Weird Rooster behaviour

[Wendy Case]

deedledumpling1: Since your naughty rooster is so highly invested in looking after his girls, have you tried taking advantage of this by 'helping' him feed his hens? Best done when you place yourself somewhat down to their level and sit on a bench or two-step footstool or whatever...something that gets you close enough to hand food to individual birds. Offer something that your chickens really, really like (mine love crappy old white bread...it's like crack to them, who knows why), but give it to your rooster at first to distribute. If he's the dedicated flock leader you think he is, he should immediately start with the tidbitting routine and let a hen snatch the food from his mouth. Keep repeating and toss bits on the ground as well...what you're doing here is appealing to your rooster's nurturing/protective instincts, which'll hopefully and quite likely override his aggressiveness towards you in the short term. Eventually, your rooster will also likely think his girls have had had enough and start looking to eat some of the treats himself. This is when you start distracting the hens by tossing large amounts of food on the ground, and while they're scrabbling around for it, you hand a treat to your rooster during those vital few seconds when he's being left in peace enough to swallow anything at all. The first time he'll eat a treat you hand him directly while he's at the same time watching his girls eat food that you're likewise providing could well be the start of a whole change of attitude on his part as to how he views you.

This 'helpful provider' routine is one which I find works very well towards establishing a good--well, working relationship, I guess--between you and a flock rooster. You're demonstrating that you're useful at helping feed his hens and harmless to them, yet you're also acknowledging him as the leader who's deserving of a little extra individual attention, hence the hand-feeding. Roosters like this. After a while, they learn to make it very clear when they've had enough of tidbitting and 'helping' you feed their hens and instead would like their own share of the treats now please, and I swear they quite appreciate the subterfuge involved in trying to slip them food sometimes with the hens still there and will sidle themselves into advantageous positions. But again, you need to be sitting down near their level to dole out the goodies effectively. Hard to do, I know, with a rooster who's already given you a hard time, but honestly, I think you might be pleasantly surprised by your bad boy's behaviour. Just be sure to take your own version of a metal garbage can lid in with you at first, just in case!

The sort of thing I just described is something I would have tried to win over that aggressive Australorp rooster I wrote about in the earlier post had I owned him myself. I would have done the feeding bit every day, plus insisted on daily handling under the guise of examining him, etc, and gotten him to the point of standing reliably on my knee, preferably while sitting with him right in his run while surrounded by his harem. I really think that rooster was redeemable. The fact that he backed down and ran after a single correction told me a lot. He just didn't know any better or have any manners yet, and that's really on us humans, to teach them otherwise.

I decided to try this experiment as I had some blueberry muffin left.... It worked! I was thrilled, and then I ran out, it wasn't much.
Next time I went passed he saw I wasn't carrying anything and reverted to his old behavior. I'm not giving up now that he's done it once.

 

[MROO]

I decided to try this experiment as I had some blueberry muffin left.... It worked! I was thrilled, and then I ran out, it wasn't much.
Next time I went passed he saw I wasn't carrying anything and reverted to his old behavior. I'm not giving up now that he's done it once.

What a stinker! I guess you'll have full pockets whenever you approach the run, now...
One pointer to add. Don't "run," walk out as if he's not there - as confidently as you can. He'll get the idea ... eventually.

 

[Shadrach]

I've always got a few walnuts in my pocket.

 

[CannedMonster]

I just want to say that I’ve probably learned more about a roosters natural behavior from Shadrach than anyone else on this site.
He has helped me understand mine better which helps me be a better handler and flock manager.
The post about giving your rooster treats to pass out to the hens is also excellent advice.
I have done this as well with good results.
Sometimes I can even get Angus to eat some for himself lol.
I can’t stress enough the importance of observation and considering any changes in the environment that may be causing the roosters aggression.
My rooster is really not aggressive but he will react to DH or I if we have a different coat or hat on.
When winter came along and we started wearing coats he didn’t recognize us dressed like that.
I had to stop as he rushed me and then he stopped and I talked in a low voice to him while he looked from my face to the coat to my face again.
He finally decided it was me and moved off.
DH won’t do this simple thing and continues to get flogged even though I’ve tried to explain to him.

 

[deedledumpling1]

thanks for the feedback. I am gonna try some of that with a hard french bread loaf I have. It small pieces of course. But I went into their outside run last night and this morning to reset my auto door to new time and he didn't bother with me.

 

[MROO]

I just want to say that I’ve probably learned more about a roosters natural behavior from Shadrach than anyone else on this site.
He has helped me understand mine better which helps me be a better handler and flock manager.
The post about giving your rooster treats to pass out to the hens is also excellent advice.
I have done this as well with good results.
Sometimes I can even get Angus to eat some for himself lol.
I can’t stress enough the importance of observation and considering any changes in the environment that may be causing the roosters aggression.
My rooster is really not aggressive but he will react to DH or I if we have a different coat or hat on.
When winter came along and we started wearing coats he didn’t recognize us dressed like that.
I had to stop as he rushed me and then he stopped and I talked in a low voice to him while he looked from my face to the coat to my face again.
He finally decided it was me and moved off.
DH won’t do this simple thing and continues to get flogged even though I’ve tried to explain to him.

That's definitely the way to "explain" to the chickens that we can change our plumage with the seasons. Now, if we could just explain to them (and the dogs) about Daylight Savings Time ...

 

[MROO]

I've always got a few walnuts in my pocket.

Walnuts are a great idea! Can they have any nuts? As in, do you know if any types are toxic to them? I have a stash of pecans and hazelnuts that I intended to use for Christmas cookies, but I never got around to all the baking. You know, in all that "spare time" we're supposed to have! I'll use some, but the rest won't make it til next Christmas without going stale. If they're safe, they'd make great chicken bribes ... I mean "treats!"

 

[Wendy Case]

What a stinker! I guess you'll have full pockets whenever you approach the run, now...
One pointer to add. Don't "run," walk out as if he's not there - as confidently as you can. He'll get the idea ... eventually.

I know right?? I went to close up the coop last night (can't wait for an automatic pop door) and he was waiting for me!! Really??
Yep, plastic bag over my arm with a few slices of bread. But I cheated MROO, I crouched down on the OTHER SIDE of the gate and fed it through. Lol.
That way none of us are intimidated by the other. At least that's what I'm thinking. Rodger thinks nothing of flying at my face. He flew onto the roost that's three foot off the ground when I was attaching some fencing on the inside of the run and I turned round right as he launched for my face. So the face to face with nothing between is is something for the future!
I'm off to feed some bread!
I'll keep you posted on the progress!

 

[Wendy Case]

That's definitely the way to "explain" to the chickens that we can change our plumage with the seasons. Now, if we could just explain to them (and the dogs) about Daylight Savings Time ...

 

[MROO]

I know right?? I went to close up the coop last night (can't wait for an automatic pop door) and he was waiting for me!! Really??
Yep, plastic bag over my arm with a few slices of bread. But I cheated MROO, I crouched down on the OTHER SIDE of the gate and fed it through. Lol.
That way none of us are intimidated by the other. At least that's what I'm thinking. Rodger thinks nothing of flying at my face. He flew onto the roost that's three foot off the ground when I was attaching some fencing on the inside of the run and I turned round right as he launched for my face. So the face to face with nothing between is is something for the future!
I'm off to feed some bread!
I'll keep you posted on the progress!

That's not cheating. That's just plain SMART! Baby steps are great ... even through the fence! Keep it up and you'll have him eating out of your hand ... instead of eating your face and fingers!