Topic of the Week - Aggressive Roosters: What is the best way to handle them?

[Shezadandy]

And shezadandy, how do you do that hold? I've tried, though maybe not right, and the chickens hated it. I try catching them by them squattinf and me grabbing them, pinning wings and putting them under my arm. But holding the wings with 2 thumbs isn't really enough since the flighty ones flap away
Aw glad to have you here!!

I had a chicken in one hand and the camera in the other, so please excuse the less-than quality.

Some are bound to need the two hand catch- roosters and chickens who don't make it easy by squatting. I'm assuming most people don't support the chicken's feet with their hands and let the feet dangle.

Once you've got the bird by whatever method is most comfortable for you (and hopefully them), I get the backwards hold first by sliding my left hand under the sternum.
I use my left hand/arm/side for holding because if I want to do something like trim feathers to get rid of a poopy-fluffy-butt with a quick feather trim or check the feet or trim the nails or look for parasites, I'm right handed so I want my right hand free.

I slide my left hand under the sternum. My left thumb is around the outside of her right (drumstick, heheh) leg, my index finger is between the two legs, and the middle finger is on the outside of her left leg. Now she is facing backwards. I can contain her legs with this hold - good leverage, also the claws are facing the opposite direction for clawing.


+


Her wings are contained between my side and my upper arm/elbow, and the hold is the same as shown above, just a bigger fluffier chicken so it's hard to see the hand.

Initially they might pitch something of a fit because it's a new feeling. With your body and arm containing the wings and the stronger part of your hand in charge of the legs, mine learned pretty quick to simmer down. The ones that get a little upset about being walked around tend to do better facing backwards.



And here's the face poking out between my side and my arm. I suppose they COULD bite from there but I haven't had any problems.

Because they can't see your hand reaching in to poke around what we want to check, they tend to sit still, and of course they don't have much of a moving target to peck at.




To set the chicken down afterwards, I just squat down, get their feet set on the surface and let go when they're calm.

Hope that helps!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I had a chicken in one hand and the camera in the other, so please excuse the less-than quality. Some are bound to need the two hand catch- roosters and chickens who don't make it easy by squatting. I'm assuming most people don't support the chicken's feet with their hands and let the feet dangle. Once you've got the bird by whatever method is most comfortable for you (and hopefully them), I get the backwards hold first by sliding my left hand under the sternum. I use my left hand/arm/side for holding because if I want to do something like trim feathers to get rid of a poopy-fluffy-butt with a quick feather trim or check the feet or trim the nails or look for parasites, I'm right handed so I want my right hand free. I slide my left hand under the sternum. My left thumb is around the outside of her right (drumstick, heheh) leg, my index finger is between the two legs, and the middle finger is on the outside of her left leg. Now she is facing backwards. I can contain her legs with this hold - good leverage, also the claws are facing the opposite direction for clawing. + Her wings are contained between my side and my upper arm/elbow, and the hold is the same as shown above, just a bigger fluffier chicken so it's hard to see the hand. Initially they might pitch something of a fit because it's a new feeling. With your body and arm containing the wings and the stronger part of your hand in charge of the legs, mine learned pretty quick to simmer down. The ones that get a little upset about being walked around tend to do better facing backwards. And here's the face poking out between my side and my arm. I suppose they COULD bite from there but I haven't had any problems. Because they can't see your hand reaching in to poke around what we want to check, they tend to sit still, and of course they don't have much of a moving target to peck at. To set the chicken down afterwards, I just squat down, get their feet set on the surface and let go when they're calm. Hope that helps!

Thanks, that's definitely helpful! Today I was able to football one of the more flighty ones and check her neck (I think she's either molting or being picked on or both), even though she moved her head a lot, about the only thing she could do is be uncooperative lol I think maybe I usually don't get her to under my arm fast enough and let her go. Some of the others football easier. They basically squat then I put them under my arm, my friend only recently taught me it and they seem to like it better cause I could never hold them before. But I'm going to need to try your backwards thing because some of the more flighty ones sometimes still get free. But maybe I don't have the wings fully under my arm? But either way, I think it would definitely make checking them easier and plus I want to start carrying some of them around. I haven't been spending that much time with them lately so even my friendliest have gotten more flighty. Obviously I need to spend time with them too and maybe some treats but I think carrying them might help them calm down. Or at least they'll learn to let me hold them to check them.

