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

[Lisa Wood]

How old is the "roo" you are talking about? If he's under a year old, he's a cockerel, and still immature. That is a whole different ball game than a mature rooster. 

So does behavior significantly change upon maturity? Should we just throw bad behaviors out till they are a year old?

 

[Lisa Wood]

How do things work if he has no penis? No wonder the females are not interested?

 

[bobbi-j]

You are so worried about your older hen, why not seperate them? Ok, all mine are 13 weeks, raised together. He doesnt find food, but he will back off treats I am hand feeding, and wait untill the girls take treat, then he takes last. They are not free ranged, but he us protective, has to know where they are and what they are all doing, and he also makes sure they are in coop at bed time. If one is missing, somehow he knows. He doesnt catch them when he chases, but he does jump her bones from behind for a sneak attack. He did it this morning, and it upsets me cause she acts like it hurts. BUT I picked her up and went over her, (while he watches me) and he left no mark. And they raise a ruckuss when I pick them up, and I am not hurting them. BUT this is the first time I have heard someone else disagree with nonconsentual sex (rape?) The only times I have seen other animals jumped by a male, the female put him in his place. My roo is going for my little legbars, cause the big girls can fight him off. Then again, how much is a learning curve with him? He is only 13 weeks?

As you said, you're not hurting them either, when you pick them up and they scream bloody murder. As Aart said in the thread you started, it's normal chicken behavior. Chickens do not "rape". They are mating, and it is instinctual behavior. "Rape" is a human thing, meant to be violent and degrading. Larger animals - you mentioned horses - in your other thread will allow breeding/mating to happen because they are in season, (or in heat, if you prefer that term). Their hormones are telling them it needs to happen NOW. (Have you ever observed a mare in heat?) The males usually do not try to breed a female that is not in heat. They don't get the signal from her (someone help me out here - is is pheremones?) that tell them it's go time. The thing with chickens is, cockerels mature sexually earlier than pullets. They are suddenly hit with an onslaught of hormones that are screaming at him, "Breed! Breed NOW!" But the pullets aren't ready yet, so they're wondering what in the heck is going on. That's why they make a ruckus - just like when you pick them up.

Yes yes yes please! With cherries on top!

I'm going to leave that to Centrarchid. He can do a better job of explaining it than I can. He's quite knowledgeable.

So does behavior significantly change upon maturity? Should we just throw bad behaviors out till they are a year old?

It can. Just as with humans, or any other animal - once the hormones level off, they tend to settle down.
It depends on what you call "bad behaviors". If they're acting out toward you, I would suggest immediate correction. Walk through them, keep them wondering where you are. Let them know that you are the boss. If they are being aggressive toward your pullets you may want to separate him until he's a bit older.
Can I ask why you are keeping your cockerel? You don't really NEED one if you're not planning on breeding and hatching out from your flock. (Which would result in more cockerels for you to deal with).

How do things work if he has no penis? No wonder the females are not interested?

Aart explained it in very good detail in your thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1128834/is-it-me-or-the-rooster#post_17430645. In case you missed it, here you go:
Point of lay is when pullets start laying eggs, meaning they are sexually mature and will usually submit to mating soon before beginning to lay.
A 'good', mature cockbird will not mount a pullet that is not sexually mature....a young cockerel will try to mount anything it can.
Some cockerels are more discerning than others, some are so rambunctious that folks will separate them until they and the pullets are more mature.

CR is correct, male chickens do not have a penis...the male and female touch their vents together, often called the 'cloacal kiss', the male releases sperm which the female draws into her vent and is moved 'upstream' to where it can fertilize a yolk......that little shake a bird give s after being mated helps it along the way.

 

[newhamplover]

So does behavior significantly change upon maturity? Should we just throw bad behaviors out till they are a year old?

Yes it does. I consider Harry to be a great roo. That is him in my avatar. But when he was a teenager did he do wild stuff? Some. He raised his hackles at me a few times, mostly in the morning when he first came out of the coop. One time he flew up at my husband but never with his spurs. He had went all night & was primed. I would laugh at him & say oh Mister Harry is really feeling frogy this morning. He wanted to be a little over aggressive on the 2 young hens but Miss Henrietta taught him proper roo behavior very quickly. One day she went head to head with him like 2 roos. She flogged the heck out of him. From that time on he started learning to be a real gentleman. He is about 2 1/2 now & there has been no aggressive behavior since he was a young teenager. In fact with the young 5 month roos he really should have been but never from the time they started going to the yard did he ever lay a beak on them. Alice got a hold of them a few times but they needed more. It is much better in my opinion if you have an older hen to teach them manners & proper behavior. IMO people can't do the proper teaching.

