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

[islandgirl82]

Some roosters are really amazing flock members that knows their place and looks after their flocks without ever causing issues, or show signs of aggression towards his hens, or humans. But sometimes a problem rooster crops up that shows either excessive aggression to his hens, or attacks humans. In this thread, please tell me your thoughts on how to best manage an aggressive rooster, specifically:

- What was your experience(s) with aggressive roosters and what did you try/do to remedy it?
- Should aggressive roosters be rehabilitated, rehomed, or invited for dinner?

Thank you for posing this question. I've had a few roosters, some good experiences, others not so much and after recently acquiring a new Dominique cockerel, despite his calm, gentle disposition, especially compared to my other cockerels/roosters, has had me suspicious and searching through threads on early warning signs of aggression because I don't want to be caught off guard though from what I've been told/read, he's a great one.

The worst was a cockerel that we hatched in an incubator in my son's kindergarten class. He was handled A LOT from day one right up until he reached that obnoxious teenage phase and became next to impossible to catch. I kept him for just over a year before culling him from my flock. He bit me once and drew blood. That day he almost lost his head to my 180lb Newfoundland who went after him for hurting me (though I called the dog off so he never got ahold of the cockerel). He never messed with me again. From that day forward my Newfie always kept a close eye on him. The cockerel was absolutely rotten to my hens. Those who wouldn't submit, he would attack relentlessly. He wouldn't let them in the coop to lay their eggs or to roost at night and had divided my flock into two. Even my Newfie and a West Highland Terrier I had at the time would chase him away from the girls and then sit with them to make sure he left them alone. I decided to give him to someone I knew intended on eating him and was fine with that. When he brought him home and put him in with his own flock, he had two other roosters to contend with and I was told he became head rooster in about 10 minutes. He still lives to this day though I haven't seen him, I hear he's calmed down a lot and doesn't mistreat anyone.

 

[Blooie]

"Dinner is default for parties without lots of rooster experience". I do not say "only parties without lots of experience have dinner as the default" which you appear to be assuming. I use dinner option as well and did it just the other day. I take even further by removing that rooster's offspring from consideration as brood fowl.

I stand corrected. I did misinterpret your statement and I apologize for that. <Sigh> Sometimes this isn't the clearest way to communicate ideas, is it?

 

[Mrs. K]

Quote: I think this is a common misconception with roosters, based on experience with mammals such as puppies and kittens. Chickens society is different. In chicken society, fear equals respect. If the rooster is not a bit afraid of you, he does not respect you. Animals fear the unusual, so if you handle the bird, and make a pet of him, he does not fear you, and expects to dominate you when he comes into his own. You want him to be a bit unsure of you, hence the advice of walking toward him until he moves out of your way, and not petting and holding him.

Now there is no way to raise a perfect rooster, as they have a very small brain and a huge amount of hormones. Some roosters are just demons, and can seriously be dangerous. People with experience, tend to recognize this early, and cull the bird. A rotten rooster can ruin the whole hobby. In my opinion, if you are going to keep a rooster, you need to be able to cull him if it does not work out. Sometimes it doesn't. If you can't cull a bird, just have all hens. I always recommend just keeping hens the first year and get some experience. A rooster that suddenly attacks a person, has probably been giving signs of a possible attack for some time period, but and inexperienced person has not recognized those signals.

A 4 week old rooster is like a child, he is just trying to stay alive and grow, has no ideas of the duties of a rooster. Teen age roosters, about 10-18 weeks are often only interested in sex, generally are much bigger than the pullets, who are not yet interested, and because of the size difference can really bully the pullets. It is not until a rooster in getting near a year old, that they truly become a benefit to the flock as for awareness of their surroundings, awareness of where their girls are, and finding good food and tidbits for their girls. I do find my mature rooster to be a protective (but not fool proof) strategy for my flock.

