he was feisty and would peck at him but back then he was young with no spurs and the bites weren’t bad. So I guess he may just be rough rooster. He does real well at protecting his flock so I’ll give him that. But I do think with us it won’t ever be a friendly relationship just maybe a tolerable one since my husband did show aggression back.

 

[Folly's place]

I have had several cockerels and cock birds at once for decades, and can handle any bird in the flock during the day, or whenever, without being attacked. Not that most want to be picked up, I'm not 'petting' them, but if necessary, i can hold a bird without fearing any of the roosters.
Mary

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Raptor's brothers were given to other family members and although they all puff up like he started with me, their owners don't hit them and the puffing never progressed to flogging.

I have to make a correction. A short time ago I received some updated pictures of Raptor's brother and the owner told me he has progressed to flogging.