Vote - to cull or not to cull

[triciayoung]

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.

All animals capable of harm cannot be trusted completely. Especially with small children who cannot defend themselves as well. The reason we trust our hens is not because they are all nice - we all know this is not true. I have a barred rock who pecks at anyone who tries to touch her - but, the peck isn't harmful. We can trust hens because they are not capable of doing any significant harm.

 

[triciayoung]

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

You are so right. I think most on this post think I am not protecting young children when in fact I am advocating for young children protection. Don't trust any animal capable of harm.

 

[triciayoung]

Well I hope everyone can respect the final decision of the op. This person should already know what's more important than any of us.

Agree. Whatever the OP does is their decision and the best decision for them. I do think this post has been good dialogue and has provided opinions on both sides.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Cull.
Handling cockerels doesn't make them aggressive.(I own lots of Roosters/cockerels), only ones I've ever had go aggressive are those who've been genetically prone. RIRs, & Sumatras are a couple examples that are often hit, & misses with the boys.

If there's been a Man Fighter in the line somewhere, that aggression maybe passed down into the offspring, & that's something you want to avoid when breeding.

 

[NatJ]

You are so right. I think most on this post think I am not protecting young children when in fact I am advocating for young children protection. Don't trust any animal capable of harm.

I agree that young children should be supervised and protected when around any animal that could harm them.

But I also think that when a certain animal DOES cause harm, that calls for extra steps to protect the children (and other people too). On any given day, a person is much more likely to be attacked by the cockerel that attacked before, and less likely to be attacked by a cockerel that has not yet attacked anyone.

So I would recommend supervising children around all roosters, and also culling any rooster that attacks people.

OP specifically asked for votes about culling vs. not culling a specific cockerel, who already has a history of attacking children and adults, so I voted to cull him.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Cull and replace

 

[triciayoung]

Does knowing they can revert back to their previous bad behavior and attack a child again mean we're still no better than factory farming?

I should have been more specific - my reference to factory farming was specific to that a roosters gets to live or die based on the age of the children in the household.

 

[DLA]

I think often people posting with questions on should they cull or not already know what they want to do but feel a little bad or unsure about doing it and just want help/justification in making the decision. Nothing wrong with that. I grew up on a farm with a lot of chickens and cattle. As a kid you learn pretty quickly to be careful and how to protect yourself cause farm animals can be dangerous. My grandpa never gave a second guess to culling a rooster that wasn't doing his job with the hens but he never gave much consideration to how the rooster acted towards people because the reason he had them was to service his hens, not as pets. He would not put up with one he couldn't put in its place though. If it attacked him it was supper. I'm not advocating that anyone let their kids learn the hard way and possibly risk injury. Looking back it's surprising to me that I made it out of childhood without any serious injuries. My point is that roosters often don't make good pets (though there can be some exceptions). I think generally it's unrealistic to expect them to go against their natures and act sweet and cuddly all the time.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I should have been more specific - my reference to factory farming was specific to that a roosters gets to live or die based on the age of the children in the household.

Which isn't a factor in factory farming. If they don't have a W chromosome, they're killed as chicks right off the bat

 

[triciayoung]

I think often people posting with questions on should they cull or not already know what they want to do but feel a little bad or unsure about doing it and just want help/justification in making the decision. Nothing wrong with that. I grew up on a farm with a lot of chickens and cattle. As a kid you learn pretty quickly to be careful and how to protect yourself cause farm animals can be dangerous. My grandpa never gave a second guess to culling a rooster that wasn't doing his job with the hens but he never gave much consideration to how the rooster acted towards people because the reason he had them was to service his hens, not as pets. He would not put up with one he couldn't put in its place though. If it attacked him it was supper. I'm not advocating that anyone let their kids learn the hard way and possibly risk injury. Looking back it's surprising to me that I made it out of childhood without any serious injuries. My point is that roosters often don't make good pets (though there can be some exceptions). I think generally it's unrealistic to expect them to go against their natures and act sweet and cuddly all the time.

I think roosters make excellent pets and many have roosters indoors. Roosters are more charismatic and have far more depth than hens. My hens run to me for treats, but, my roosters and I have a relationship closer to the one I have with my dog. However, this changes when a rooster is around hens. Then he has a job to do. When this happens, the rooster may or may not want anyone around his hens.