Training a Rooster.

[centrarchid]

I think the rooster will end up dead or re-homed,

 

[mosse71]

I've been handling chickens for 35 yrs. handling a rooster against his will asserts dominance over him and puts him in his place. if i still get attacked, i grab him any way possible and hold him firmly but gently until he stops fighting. then release. stopped the problem in its tracks.

 

[Old Ben]

I think the rooster will end up dead or re-homed,

Not extremely helpful without additional information.

 

[centrarchid]

Not extremely helpful without additional information.

I keep a lot of roosters. None are problematic. Some are tame to the extreme as used for work around kids and others with little or no familiarity with chickens.

Stop engaging rooster in an aggressive or passive manner.

Post pictures of him, close up and a few feet away. Lets see how you are behaving through those images.

 

[adstowe]

Centrarchid has extensive experience with roosters and will probably give you much better advice, but for what it's worth this is my approach. I've had quite a few roosters and what I've narrowed it down to is - I don't interact with my roosters unless I have to. I ignore them and and let them do their thing. If one is in my way I do "walk through it", but that's not any different than I do with the hens, my dogs, horses (when I used to have them) etc. I'm the human. If you want to get in front of me while I'm walking I'm not going to change course, you are. I don't try and force dominance on them. That was what I tried with my first couple and it failed, at their expense. I just completely ignore them and in exchange they ignore me and give me my space. They see me every day and I'm confident yet non challenging. They know I'm not a threat or a victim. I'm just another feature in their environment.

 

[BantyChooks]

I have a link in my signature to how I handle roosters. Others have more experience with me, but what I list there is what I've seen and hold to be true at this moment. Basically, I'm trying to get comfort without familiarity. I don't want them watching their backs whenever I'm outside, because then they see me as a threat, but I also want them to scoot if they get into my personal space.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I think your sending mix messages and I would stop the staring. Staring is challenging him, so you are technically setting him up to fail. At this point you want him to give you space. You walk through the area like you own it. If he doesn't move out of the way, then you make him move. I don't think stomping is the answer there either--another challenge in his eyes. You can carry around a long stick, broom, etc. This can block him if he decides to flog and you can gently move him out of your way with the stick. I don't believe in that whole dominance thing with people, dogs and add roosters to the list. In most cases you will do more harm then good and are setting them up to fail. From what I am seeing most people that do this,have no problem culling the rooster, which kind of makes me mad because they created the problem and because things didn't go their way the rooster pays for it.

They do learn. Mine knows his name, he knows the girls names. When I tell him to go check whatever girl--he goes right to her. They definitely can be trained.

I ignore my roo when in the run. I walk past him, don't stare him down, no alpha rolls here. He behaves well.
I agree with your sentiments regarding dogs as well. People think they need to be an alpha in order to control their dog and then end up with behavior problems. I can see how this same attitude would work towards training roosters to be on guard all of the time (as well as drakes).

 

[Lady J]

Taming him and being gentle is asking for trouble in a cockerel, grab him and hold him roughly if you have to. Acting friendly and gentle towards a cockerel can start promoting him to take advantage of you and will reinforce aggressive behavior. Five months is still early to determine if you rooster will actually be friendly in the long run. Mine was starting get leery of me at 5 months of age then started charging and attacking at 7 months (so it did take a while.) Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying there are no friendly lap birds out there who are roosters, there can be but that is usually rare cases. Roosters that are intimidated of their owners usually turn out to be the best ones.[/QUOTE

Taming him and being gentle is asking for trouble in a cockerel, grab him and hold him roughly if you have to. Acting friendly and gentle towards a cockerel can start promoting him to take advantage of you and will reinforce aggressive behavior. Five months is still early to determine if you rooster will actually be friendly in the long run. Mine was starting get leery of me at 5 months of age then started charging and attacking at 7 months (so it did take a while.) Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying there are no friendly lap birds out there who are roosters, there can be but that is usually rare cases. Roosters that are intimidated of their owners usually turn out to be the best ones.