 

[Cari C]

I had a great today, though not enough time to try to catch Tobias, I made sure to walk through him and not surprisingly he hesitated a moment, like he was going to stand his ground and I just kept walking. He walked ahead of me, then banked right to clear out. I was happy. This afternoon he made sure he was on the fence, instead of the ground... he is a smart one, I can say that. Tomorrow I'll try to catch him again and if I fail, I'll hold him a bit in the evening. He knows what I'm going to do, and is perfectly quiet for it, but God forbid he lets me catch him during the day.... ergh. My hens are so easy.

On a side note, I have a chick working it's way out of the shell..... This is my second try, have had a bad run. Ground squirrels steal eggs with chicks in them - I fixed that problem, but I accidentally broke a shell when moving mama and lost a baby a few days ago, so I am praying I have a healthy live chick in the morning! I started a thread asking for advice and got one response. If I remembered the thread name I'd post it (definitely had the word HELP in it, lol), I think it was Sunday night.

 

[Shezadandy]

I had a great today, though not enough time to try to catch Tobias, I made sure to walk through him and not surprisingly he hesitated a moment, like he was going to stand his ground and I just kept walking. He walked ahead of me, then banked right to clear out. I was happy. This afternoon he made sure he was on the fence, instead of the ground... he is a smart one, I can say that. Tomorrow I'll try to catch him again and if I fail, I'll hold him a bit in the evening. He knows what I'm going to do, and is perfectly quiet for it, but God forbid he lets me catch him during the day.... ergh. My hens are so easy.

On a side note, I have a chick working it's way out of the shell..... This is my second try, have had a bad run. Ground squirrels steal eggs with chicks in them - I fixed that problem, but I accidentally broke a shell when moving mama and lost a baby a few days ago, so I am praying I have a healthy live chick in the morning! I started a thread asking for advice and got one response. If I remembered the thread name I'd post it (definitely had the word HELP in it, lol), I think it was Sunday night.

Awesome!

To find your thread, go to your screen name, which is underneath the "My Profile" tab- hover over your name, 3rd thing down is "Threads I Started"- you'll find your lost thread there.

 

[dragonbird]

I wound up with five roosters from my Spring chicks....
Mr. Ed wound up being a bit of a stink. BUT he was my favorite roo because he was so HUGE and awesome with the ladies. Soooo I put on my long sleeves and wrangled the little bugger. He fought like a warrior and I held on. After about 10 minutes of me hanging on as he tried to claw me and flail away he finally settled down. Ever since then he seems fine around me-and anyone else that comes to visit. I make sure I pick him up every few days just so he knows who is boss...he always gives me stink eye though.

 

[Lisa Wood]

Mine do not a have a confidence issue. Rather, they have a learning curve to go through even when components are hardwired by instinct as practice makes for better performance later. The clumsiness of their "aggression" comes from the mental software not being set. In some ways the aggression may be a mechanism that promotes dispersal from natal group (when that was an option in wild fowl) and an enabler for young males engaging in cuckoldry where very brief bouts of aggression make the covering of an unwilling female more likely.

Great question on clarity, though this may not be quite the place in the chicken forums;
the "we" refers to first world nations who interpret other cultures "primitive" ways (all in judgments based off what are most likely western values) which dictate that women are subordinate in cultures where they are less educated. Rural parts of India is a great example I used regarding child brides, there is international work being done to reach these young women, educate them, and bring their standard of living up to prevent more child brides. Though it is now illegal in India to marry off under age women, the custom persists due to other social expectations placed on families, usually in poorer, less educated parts of the country. I used a lot of quotations in my original post to allude to the fact that western ways are projected onto other cultures often interpreting the cultural situations as "primitive" or "uneducated" to begin with. For the birds, there is no ability to educate and empower, so the anthropomorphizing around their feelings is really about our own human emotions, not what the bird is actually experiencing. 

So, I get you point about child brides, which we have examples of in cultures here as well.