 

[newhamplover]

nstinctual behavior. "Rape" is a human thing, meant to be violent and degrading. Larger animals - you mentioned horses - in your other thread will allow breeding/mating to happen because they are in season, (or in heat, if you prefer that term). Their hormones are telling them it needs to happen NOW. (Have you ever observed a mare in heat?) The males usually do not try to breed a female that is not in heat. They don't get the signal from her (someone help me out here - is is pheremones?) that tell them it's go time.

One of the most interesting things about horses is that they come in heat every 21 days. They will breed when they are in heat but they will not get pregnant unless it is the right time of the year. Only in spring will they produce a follicle. When the sunlight starts to lengthen so that their foal will be born the following spring when conditions are best for its survival. I am always amazed at Mother Nature.

 

[3girlz]

It sure sounds like it! Mating with out permission, excessive mating, too rough, etc. Is one thing (and bad behavior too) but any rooster that excludes flock members from food and from the coop is DEFINITELY a bad roo and should probably be rehomed or culled from the flock. Or maybe he will griw up and mature. How old is he?

He is 18 weeks, but was friendly until about 3 weeks ago !

 

[bobbi-j]

He is 18 weeks, but was friendly until about 3 weeks ago !

Sounds about right. That's around the age when hormones start surging.

 

[ShrekDawg]

He is 18 weeks, but was friendly until about 3 weeks ago !

Sounds about right. That's around the age when hormones start surging.

I agree. Hormones are just coming in. Hopefully he calms down

 

[Hens2Horses]

My rooster (unknown breed) is extremely aggressive to humans and attacks often. He fluffs out his mane and jumps on legs while clawing with his spur. I have found making loud noises and approaching the rooster would make him stop. But he is really great with the hens and new female juneviles we have in the coop and has even distracted a young hawk from taking the hens

 

[coop410silkies]

This is a very interesting point. The results are varied, I find. My Partridge Silkie (he was only a Silkie but had a good jump in him) was trained not to attack me but would attack other people. My Blue Faverolle, however, was all peace with everyone and anyone. I have heard of roosters that were never able to be trained, some people can put up with getting kicked and pecked in the chook pen but others choose to cull or rehome. If you aren't up for rehoming or culling, the best thing you can do is keep his spurs trimmed and maybe locked in a pen when visitors come by. I think it comes down to the individual bird, it would be interesting to hear the result for other people of these techniques used on aggressive birds.

I consider myself new to chickens, still, and am learning about roosters - because I have so many. My first rooster, a RIR, is not a friendly guy, and he is a perfect Roo: he provides for his flock and is not aggressive towards hens, cockerels, or me. He just does his job, impartially. I have maybe a dozen LS roosters: they are all large, trusting, wonderful fowl who treat their hens well and protect their chicks; they neither fear nor are aggressive toward me or any other human. It never occurs to me to watch my back when I'm in their pens. I am sure there is a genetic component here. On the other hand, the Roosters from each of three lines of SS have ALL been incorrigibly aggressive. I do not handle any of my birds, and I've generally subscribed to the theory that if I show no harmful intent, the birds will not see me as a threat and will not be motivated to attack. It did not work at all this way for these cocks; a lot of the aggression occurred at feeding time, when they punished the hens for gathering around me, and attacked me for being there. They defended large territories. They attacked only people they knew whom they did not fear. They teamed up in pairs to attack me, and they attacked my huge dog. They brutalized the hens, kept them in the coops and away from food. I made a switch and started switching them when they started in on me or the hens, and it worked for awhile, but you always had to have a switch in your hand, just in case. And they WOULD go back to being aggressive after awhile. I decided, then, that maybe I had to give them a little more to respect, and I started using a fishing net to net them and pin them down, at first when they were aggressive, and then while I was doing tasks. Worked well when I had the net at hand. One day as I was coming up from the field through the gate, a SS cock came shooting out of the coop and hit me in the knee. I couldn't walk for three days and I thought I was permanently crippled. I bought a pellet gun and he was stew the next weekend. I ended up terminating all but two of my SS roos being grown out for breeding purposes. They're not the best conformed, but they have yet to attack anything. The culled cocks were all friendly and extroverted as young cockerels; while not handled a lot, they were very accustomed to and unafraid of humans. I will never trust a friendly SS cockerel again. There are aggressive fowl like this out there, and I'd sooner try to tame a wild lion than to try to rehabilitate one of these. You will NEVER be able to trust them completely, and you'd have to keep them so micromanaged to be safe, they'd be better off culled. I have a number of Silkie roos, some of which were human aggressive as adolescents but have chilled out in adulthood. Sometimes the roos aid and abet each other, and separating them is all it takes to reform them. I consider the Silkies rehabilitated, easily with the net. It depends a lot on the genetics of your birds and how much time and energy and material you are willing to expend on keeping you and others safe.