How old are your children? I have kept chickens and roosters for years, and been involved with this forum for years. I have seen countless posts where the darling became the nightmare in a second.
If your children are young, you may not be aware of the impending attack until it has happened. I strongly recommend no roosters unless your children are over the age of 6.
Children under age of five, often are the first to be attacked. A rooster will fly up, extending their feet and beak, and flapping their wings hard, and with a small child hit the face or head. Then they move up, taking on women, and finally even men can be attacked. Each attack tends to get more and more violent.
Now inexperienced people will tell you that the darling, became the nightmare in an instant, but more than likely they were misunderstanding the cues of violence that he had been giving out.
- The seem friendly and approach you - they are in your space, and have no respect for you
- The fluff up, flap their wings, or crow insistently when you are present - he is challenging you
- He is curious and watches you, he is sizing you up, and looking for an opening to attack.
- He flies up on the roost when you come in, he is getting taller than you.
- He sneaks around you, trying to stay at your back, they will often attack from that position, especially if you bend over to reach for something.
- He bites you for whatever reason
Do avoid making excuses for aggressive behavior. Red shoes, wrong clothes, touching a hen, whatever, it is not your fault.
A great rooster is a treasure - if you get one, fantastic, but a huge amount of roosters are not, and often ruin the whole chicken experience. There really is not a lot you can do about it, they really don't train or learn correct behavior. It is more of the luck of the draw. One gets the best roosters with a sharp knife. In that you don't keep the rotten ones.
You need to be very aware, especially if there are young children.
Mrs K
