whats gotten into my rooster? he keeps attacking my leg

[amillecay]

no they don't just white and grey and then i put my rubber boots on which are like beige and have some black on them and he didn't do anything

 

[ClareScifi]

Interesting. I just found a link that said red rubber boots will make a roo go very aggressive, as will bright, busy patterns of fabric. One woman said her roos nearly attacked her when she carried in a red bag of Purina medicated chick starter. I am surely going to avoid wearing red around my roo from now on. I didn't know this.

 

[amillecay]

yeah me either thanks for telling me that

 

[amillecay]

I'm glad I found this post because I was going to post a similar question. We have 11 araucana/americauna hens and 1 buff cochin rooster. They are all just over 7 months old now. The rooster was quite a gentleman until recently and has never gone after us, the dogs or the cat. This past weekend my boyfriend's daughter and I went outside to give them some cottage cheese and he went after her boots. She has tan leather booths with the fluff around the edges. I was also wearing a red jacket, which may have alarmed him but he went after HER leg. I seem to remember one of them taking a dislike to her boots a couple months ago also. He did it three times, somewhat clumsily, and no harm was done, but I'm worried he may get worse. He definitely seems more on guard and when the hens all run over to me to say hello, he races behind them to catch up as if he doesn't like that they are running over. Have you noticed any other behavioral changes in your rooster besides flying at you?
Do yours have spurs yet? I haven't notices spurs on ours yet, although it is hard to see through all of his fluff. Does anyone know if it is common for them not to develop spurs or at what age they typically develop?

No I havn't noticed anything in behavioral changes. Mine don't have spurs yet but I can see he will have them soon

 

[ClareScifi]

My roo doesn't have spurs yet, either, but I can see them forming.

Everything I'm reading says we need to nip any aggression in the bud as soon as possible. I'm reading that what we need to do is pick up and cuddle our roosters as often as possible. We are supposed to carry them around a lot and pet them. This seems to teach them that we are their boss, so they will not try to dominate us. So I guess I'll start picking up my rooster at least once an hour and carrying him around for a few minutes at a time.

I have trouble picking my rooster up. If I approach him head on, he likes to peck at me. Anyone else have this problem? If I approach him from the side or behind, it works much better. I have started wearing heavy black gloves to pick him up, and this is a solution, because if he does peck, I don't feel it and I don't flinch away in pain, teaching him I am his boss.

I am not a dominant personality by nature. I am very submissive. So I am going to have to work twice as hard as more aggressive people to accomplish this rooster-taming feat. It sure doesn't come naturally to me.

They say it's important to manhandle your rooster, to let him know you are boss. I am gentle when I pick up my rooster, but maybe I need to have a firmer hold on him.

Otherwise, they say a rooster can get meaner and meaner until you have to get rid of it. I want my rooster to have a long, good life, so I have to get aggressive with him for his sake, I guess.

 

[gryeyes]

There IS also a period of time during which cockerels are just chock full of testosterone and it makes them nuts. They want to establish themselves as Top Roo because their hormones tell them to do so. In addition to wanting to mount every pullet and hen in the flock, that is. But they want to protect "their ladies" from what they may perceive as danger (picking up a hen, for example - that's HIS girl and you could be harming her) so they not only attack, they have to posture and challenge anything and everything the rest of the time.

You gotta wait a while for those hormones to settle down some before you can really tell if you have a mean rooster or not. Meanwhile, you show him YOU'RE the Head of that Flock, not him.

You don't have to pick up your rooster and carry him around to do this. Unless you particularly want to do so; it is a sort of fun thing to do every once in a while. What is better is to ALWAYS make the rooster step aside if he gets in front of you. Do not ever veer away, keep walking and walk right into him if you must. He'll probably step slightly to one side before this happens and jump at you at that point. I immediately turn towards him and keep walking at a steady pace, following him so he has to walk backwards. He WILL face you and walk backwards if he's challenging you.

Every side turn or step he takes while still facing you, you match and turn and follow him backwards until he gives up and turns away. You may walk in a straight or curved line or you may make an interesting pattern in the yard, turning here, turning there, to always face the rooster and force him to step backwards. His turning away is giving up - you've won.

Another thing to do is hold him down to the ground, firmly, even kneeling next to him to force him down. Not thrusting, nor pushing really hard or abruptly, just firmly putting his body to the ground. Hold him with both hands on his back for a minute or so, then take one hand and hold his beak, bringing his head down to put his beak on the ground. Hold him there a few seconds or until he stops fighting it. Then you let him up and walk away.