Granted, I am new to chicken ownership and have learned a lot from experienced people such as you on this site. I do, however, have a lifetime of experience with other animals. What you suggest almost sounds like "breaking" a horse (treating it rough) vs "putting it under saddle" (patient, methodical teaching & training). You may be 100% correct. I may be asking for trouble. Where this rooster is concerned, I prefer to first try to "put him under saddle" until he gives some indication that I need to change tactics and "break" him. I may live to regret it, but I have to try.

 

[alexa009]

Granted, I am new to chicken ownership and have learned a lot from experienced people such as you on this site. I do, however, have a lifetime of experience with other animals. What you suggest almost sounds like "breaking" a horse (treating it rough) vs "putting it under saddle" (patient, methodical teaching & training). You may be 100% correct. I may be asking for trouble. Where this rooster is concerned, I prefer to first try to "put him under saddle" until he gives some indication that I need to change tactics and "break" him. I may live to regret it, but I have to try.

I agree with your method completely of a more gentle and patient way of training him and asserting your dominance. However, your cockerel would definitely be regarding you as suspicious at this point. The fact that your cockerel does not like being caught is a good thing. He knows that your in charge and will probably never attempt to try and charge you. When I had gotten my first rooster I usually would hold him and cuddle up with him everyday and this turned out to be a mistake.

 

[Biddybot]

What you do will depend on what it is exactly that you want from your chickens. Are they simply suppliers of eggs and occasional meat or are you interested in their behaviours and want to make pets of them? I appreciate my chickens as pets with benefits and really enjoy watching them live and do their thing in semi-natural flocks and because of that I tame or train, if you will, them all so I can get up close and personal with them while they go about their business and without them freaking out when I do interact with them. That means teaching each bird to accept being handled early on and that interacting with humans in general will do them no harm and might even be kind of pleasant. This is really no different than giving a puppy or foal or even a 4-H calf its own first lessons in how to behave around humans and tolerating the various things we want them to wear or to do. And while I don't think you can speak of chickens learning to be obedient, I do think they can get into the habit of being compliant if you're consistent in your own behaviour while you train them and interact with them.

There's also a major health benefit to having chickens that are used to being handled and aren't stressed out by it. It means you can easily monitor their weight and closely examine them on a routine, ongoing basis--which you should be doing anyway IMO--and if there ever is a medical emergency, you'll be able to readily catch your patient by just walking over and picking it up. My one olive egger pullet's tameness paid off big-time not that long ago when she began choking on some feed while outside and free up near the pens. I was able to just closely watch her at first, and once it became obvious that she was in trouble, was able to just lift her up on one of my knees while I sat on their park bench and then work on her with both hands while she continued to simply stand there, completely unrestrained. I don't know what might have happened had I needed to chase her around the yard in order to catch her. The sheer panic of trying to evade me might have proven too much for a bird having breathing difficulties and killed her. Instead, she cooperated fully, remained calm, and the issue was resolved.

Teaching a chicken to accept being picked up and held is also a low-key, non-confrontation method of enforcing your dominance which becomes especially valuable when dealing with roosters-to-be or even a new rooster. Roosters--again IMO--don't respond well when you use aggressive means to 'train' them. Yes, you can use rough methods or inflict pain that may well succeed in causing them to fear and avoid you, but honestly, what does that really say about you, that you're okay with your animals fearing you? Are you okay with your kids fearing you too? Your partner or your spouse? And the frank fact is that you can never fully trust an animal that only stays out of your way because it fears you. Some species are positively vindictive and I believe that chickens are among them. Roosters especially will remember every little slight and bit of ill treatment dealt them and may eventually retaliate if they see an opportunity to do so. On the other hand, they are equally appreciative of kindness and gentle handling and I've found that the majority of them will respond very well to positive-reinforcement type training. There's a pretty good article being featured on this site right now about how to train a chicken for show handling, and honestly, even if you never get past teaching your bird to accept being picked up and held and posed on a table--or your knee--without restraint, you'll have a very good start on establishing a respectful relationship with your rooster based on something a little more palatable than inflicting pain and fear.

Well, just my two cents worth. But then, I've always been a hen and rooster hugger!