When I was pregnant with my daughter, the top rooster in my bantam Cochin flock occasionally tried to attack me. Having my hands full with the gate and feed bucket, I reacted instinctively and kicked him away - getting hit by such a tiny ball of feathers and fury was more funny than frightening. The first few times it happened, I was puzzled; I'd had him for a couple of years, and he had always behaved before. Particularly since this seemed to happen on random days; it just didn't make sense. Finally, it hit me. I had a red corduroy maternity dress that I sometimes wore, and apparently, the sight of that much red was more than this bird could stand. The days he was a problem were the days I wore that dress. After a few unscheduled flights (courtesy of my muck boots) he learned that attacking me from the front was not a smart move, but that didn't stop him from trying. I'd go into the pen, and he'd try to maneuver around to come at me from the rear. Since he was white, it was easy to keep track of him, and I'd watch him out of the corner of my eye as he slunk stealthily towards an attack position. I'd let him get maybe ten or fifteen feet away, turn and face him, and say, "just what do you think you are doing?" The change in his body language was comical. "Who, me? I'm not doing anything. Not me, nope, don't know what you're talking about; totally not doing anything here," as he walked away in a different direction.
I am trying to find a nice way to say that they are about to have their hearts broken. Doesn't make it easier that the cockerel has been raised with same-age pullets... I wouldn't have that start to chicken-keeping for anything. Getting adult birds is much easier from a flock dynamics and aggression standpoint.
I have a 2-year old granddaughter that loves to go see the chickens. I can't have a rooster I need to worry about. My granddaughter's safety comes before any chicken.