Great question on clarity, though this may not be quite the place in the chicken forums;
the "we" refers to first world nations who interpret other cultures "primitive" ways (all in judgments based off what are most likely western values) which dictate that women are subordinate in cultures where they are less educated. Rural parts of India is a great example I used regarding child brides, there is international work being done to reach these young women, educate them, and bring their standard of living up to prevent more child brides. Though it is now illegal in India to marry off under age women, the custom persists due to other social expectations placed on families, usually in poorer, less educated parts of the country. I used a lot of quotations in my original post to allude to the fact that western ways are projected onto other cultures often interpreting the cultural situations as "primitive" or "uneducated" to begin with. For the birds, there is no ability to educate and empower, so the anthropomorphizing around their feelings is really about our own human emotions, not what the bird is actually experiencing. 

Ok. This may not be the place. Do you wish to go private? What "International Work," please? I hope you dont refer to the
UN? Of course we have child brides here in US too, which can be considered better situation than child slave labor, but not good practice non the less.
At any rate, here we have the "A" word again. This thread is amusing. You dont care for the R word, I dont care for the "A" word.
To empower young women in these types of cultures, I highly suspect the way is thru ongoing financial support. I think the young brides have sizable dowries, and the majority if reasons why it is cultural problem is because of extreme poverty. But I could be wrong.
Now, about the birds........I' m sorry but I dont think I mentioned the females feelngs.Again, could be wrong. I think alot of discussion was aout the male's behavior, and ways to educate him, if he needed it, about who is top bird. And again, if someone does anthromorphize, i n my book, so what? If the chicken HAS feelngs, is that term no longer appropriate? We dont KNOW if animals have feelings, and again, research is turning conventional views on this subject on its head. During a discussion on this subject, some might say "Animals dont have feelings, proove it!" My reply is to proove they dont. Mankind always puts himself in such an elevated position. Animals cant have feelings, its their habitat till I build my house on it. After that its mine, and if animal trespasses, shoot it! With yhe current world in this state, I minimize our importance and maximize theirs. After all, they did not bring World to this undesirable situation.
As far as my feelings, I feel that I dont want conflict for any reason. If it were two girls fighting over a bug, that looked like aggression that may hurt someone, I still would not want that behavior either.
I'm starting to think you thought I had some sorr of "feeling" because I used rape. Again, which has a different definition to me and dictionary: basically sex against someones will. So while I would want it to stop, its not stop to give a chicken psychological counseling.
Now let me ask: if a working military dog is retired because of percieved stress leading to PTSD, does that also mean the military is anthropomorphizing?

 

[newhamplover]

I wound up with five roosters from my Spring chicks....
Mr. Ed wound up being a bit of a stink. BUT he was my favorite roo because he was so HUGE and awesome with the ladies. Soooo I put on my long sleeves and wrangled the little bugger. He fought like a warrior and I held on. After about 10 minutes of me hanging on as he tried to claw me and flail away he finally settled down. Ever since then he seems fine around me-and anyone else that comes to visit. I make sure I pick him up every few days just so he knows who is boss...he always gives me stink eye though.

Loved your post & pic. He looks huge & I love the big breeds too.

 

[newhamplover]

Talking to the animals works on wild rabbits too. I now have about 5 or 6 cottontails. They have gotten so tame they won't even run as I walk past them. My husband told me the other day I really needed to quit talking to them as we might be overrun with rabbits LOL.
My pullets play with them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Talking to the animals works on wild rabbits too. I now have about 5 or 6 cottontails. They have gotten so tame they won't even run as I walk past them. My husband told me the other day I really needed to quit talking to them as we might be overrun with rabbits LOL. My pullets play with them.

Ours always run, do you just talk to them or offer food? Mine actually stay put as i talk or they hop a little bit away but then when i finally get too close they take off

 

[newhamplover]

Ours always run, do you just talk to them or offer food? Mine actually stay put as i talk or they hop a little bit away but then when i finally get too close they take off

Mine used to run when you just went in the yard. Little by little they ran less & less. As they saw they were not in any kind of threat & I talk to them. Some of them, like the little one in the pic, I can get within a couple of feet. When I made that pic the other day I was sitting in the lawn chair & it came right up. The bigger ones will come up too but not that close. The other day my husband almost stepped on one. I got some rabbit food & the little one eats it but the others don't.