Vote - to cull or not to cull

[Tonyroo]

I have a 6-year granddaughter here often. I do not allow her around any of the roosters. Even if a rooster is really nice - instinct and his "rooster job" can kick in and someone can get hurt. But guess what - it is the same for dogs. No matter how long you have had a dog and let's say the dog has never been aggressive, the dog still has the capability of being aggressive if the right trigger is pushed.

Funny you mentioned that, cause 2 years ago I was selling some of my pullets to a young woman that stopped by and my dog out the blue bit her ankle and she freaked out. That has never happened before. Guess my dog hates young women.

 

[Sussex19]

I also vote cull.
We didn't have chickens when I was a kid, (so I don't know what I would have thought about being chased by a rooster) we did have a aggressive buck goat.
I would have much preferred being able to go into the paddock to care for the girl goats, without having to watch my back all the time. The terror of never knowing when or where one is going to get hurt is no joke.
You can always rescue a nice rooster that would otherwise be doomed to become soup.

 

[skeeeter]

I am afraid the reason he is going after the children is because they "loved" him so much when he was a chick. As you may know being loved by a 4, 5, 7 and 13 year old with special needs means being chased, caught, and held often. I read that article, and although it sounds promising, how do we do that with the young children? They are afraid to go outside alone at this point, even when Moonlight is no where to be seen.

Hi! I have had same scenario many times... from that I have decided a few things...: Don't get friendly with roosters when they are young. Ram lambs, billy kids, muscovy drakes, ganders and many turkey toms raised that way grow up always wanting to "wrestle" you&fam. Giving a billykid to a teenaged boy is a good thing though.. they both actually enjoy the wrestling together. (Always give kids a yardlong switch to carry when they are around any poultry bigger than pigeons. Birds are terrified of switches and R.E.S.P.E.C.T them. of course you have to keep an eye on the kids with switches, too.. both the bold ones AND the timid ones. And teach them to only tap backs and tails.. not to hurt the birds. Ok.. If you really, really, really want to try to keep that cockeral you can try shutting him up out of the way, for a couple of weeks... where he can see family and flock peacefully interacting, refilling his feed and water from outside his prison and greeting him kindly but firmly.. no babytalk... most teenagers hate that anyway.. mine all do, but they have to put up with it sometimes, anyway. Good luck on what you decide to do. Just.... don't let it back in with the kids unless they are totally safe and confident.

 

[Tonyroo]

I'm for roosters living but if circumstances don't favor it. Something has to change.

 

[triciayoung]

Funny you mentioned that, cause 2 years ago I was selling some of my pullets to a young woman that stopped by and my dog out the blue bit her ankle and she freaked out. That has never happened before. Guess my dog hates young women.

Every animal is unpredictable. They cant talk to us, so we don't know what their triggers are.

 

[Tonyroo]

Every animal is unpredictable. They cant talk to us, so we don't know what their triggers are.

I agree but it's helpful to be very observant of things that would cause a reaction.

 

[McChooky]

Expecting ordinary backyard chicken keepers to have the same skill levels and confidence as the seasoned trainer in this article is bizarre! At any time these roosters can revert back to their previous bad behavior and need to be retrained! (freely admitted in the article) Aggressive roosters should never be trusted around children once they've attacked one.

 

[Sic]

Cull. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Children are more important than chickens. But if you keep doing the same things, you might just keep getting the same results...so in the future maybe rethink how the children should interact with young cockerels.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

My daughters favorite rooster had to be culled. We tried working with him for several weeks nothing worked. He “danced” and charged my 2 yr old and then bit my four years old and didn’t want to let go. Now she has a scar on her hand. It’s not worth it. She cared for that cockerel and was always gentle and kind to him. Sometimes wild animals can not be trained or trusted.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'd cull, though don't feel afraid to be sad about it. I've had to cull several roosters, either for health reasons, space reasons, or (rarely) because they were growing too aggressive and I could not trust them around other people. It's never easy when it is one you've grown attached too, and even worse when it's one you planned to keep. But as someone who has scars from childhood where a rooster decided I was a punching bag, it is not something you should risk with your own children. 10+ years later, it still has affected some of my chicken keeping, and that just takes joy out of the birds when those flashes and memories flair up.

As for being no better than a factory farm for processing an aggressive rooster, that is absolutely not true. These birds are not culled at hatch for being a male, nor are they kept in cramped conditions from their first day of life, nor are they butchered inhumanely because it's all about saving dollars by saving time. This rooster sounds like he had a pretty dang good shot at upbringing, and while it's not 100% his fault for this ending, it should not frowned upon to protect young children from a very real threat either by processing him.