Mrs K

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a five month old Blue Andalusian rooster. He is gorgeous, good to the hens, and even tolerates the Silver-spangled Hamburg rooster well. My husband and I held him as a chick but gave him space as he got older. Now he is the biggest chicken in the flock and is developing large spurs. He usually looks at me as I walk through the run or coop to make sure I am not causing trouble, but he usually keeps his distance and stays calm. This morning he tried challenging me and almost head-butted my leg. Is it typical for roosters to become aggressive gradually when nothing has changed in the coop (that I know of)? Should I be worried that he might attack? I have no problem making him dinner if he gets mean, but I am hoping it won't come to that.

You either have to immediately go into high alert dominance training or cull him IMO.

Dominance training: Walk through him, never go around. Where ever he happens to be, make him move. Carry a light wt stick, and use it to tap his tail feathers to direct him where you want him to go. If he gives you the stink eye, or shows ANY aggressive tendencies, including LOOKING LIKE HE'S THINKING BAD THOUGHTS TOWARDS YOU! use that stick to chase him around the yard a bit. Make him run until he's diving for cover (or until you are out of breath, which ever comes first... but don't let him know he wore you out!) If it's a young boy that you can easily manage, pick him up, and secure him in a foot ball hold. Use your other hand to push his head down below chest level. Hold it there until he voluntarily keeps it there when you remove your hand. The next step is to lower him to the ground, while still restraining him. Once his feet hit the ground, he'll start struggling. Maintain your restraint, and again push his head down, and hold it there till he willingly submits. If he starts to struggle when you slowly release him, resume your restraint and push his head down till you can take your hands off him, and he will maintain that submissive position for a bit.

I have a 4week old RIR roo and I keep seeing that I shouldn't make a pet out of him, I just want him to protect my 8 pullets and to be nice to people, I thought holding him more at young age would get him friendly? Please help! P.S. right now he runs and chirps like a coward every time I try to get him. And he could care less when the ladies are freaking out.
Thank you!

IMO, you are doing well. Keep an arms distance from him, chase him away from the pullets and food occasionally. Roosters should not be pets.

I think this is a common misconception with roosters, based on experience with mammals such as puppies and kittens. Chickens society is different. In chicken society, fear equals respect. If the rooster is not a bit afraid of you, he does not respect you. Animals fear the unusual, so if you handle the bird, and make a pet of him, he does not fear you, and expects to dominate you when he comes into his own. You want him to be a bit unsure of you, hence the advice of walking toward him until he moves out of your way, and not petting and holding him.

Now there is no way to raise a perfect rooster, as they have a very small brain and a huge amount of hormones. Some roosters are just demons, and can seriously be dangerous. People with experience, tend to recognize this early, and cull the bird. A rotten rooster can ruin the whole hobby. In my opinion, if you are going to keep a rooster, you need to be able to cull him if it does not work out. Sometimes it doesn't. If you can't cull a bird, just have all hens. I always recommend just keeping hens the first year and get some experience. A rooster that suddenly attacks a person, has probably been giving signs of a possible attack for some time period, but and inexperienced person has not recognized those signals.

A 4 week old rooster is like a child, he is just trying to stay alive and grow, has no ideas of the duties of a rooster. Teen age roosters, about 10-18 weeks are often only interested in sex, generally are much bigger than the pullets, who are not yet interested, and because of the size difference can really bully the pullets. It is not until a rooster in getting near a year old, that they truly become a benefit to the flock as for awareness of their surroundings, awareness of where their girls are, and finding good food and tidbits for their girls. I do find my mature rooster to be a protective (but not fool proof) strategy for my flock.

Mrs K

Excellent post!!!

 

[cdreamer698]

First time chicken mom here so I need some advice ......We have a 5 month Old English game bantam cockerel that we have had since he was a week old.Over the past month he has gotten VERY aggressive with humans and our 4 hens. He is a cute miniature 2 legged feathered terror. He chases our guests, and everyone in the family. Anyone who goes near him, the hens or even outside gets flogged, bitten or challenged. Although hes going to stay a little guy, my biggest concern is my 8 year old daughter who adores him, she has been the ONLY one able to hold him or be close to him. That abruptly changed over the weekend,as he started showing signs of aggression towards her as well. The last straw was last night while we were sitting on the porch he ran up and attacked my husband scratching and biting his hand and left nasty marks.
My daughter loves her chickens, and spends time feeding them and caring for them daily (her four girls are the sweetest), so telling her that her beloved Rocky is a nightmare and needs to go will be hard for us and for her but I refuse to let him get the opportunity to hurt her. My question is .... Are all roosters this way? If not, what breed of rooster can we get to protect my hens but wont get aggressive with us or the kids? My husband is ready to throw him on the grill for mauling his hand....

