What a Rooster can do to a child

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So honestly....there is really such thing as a rooster that has never made an aggressive move? I've had roosters on and off over 30 years and while some were nicer then others, if something threatened his girls, he comes running, that's his job. I have what has been the nicest roo I've ever owned, however, when I pick up a hen and they make a squawk, he comes running. I have learned to "manage" him and he minds me. His aggression started when he lost his whole flock but it's improving as the new girls mature. I use to pet him but after we had a fight, he matched my aggression.....I stopped petting him and for about 2 weeks I carried a rack with me to designate the space around me he was not allowed. I didn't poke at him, I was not aggressive but I put the rake between us when he got in my space. It didn't take him long to figure it out and sometimes he tries to come close to me to get pet when I'm petting the girls but I point to him and he moves back.

I have five young grandkids who aren't afraid of him and he moves away from them....but I don't turn my back on him and I move the kids away from him without alarming them but I have warned them to give him space. No use tempting fate.

Look, you risk an injury when you have any animals. An old family dog that never bit anyone in it's 15 years could be startled by a child jumping on it while it sleeps and all of the sudden it bites for the first time ever.....a horse can misstep.....and a roo can see you as a threat and attack. Now I agree all of these animals could be any degree of crazy and we try to pick the best we can when we're exposing them to our kids but nothing is guaranteed to be 100% safe.

We do the best we can to keep a safe environment but if you are breeding chickens, you need a roo. You find the best one you can and then you keep one eye on him at all times, because they don't come bombproof!

I'm sorry for your son but I can see he's been raised in such a way that he understands the inherent risk of owning animals. Although my kids bike's and climbing trees caused more injuries then any of our animals over the years!
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ouch! Was your son shirtless or did that happen through a tshirt? I had a mean RIR roo a long time ago. I got sick of having to take a broom out with me every time so I rehomed him and the new owners ate him. He was gorgeous but he would go for my head a lot (when I was doing something like filling feeders).
 
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So honestly....there is really such thing as a rooster that has never made an aggressive move?

I teach my kids "don't scare the hens and the rooster won't scare YOU." If they're too young to remember that I don't allow them to be out unsupervised around the birds. My eleven year old is the one that gathers the eggs every day so she's around the henyard cock birds all the time. In time the six year old will take over that responsibility, but probably not for a few more years yet.

I've got at last count about twelve or thirteen sexually mature roosters. Most them in the bachelor pen unless they're being used for breeding or are one of the henyard boys (they free range often). None of them look cross-eyed at me or my kids. They don't scare the hens, the roosters don't scare them. Any cock bird that gets aggressive with them is gone in short order.

My kids have a number of birds that I've let them talk me into making pets, but even those we don't try to "socialize." They just get named and are allowed to live out their days on the place instead of being eaten or going to the swaps when their time is done. I want the birds to keep their distance. If I need to catch them I will. Only their showbirds are handled to any real extent.
 
I appreciate every single reply, there's a feeling of comfort, agreement and/or a lesson in each one of them. Thank you all for not flaming or bashing. Accepting the responsibility was the hardest part.
 
I am sorry to hear of your sons injury....I have all hens and the guys in my family are bugging me to get a roo. I keep telling them...I don't need one right now. My Hens are 22 weeks and they are happy as I can tell. We had RIR growing up and a Roo got me from behind so I guess I am skiddish of roos now. I do realize they all have different personalities.
 
I have a huge white rock roo and he was a "accidental buy".but i wasn't gona kick him out so I kept him. he was a couple month old and was raised with two hens anyways we put them all outside ( I hand raise in the house) and everything was fine then one day we where all outside (luckily) and my 10 yr old and 2 yr old where outside messin with the girls well my 10 yr old picked up one of the hens he was raised with and i dont think i had ever seen that roo run so fast, ran straight for her so she took off running with the hen in hand. so i yelled to her to drop her, so she did. and past the hen, he just kept coming. she ran straight for my husband and he ended up stepping in front of her and he literally kicked him like a soccer ball. he has never done that since . I think they go through a whole puberty thing where there testosterone is high cause after that he would puff but wouldn't chase then after a few month he was fine. haven't had a incident since and its been 2 yrs and if sometimes he seems to be in a mood when I walk into the run i just give him a good stare and he walks the other way. And he has not messed with either or any kids since and they are in our run all the time with the girls. i guess we all just have to have a understanding that these are animals and we don't know what they are thinking or how they are viewing the world in front of them, but that they are going to react on instinct and natural behavior. Hopefully your incident was just a misunderstanding between your son and what your Roo thought he was doing and hopefully doesn't happen again. And one other thing there is no lack of responsibility on your part you should not have to accept responsibility for anything. this was just a accident and could not have been foreseen by you (unless you are a psychic). Thousands of us let our kids runaround unsupervised amongst our flocks everyday it could happen to anyone. as long as the kids are taught to treat animals right then there is no shame.
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this is a young pic of him he is even bigger now about 2/3 the size of my 4 yr old. hes a big boy
 

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