What to do about an aggressive Rooster?

[AsaDotJava]

And that's exactly what I said; the human aggressive cock birds might learn to avoid an individual, but they are never safe for other humans!
When a rooster is stalking the flock caretakers, he's not doing his job, which is to take care of his flock and watch out for actual predators.
I don't want anyone, especially a child, injured here because I've kept a nasty rooster! This also goes for any who injure hens or pullets. Life is too short to have an attack bird!!!
Mary

Brava! This post sums it up perfectly.

This year, I have had to hard cull an aggressive cockerel and have another in "time out" right now. The aggressive boy's behaviour was entirely unphased by anything we did or didn't do - carry him, ignore him, walk towards him, avoid him, etc... no matter. He was coming for you, and coming for you HARD. I have scars on my leg from one of his final attacks, when he demurely moved out of my way and then attacked me as I went by. He bit, spurred, flogged, and screeched at me. That was enough of that.

Recently, a young cockerel has been displaying jerk behaviours. A cockerel that wants to spur comes at you feet first, NOT dancing. Both my partner and I carried the bird around several times (and not coddling him - snatching him up, tucking him roughly under one arm and going about farm chores) and his behaviour improved slightly. Then he went after our oldest son, and bit him in the face. He is the cockerel currently on "time out" while we decide his fate (and considering we have his 5 brothers who are wonderful, the odds are not in his favour).

Wing shuffling at you is still inappropriate behaviour... the cockerel is treating you as another bird, and that is not okay. I highly recommend the advice to not hand feed and to just "walk through" cockerels. These actions teach them to respect your space. Any aggression, quick, and/or loud actions will only bring about more of the same from the roo... don't escalate the situation. Your bird is not behaving dangerously - yet. Modify your interactions with him to see if he lightens up... but if he becomes increasingly in your space/pushy, his future should be questioned.

 

[2 many chickens]

I found out when my rooster would dance at me, I drop everything and scream the cha cha slide while dancing the cha cha slide. He learned not to step up to this dancing queen because he ain't got the moves like me. He was a bit embarrassed he lost and the Hens cheered greatly! My next dance is the macarena, please wish me luck.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I found out when my rooster would dance at me, I drop everything and scream the cha cha slide while dancing the cha cha slide. He learned not to step up to this dancing queen because he ain't got the moves like me. He was a bit embarrassed he lost and the Hens cheered greatly! My next dance is the macarena, please wish me luck.

What?! Not the Chicken Dance??? Or the Funky Chicken???

 

[Shadrach]

All the aggressive roosters I've had start showing aggression by doing the side step. Some will do it just before attacking. I have watched my roosters do the side step/wing shuffle as a challenge towards each other, and hens will do it too. However, I do have one rooster who does the wing shuffle but hasn't shown aggression in the almost two years I've had him, even towards small children.

There are certain behaviours in all species that fall under the general category of facts. There are others that are still open to opinion.
It is unfortunate imo that currently we seem to live in a climate where any expertise and science in general, are dismissed and the subjective view that all opinions are equally valid prevails.
It is for example a fact that a rooster pecking at the ground and nodding his head and making what has been identified as an I've found food call, is in fact a call to tell hens that he has found food. Yes they do lie, but that doesn't mean that particular combination of movement and sound isn't correctly described as an I've found food call. It's a fact until reliably proven otherwise.
In your post you have essentially undermined your own argument. If the herding shuffle was in fact a precursor to aggressive action then it would be reasonable to expect the other roosters and hens you mention to then be the subject of such an attack. You don't mention this so it's safe to assume that has not been the case.
The roosters here, particularly those in family groups do the herding shuffle to each other; they don't fight afterwards. The roosters here do the herding shuffle to the hens, they don't fight afterwards. Some of the roosters here do the herding shuffle to me, most noticeably iin the mornings when I open their coops. I have never been attacked after such a movement. The younger roosters do it to me because they see me as part of their tribe. It is (this is opinion) there way of saying good morning, you are one of the tribe.
I have dealt with problems associated with the herding shuffle in other flocks whose keepers have believed this was an indication of aggressive intent. What often fails to get mentioned is the keepers immediate response to receiving the herding shuffle and it is the keepers response that may in some circumstances elicit aggression.
There is a person in the local village who has recently had to become a chicken keeper.
Their partner unfortunately died and they were left with a semi feral chicken population to care for and not much information on how best to go about the job. This person did get attacked by a cockerel apparently after the cockerel had done the herding shuffle.
I went to help and was there when they opened up in the morning. This cockerel, much like some here bounded out of the coop and immediately did the herding shuffle to the inexperienced keeper. The keeper panicked and shoved the cockerel out of the way with their foot. The cockerel tried the shuffle again and the person kicked the cockerel; not hard but it was enough to goad the cockerel into an attack.
Three days of training the person and the cockerel comes out and does the herding shuffle, the keeper stands still and talks to the cockerel. The cockerel does a further shuffle and does that neck strain try to look you in the eye movement and then goes about it's business.
To make this quite clear, the herding shuffle is not a precursor to aggressive behavior; it's a fact.