 

[bobbi-j]

[COLOR=1D2129]First time chicken mom here so I need some advice ......We have a 5 month Old English game bantam cockerel that we have had since he was a week old.Over the past month he has gotten VERY aggressive with humans and our 4 hens. He is a cute miniature 2 legged feathered terror. He chases our guests, and everyone in the family. Anyone who goes near him, the hens or even outside gets flogged, bitten or challenged. Although hes going to stay a little guy, my biggest concern is my 8 year old daughter who adores him, she has been the ONLY o[/COLOR]ne able to hold him or be close to him. That abruptly changed over the weekend,as he started showing signs of aggression towards her as well. The last straw was last night while we were sitting on the porch he ran up and attacked my husband scratching and biting his hand and left nasty marks. My daughter loves her chickens, and spends time feeding them and caring for them daily (her four girls are the sweetest), so telling her that her beloved Rocky is a nightmare and needs to go will be hard for us and for her but I refuse to let him get the opportunity to hurt her. My question is .... Are all roosters this way? If not, what breed of rooster can we get to protect my hens but wont get aggressive with us or the kids? My husband is ready to throw him on the grill for mauling his hand....

No, not all roosters are this way. I would suggest, though, that if your daughter wants chickens as pets, you avoid getting another rooster. In my opinion, a good rooster avoids all contact with me. He moves away when I come near. My last rooster would herd the hens away from me, too. I think your daughter will have a better chance of keeping her hens as pets without a rooster for that very reason. They will depend more upon her than him. Kids are resilient - if you can tell her in a very matter-of-fact manner that Rocky has to go, she'll deal with it much better than if you act like it's a tragedy. It is, in fact, a part of chicken keeping. Sometimes you have to "manage your flock".

 

[islandgirl82]

There seems to be some conflicting advice on holding vs. not holding a cockerel/rooster. I hold my new cockerel every time he gets close enough to me for me to pick him up (which is several times a day) and don't put him down until I decide. He seems to enjoy it or at least isn't bothered by it but I also walk "through" him regularly and he does move. He's 5 months old and I was told he was not handled much by his previous keeper. Handling all members of my flock regularly matters to me so that it isn't a stressful occurrence for anyone in the event that I actually need to handle one. Is there no middle ground between having one who is comfortable being handled whilst simultaneously being respectful?

I'm noticing a running theme in males who were handled a lot as chicks being the ones who turn more often than those not being handled when very young.

 

[Mrs. K]

Quote:
CULL THIS BIRD! He is ruining the fun of chickens for you. He is giving you warnings that his attacks are going to be escalating and become more violent. This how they start to become aggressive. He is not going to get better in your set up, and he will most likely, eventually attack your husband. They generally attack children first, then women and then men. Would this bird be worth having a child attacked who came to visit you or even another woman? No.

If you cannot cull him, then put him on craigslist and let him go, do acknowledge that he has attacked you. Don't ask what the new owners are going to do with him.

To catch him, wait until they roost and it is full dark. Take a towel down and wear gloves and a sweatshirt. Keeping the flashlight pointed down, just enough so you can see, hold the towel ends in each hand, flip the middle over the top of him, covering his head, and grasp the bird near the wings and hold on tight. Pull him off the roost and place in a cage.
If you can cull him, but don't want to eat him, put him under a new rose bush.

Mrs K

 

[cdreamer698]

Thanks for the info....since she does treat them like her pets I can understand why a rooster wouldn't be a good fit in the flock. I assumed because they are free range a rooster would be beneficial, but as I am reading through the threads it seems as tho they're not truly needed.

 

[cdreamer698]

Yes, our OEGB was handled daily and he has turned out to be a terror!