If he keeps flogging you after these tactics, he's not going to outgrow it and he will taste good with dumplings.

 

[amillecay]

My roo doesn't have spurs yet, either, but I can see them forming.

Everything I'm reading says we need to nip any aggression in the bud as soon as possible. I'm reading that what we need to do is pick up and cuddle our roosters as often as possible. We are supposed to carry them around a lot and pet them. This seems to teach them that we are their boss, so they will not try to dominate us. So I guess I'll start picking up my rooster at least once an hour and carrying him around for a few minutes at a time.

I have trouble picking my rooster up. If I approach him head on, he likes to peck at me. Anyone else have this problem? If I approach him from the side or behind, it works much better. I have started wearing heavy black gloves to pick him up, and this is a solution, because if he does peck, I don't feel it and I don't flinch away in pain, teaching him I am his boss.

I am not a dominant personality by nature. I am very submissive. So I am going to have to work twice as hard as more aggressive people to accomplish this rooster-taming feat. It sure doesn't come naturally to me.

They say it's important to manhandle your rooster, to let him know you are boss. I am gentle when I pick up my rooster, but maybe I need to have a firmer hold on him.

Otherwise, they say a rooster can get meaner and meaner until you have to get rid of it. I want my rooster to have a long, good life, so I have to get aggressive with him for his sake, I guess.

I do pick mine up not to often but I do he doesn't ever really peck me when I have hime in my hands. I am the same with not having a very dominant personality so I will also my roo actualy chased me out of the run today i know i shouldn't have let him do that but I didn't have boot's on and it hurt when he got me that last time! I guess I will start picking him up more often then

 

[amillecay]

There IS also a period of time during which cockerels are just chock full of testosterone and it makes them nuts. They want to establish themselves as Top Roo because their hormones tell them to do so. In addition to wanting to mount every pullet and hen in the flock, that is. But they want to protect "their ladies" from what they may perceive as danger (picking up a hen, for example - that's HIS girl and you could be harming her) so they not only attack, they have to posture and challenge anything and everything the rest of the time.

You gotta wait a while for those hormones to settle down some before you can really tell if you have a mean rooster or not. Meanwhile, you show him YOU'RE the Head of that Flock, not him.

You don't have to pick up your rooster and carry him around to do this. Unless you particularly want to do so; it is a sort of fun thing to do every once in a while. What is better is to ALWAYS make the rooster step aside if he gets in front of you. Do not ever veer away, keep walking and walk right into him if you must. He'll probably step slightly to one side before this happens and jump at you at that point. I immediately turn towards him and keep walking at a steady pace, following him so he has to walk backwards. He WILL face you and walk backwards if he's challenging you.

Every side turn or step he takes while still facing you, you match and turn and follow him backwards until he gives up and turns away. You may walk in a straight or curved line or you may make an interesting pattern in the yard, turning here, turning there, to always face the rooster and force him to step backwards. His turning away is giving up - you've won.

Another thing to do is hold him down to the ground, firmly, even kneeling next to him to force him down. Not thrusting, nor pushing really hard or abruptly, just firmly putting his body to the ground. Hold him with both hands on his back for a minute or so, then take one hand and hold his beak, bringing his head down to put his beak on the ground. Hold him there a few seconds or until he stops fighting it. Then you let him up and walk away.

If he keeps flogging you after these tactics, he's not going to outgrow it and he will taste good with dumplings.

I do pick him up not much which I will start doing more but I see what your saying for sure because I think the first time he attacked my leg I had picked up one of the other chickens I have. I really messed up today though! I will try this stuff for sure

 

[ClareScifi]

I'd be afraid of stepping on my rooster's feet and hurting them or causing him to get bumblefoot by not watching where he's going when walking backwards. With my luck, he'd step on something sharp...

I think carrying him around will be easier.

When is the super high testosterone period in a rooster's life?

I had another rooster who was so cute. Once I picked up his sister. They were about 3 months old, I would say. She squawked, and the rooster came over and gently bumped her out of my hands. He didn't peck, it didn't hurt. He just wanted me to know that his sister didn't care for being picked up, and so he freed her from my grasp. It was adorable.

I hated to give him up, but 3 roosters were too many for the number of hens I have. He went to a nice farm where there are 20 hens, and I hope he is very happy there. He was the Alpha Roo.

 

[amillecay]

yeah lol i don't know I think I would jsut be afraid of him like attacking me again i guess if I had my boots on it wouldn't be to bad I think for now i will also stick to picking him up a lot and that;s a really good question when is that period in a roosters life?