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- #21
Shugercube
Songster
A baby chick is a baby chick - while they're sweet little fluffballs it's game on for cuddles and kisses.
As soon as it's obvious it's a boy - he needs to stay out of your space and just - BE (ignored). Never chase or try to pick them up now that you know who's who. Draw a good 7ft circle around yourself and your family members and call that the rooster-free zone. That may mean any treats have to go away for a while - or be tossed to that distance. And again - ignore. Most baby roos mature sexually way before females - so they go from sweet 5 year old kid to raging hormones teenager in really a matter of days. Respect this about their physiology as young birds and set them up for success.
Of all the complaints about roosters people come to this forum about - they all involve a rooster coming into their space whether it's biting, spurring, flogging, doing the 'rooster' mating dance to their leg -- And all these things have one thing in common.
The rooster came into YOUR space. He felt just fine about coming right up to you and doing what he felt like doing. This is so often because cockerels who have been held and cuddled consider your space HIS space which he may then invade with impunity- because it's HIS space now. (remember: they view their time in your space differently than you do)
Trying to regain the respectful space bubble once that line has been crossed in an attack is the subject of hundreds and hundreds of threads and too often it's not a happy ending for the rooster.
And of course not all roosters will do this- but most horror stories start with the cutest cuddliest friendliest little guy who comes running every time he sees me and demands pets/food/attention.
I had two brothers who very much did this- they came running every time I came into the run even though they weren't handled/cuddled/pet.
Then one day I didn't pour the feed out of the scoop fast enough so one jumped 3ft in the air and bit my hand - hard - even though he'd never even been hand fed. Really. This with no history of bad behavior, but I did make a big mistake with them. I had acknowledged their attention to me and encouraged it even though it wasn't in the form of picking them up or petting. Happily in that case it just took one good well-timed whack and that was it- I stopped talking to them, looking at them and ignored them after that. They're both still here and are model citizens..
And some will turn into ****s no matter what you do, even if you do everything right. And some will be big sweeties even if you do everything wrong. The key is to set the boundaries. Cuddle the girls- and make sure the boys are indifferent to what you do with the girls under all circumstances.
As far as the kids go - remember children move differently than adults. They are quicker, more sporadic, and of course completely spontaneous. The more they can see the kids being kids, hopefully they will become desensitized. If you find a young roo starts approaching the kids, especially when say one shouts loudly or makes a sudden move- take that as a warning. It's not "oh that looks fun" it's "that could be a threat and I must investigate". Roosters can only think like roosters.
Thank you so much! You’ve been very helpful. I have a lot more to consider than I’d thought, so thank you for taking the time to enlighten me! (And for doing it in such a way that didn’t make me feel like a complete idiot for having my “goggles” on! )