 

[sciencegrrrrl]

From my unfortunate experience, spurring starts with the rooster moving in from behind you. Hank, the former hen-tender here, used to make nice then take a run at me when my back was turned. This turned into full frontal assault over time. Jack, the new hen-tender, does stand between me and the hens when I let them out in the morning, but only because he wants to inspect the food and declare to them that he's found a good food source After having one aggressive rooster I no longer keep my back turned, no matter how nice of a guy Jack is. In all fairness, Hank refused to come in to roost one very cold night and developed frostbite on his wattles . Despite treatment, he was understandably mean after that. He did start the sneaking up part before his injury, so it may have progressed despite frostbite.

 

[Pigpye]

One of our chickens, Ash, who we recently (last two months) found out was a Rooster, has begun to act far more aggressive towards us. He does this thing that we call the "side step", where he shuffles sideways towards one of us. My father said this is him wanting to spur us. I have read online that one of the better methods to curb such behavior is to "show him who's boss". We try not to look directly at him, nor directly approach him, and when he does come at us we chase him around and wave our arms until he runs off (which doesn't take long). Around ten minutes latter, we hand feed him and the flock some treats (such as pecans, bugs, or meal worms).
However, he has now began to get between us and the rest of the flock when we go near them, and his side step has yet to stop. We have been doing this for the better half of a month, and I am beginning to think this may not be the right thing to do. We think we might have another Rooster who is growing up, so we are probably going to have to get rid of Ash. But until then, (if then), what can we do? Are we doing the right thing? Thanks in advance!

Sounds like he's a rooster if you recently realized he is indeed a rooster he's an adolescent rooster (think teenager) he's seeking his place. No need to fear him he's not going to eat you and showing him "whose boss" will make him weary of you. Let nature do it's thing he will find his place in flock and all will be well with time.

 

[Pigpye]

If you don't want a rooster , rehome him. He is the "man of the flock" so to speak ..you are not. Ive had an excessive rooster to hen ratio with young roosters older roosters, etc and they are able to establish and maintain a pecking order in peace woth no problems and no interventions ....

 

[Karen Glatz]

I fully agree with Folly about waiting to have cockerels until you have full grown hens. My one 4 year old hen (survived a dog attack when all of her flock mates were killed) did quite a lot of teaching both the pullets and the one surprise cockerel. He's a cochin and big, but pretty laid back. When he was 7 weeks old it was funny to see him try to keep a full grown hen away from the warm mash that he wanted for his sister cochin. She took his running at her and flapping with calm disregard, but the first time he tried to peck her she went after him. She mostly ignored the little ones, but they watched her for signs of what to do, and she didn't take any guff.

I'm lucky. Pepper seems to be a sweet cockerel. Not too rough. If he's in my way I just keep walking and he gets out of my way. He watches me sometimes but not aggressively. I think Folly's right in that we are the giants who bring food and count heads before locking up at night. I sit and watch them sometimes and they will walk up and peck specks from my shoes and pant legs. Not afraid, not aggressive, but not cuddly either. Mutual respect.

I talk to them too and mimic their quiet buck, buck, bucks. I think that makes them all calmer.

 

[MissouriDogMom]

I've had multiple roosters over the years. Some breeds are very aggressive compared to others. My Buff Orpington was the best rooster by far. He treated his people with respect and he protected his flock literally to his own death by predators, while a Black Australorp was too aggressive and met his match with one of my own dogs. The Wellsummer was passive and seemed to enjoy just being a decoration that made lovely sounds. It all depends, but I suspect when they dance sideways at you, they are treating you as just another member of the flock, and you somehow got out of line. Another rooster that was given to me fully grown attacked my husband for sitting with me, as if I was the rooster's mate. Male geese do the same thing.

 

[Peggsblueinc]

The side step is a mating dance he's not doing any harm
A lot of the time a rooster likes to put himself in between his flock and you so you can feed him and he can call the girls over and offer the food to them himself
It sounds like you have a very good rooster