Tonight was the first time I had to shoot one of my chickens.

[Mother_Hen2011]

Quote:
Thanks bobbi-j i really appreciate the advice. I have one rooster 6 months old Im thinking of having culled due to him attacking my daughter.. I watched the last one just to let him know he wasnt alone. I carried him to his final resting place and let him eat a good breakfeast of scrambeld eggs and tomatoes(his favs.) Caught him walked him (what seemed forever.) Gave him some love and went to walk away and about a few secs before the shot rang I stopped and turned around and looked him in the eyes.(not a good thing for an animal lover like me.) I only did it to let him know I was there. I buried him and am making him a nice resting place. With morning glories and green grass so he always has a place to forage no matter where he may be. I love all my animals equally. I will never forget my Nermal. rest in peace little fella.

Yeah, it might help to distance yourself a little. I love my animals, too, but have learned that it's easier if you do that. I don't even name them. When it comes time to thin the flock, it's much easier to butcher and freeze "the red one" than it is to butcher and freeze "Fluffy" Keep telling yourself that he attacked your daugher - he's dangerous. He'd never be able to free range or be loose, because he could hurt your daughter. What kind of life is it for him to be locked up all the time? In a way, you're doing him a favor, too. But next time - feed him if it makes you feel better, then go get some retail therapy, or invite a friend out for coffee, or go to a park, or something. But walk away and tell yourself that this is for the best. Yep, it's hard but it's part of keeping animals.

Your right he can never be part of my flock. I cant breed aggressive.. So the best quality of life for him is not to have one. Hes attacked me my husband and my 3 year old daughter. I have to use a stick to keep him away from me when i clean out his water.. I cant reach and grab his food bowl in fear of being attacked.. i just pour it in there the best I can. You walk by the cage and he tries to get at you.. He doesn't have a life hes mean and miserable. I bought 6 chicks in April and 3 were roosters. I have the calmer of the 3 with my hens now. hes very mellow and even eats treats from her hand. hes never attacked anyone and hes very gentle with my hens as they are not laying yet. He doesn't even mount them. (Yet.) So most likely tomorrow i will have my sweet dear husband shoot the meaner one of the two as well. Him and his coop mate can be buried together and have a little patch of their own. Thanks I needed something to make me feel better about culling another one. I really appreciate it. It wont be as hard with him as it was with Nermal. So i think I will survive one more.(for now)Hopefully.

Edited for typo

 

[Ifowldown]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I'll probably get flamed for this, but this makes me sad. There is a difference between a truly aggressive roo, and one that is just working out the hormones. At 23 weeks old, they're starting to mate, and if there are 3 of them, they're going to be aggressive to anyone that comes by, especially children, just because of raging hormones. If I shot every rooster as it went through puberty, I would have been out of business long before I started.

I'm sorry your child was hurt, but the responsible thing to do is to keep them from the chickens until they're old enough to fend for themselves.

Well, I am not going to give him a second chance to take an eye out to "figure out" if he is truly aggressive. I guess if my boy lost his eye next week, then I could say, "well, I guess he was aggressive."

I have roosters because that is what I got from the straight run bin. I do not plan on breeding. I enjoy the sound of them crowing, but not as much as I enjoy my kids. Normally the chickens are in a pen, I opened the gate so I could change their water. My kids often come outside with me to do the chores. I do not want to have to worry if I turn my back for 1 second, that they may be attacked. He wasn't waving his arms or doing anything aggressive. He was just standing there.

If I need to get rid of all 3 roosters, so be it. As long as they do not try and attack my kids, they can stay, but the first sign of aggression I see, they are gone. A chickens life is not worth my kids or a neighbors kids safety. To me it is not worth the risk of waiting to "see" if they are truly aggressive.​

 

[ky-chicken-farmer]

I love my birds and would do anything for them, but i will not put up with an over aggresive bird. If we have one it goes to freezer camp. I wont keep an animal that will attack anyone. Some ppl get flogged as children and are scared of them for the rest of their lives... As a kid (7-8) my grt grandmother use to have me gather eggs, one morning her RIR rooster flogged and spurred me. She took me outside and i pointed to the bird that got me. She walked out by the bird and in one blurry sec this 82 yr old woman had snatched this bird up broke its neck and dropped it to the ground. I had never seen her move this fast in my life... We had chicken an dumplins for Sun dinner that day.... So in my opinion you did the right thing

 

[urban escapee]

Quote:
This is so awesome!! I remember feeding my great grandmothers chickens, but never had an experience like this one.

 

[mandelyn]

Yeah, you can lose an eyeball going to feed the chickens, if you're short enough.

You did the right thing with the rooster. But in the future, little kids face a lot more potential issues around innocent animals than adults and older kids. A hen could take his eye out too, just by being curious about something shiny and not even trying to be mean.

The smaller the kid, the more hidden dangers there are.

 

[moetrout]

I've had to cull a nasty roo and here is one thing I really didn't think much about until after the fact. My daughter was scared to death of our roo. I kept trying to encourage her to be the boss, she's ten so she could have done it if she could have gotten over her fear. Once I killed the roo she told me she was happy that she could once again play in the back yard. I had never realized this darn roo was keeping her from having fun in her own backyard. I also think there is a lot to be said for kids that get flogged and then fear chickens the rest of their life. Kind of a life altering event if you ask me. One roo is not worth an emotion scar on your children.

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
They mix great at my house. My two year old niece can pick up any of my girls without any issues, the 7 week old chicks will jump in her lap if she is sitting close.

We borrow a rooster for a month and he was super sweet, almost want to get one, but one of the reasons we do not have a rooster is I dont want to have to make decisions like the op did. I would definitely kill a rooster if it attacked my children.

 

[chicmom]

Yep, little tots and roosters do not mix! I would have shot him too, and never though twice about it, although, I have to say that I'm super careful about letting my granddaughter outside when the flock is out. Of course I'm always with her since she's just a little thing, but those chickens and especially the roosters are nearly as big as she is!

I've been attacked many times myself (those roosters are all history), so common sense just says,,,, not kiddies around the roosters. I even have one hen who isn't mean, but she will peck you HARD when she wants attention, so I've gotta watch her too.....

If they attack a child, they're gone! But truly, moms, ya gotta really just use your noggin'. Roosters can be dangerous. A child could lose an eye....

 

[Tripp16]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Perhaps the lesson here is not to let the chickens free range. Especially if the kids are in the yard.

X2​

 

[Ifowldown]

Quote:
X2

I agree. He isn't free ranging any more. Problem solved.