When is enough, enough? Newly Aggressive Rooster.

[DWClay]

The “big” man himself

 

[Mrs. K]

Good luck, do be aware if anyone else goes to the coop with you, as they are apt to be attacked too. And they won't find it funny.

I just would not keep an aggressive dog or chicken. As you stated, it just ruins the whole fun of having chickens.

Mrs K

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Aggressiveness is passed down I wouldnt be breeding that I'd cull it so fast.

 

[DWClay]

Good luck, do be aware if anyone else goes to the coop with you, as they are apt to be attacked too. And they won't find it funny.

I just would not keep an aggressive dog or chicken. As you stated, it just ruins the whole fun of having chickens.

Mrs K

No one but me will be allowed in there for sure!

 

[DWClay]

Aggressiveness is passed down I wouldnt be breeding that I'd cull it so fast.

Definitely not! Luckily I have 7 hens and they all use the nesting boxes and I also do daily checks for “runaway” eggs! None of them have gone broody yet either so we are good for now!

 

[Mrs. K]

Do know, that most of us, kept the first rotten rooster too long. It is hard to cull a bird, and one tends to make excuses for it, and just hesitate to do what is an irreversible decision.

However, you will know when you can't take anymore, and do something. What generally happens, is the relief that he is gone is wonderful, and you wonder why you waited so long.

When you have a wonderful, (Bye) or even a darn good (Sargent) rooster, well, they are a pleasure to have in the flock. There are those kinds out there. When you have a rotten one, it keeps you from having a good one.

Mrs K

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Not so much a big deal for me but I have to think of other peopl who may be stopping by. It's a hard line for me, strike one, #6 bird shot, he's gone.

 

[Katie Grace 399]

Some sage advice. Do not feel guilty if you have to cull him.

Many backyard chicken keepers have cockerel problems and the cockerel part is the problem. You haven't got a rooster, you've got a young male chicken trying to establish himself in the big wide world; except it isn't often a big wide world, it's a small run and that space becomes his space and eventually, one way or another because they don't have a lot of choice, the hens will become his hens.

It's not that these points don't get mentioned on BYC but lots don't have male chickens and speaking for myself, trying to tell people and really drive the point home, that cockerels are not the same as pullets and roosters are not just male hens seems like a labour of love and often falls on deaf ears.

You're boy sounds like a fighter. You want one or the other, a fighter or a thinker. They fighters tend to be hard work. If one takes a long term view (with a male in the group fertile eggs are likely and probably in that group somewhere is a hen or a few that will go broody. That's your starting point.
It's from there you build your flock/tribe. A couple of generations on and many of the problems in behaviour of both males and females gets sorted out and we the keepers learn though the baptism of fire, or hackle flared attacks in such cases, how to keep chickens, both of them, male and female.
None of the rooster intimidation methods work over the long term. Both the keeper and rooster have to learn. There are keepers on this forum who have learn't starting out from a similar position to that you are now in. There are other keepers who would rather keep a single sex group on reflection post male experience.

The problem for you is you obviously like to cuddle the hens and you're probably feeding them and taking their eggs. Even hormone charged cockerels aren't stupid and as far as he's concerned you're mating his hens (the cuddles) trying to entice his hens away by finding them food (this is part of how free range multi generation and sex flocks work, rooster provides the treats for hens) and stealing his potential offspring. I would be a bit pissy if I was him.

In many of the problem cockerel threads (roosters are a year or more old) the keeper just hasn't known what to expect and finding out that the darling young cockerel who could be petted and held is growing up and that as with all species can be a somewhat bumpy period, often comes as a shock.

Short term advice. Wear two heavyweight pairs of trousers, gloves, a heavyweight top and just ignore the attacks. Yep he'll bounce of you a few times, you just need to read when he's coming and that means you need to keep an eye on him when in the run/coop.
Longer term is for you to decide.

I'll link you to an article I wrote about male chickens that I hope will elaborate some of what I've written above. It's not a how to article, it's what they are like article. You may find you can identify your chaps behaviour with something in the article.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

I'm glad you're showing there is another way to deal with him, other than making soup with him. I was raised on a farm and we had many chickens and roosters. Don't remember any of them being mean. But I've had parrots and female was a real terror at times. I got them when they were just little. The lady who bred them told me "you need to be the flock leader". Wonder if it works that way for chickens?

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm glad you're showing there is another way to deal with him, other than making soup with him. I was raised on a farm and we had many chickens and roosters. Don't remember any of them being mean. But I've had parrots and female was a real terror at times. I got them when they were just little. The lady who bred them told me "you need to be the flock leader". Wonder if it works that way for chickens?

With parrots, she's right. One way to be a flock leader for parrots is never let them have perches over our heads; only face level or lower. I own two macaws so speaking from experience.

With chickens, the rooster(s) is supposed to be the flock leader and our trying to compete with the rooster for that job is usually when problems occur.

 

[Debbie292d]

View attachment 4047485
The “big” man himself

I'm thinking in a month or two, if he lasts that long there, he should start calming down. Some of mine seem to hit that "hormone time" around 8-9 mos, and by about a year, they are pretty good roosters. Most though never seem to go through it at all. I wish we could predict.

If I need to remove a hen or hens from breeding pens, I pick up and remove the rooster first, swap the hens, then put him back. If I can do whatever it is one-handed, I tuck him under one arm and do what I have to do, then put him down. Otherwise, I know I could be looking for trouble and this avoids any.