y is he so mean??????????

[daphneysmamma]

advice from any of my chicken peeps..lol... our rooster is 6-7 months old he is gorgeous but omg he is so mean!!!! and he use to be so sweet.. he jumps on everybody ( even john and john was his favorite) and the dogs..he will stalk you out in the yard just to attack you.. what do we do .. is there a way to correct this behavior ? u literally have to carry a stick with you in the back yard if he is out of his pen... we raised him from a baby and hes from my first batch of chics and i really want to keep him but if this continues i just cant .. is there hope of this getting any better??

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

I have only have had one rooster-Spock, a golden campine. He went through a stage where he tried to chase my 85 pound dogs. They ignored him. He also tried to chase me and stalk me. He was about 6 months old too. So I chased him instead, all around the pen! No stick-just jumping around and making a lot of noise. Then I made sure to pick him up every night off the roost and hold him tight so he couldn't flap and get away. Then I rubbed his comb. I don't think he appreciated it, but I wanted to show him that I could touch him if I wanted to! I also started feeding him mealy worms. I thought maybe like with dogs.... whoever controls the food is the leader of the pack (flock?). He is almost a year now and he's nicer than some of my hens! But I have no idea if my efforts helped make him submissive or if he just outgrew his obnoxious behavior!!!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

If you raised him as a pet, then he most likely thinks of you as a subordinate member of the flock. You aren't doing what he wants you to, so he's disciplining you.

You probably "told" him that you were his subordinate by grooming him (petting) as hens groom the rooster. You may also have held him up near your face and/or let him roost higher than your eyes. You may also have moved away from him once he became aggressive, further showing him that he was the boss.

You can try to discipline him, but it nay be far too late and you may have to cull him and try again. With your next rooster, don't pet him, don't hold him, don't cuddle him. Treat him with respect as the potentially dangerous animal he is. Make sure he moves away from you when you walk towards him, and that he respects you as the Alpha.

You can try running after him, squawking and flapping your arms, and chasing him around if he makes an aggressive move. Catch him and pin him to the ground until he stops struggling before you let him up. See if that will do him some good, and teach him that YOU are the alpha rooster. Unfortunately, it might also make him sneaky.

Personally, I would cull him. There are thousands of non-aggressive roosters killed every day simply for being male. Give one of them a good home.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

As Walking-on-Sunshine suggested he thinks of you as a member of HIS flock. That is a member of HIS flock who has yet to recognize his position as the top chicken in the pecking order, meaning that your cockerel thinks that you deserve a little pecking and flogging to help HIM get this point over to you. It is interesting that these ornery "roosters" are always at the 6 month boundary between childhood and a young adult.

Answer this question, In the presents (sight or hearing) of your cockerel have you for any reason ever tried to pickup or catch a hen and have she react by squawking or flapping her wings in panic? If you did your immature rooster now views you as a threat to HIS hens and every time he sees you he will treat you like the threat that he rightfully thinks that you are. The good news is that this almost universal objectionable
cockerel or baby stag behavior will subside with age, that is unless you harden it by chasing or hitting at or striking your cockerel (a rooster he is not) or by further panicking HIS hens.

 

[daphneysmamma]

yea i have always picked up the hens .. and him too.. im the only one who "holds" the chickens tho and the attacks everyone.. but what you are saying does make sense.. i may give it a little more time and see .. so hes still a baby basically ? how old will he be when hes considered a rooster..??lol

 

[daphneysmamma]

this is him

 

[Beekissed]

This article will help you understand the male chicken and what has gone wrong: http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/Bottle-raised males can be very dangerous.pdf

 

[cstronks]

He isn't too old to be disciplined. Don't be afraid to spray him with water or give him a little whack to let him know who is boss. You effectively have to join his pecking order and prove that you are above it. Some people on here have taken their roosters head on and put them in their place. Again, do not try to injure the animal, but if he comes at you throw your foot out to keep him away. Throw your arms out and make noise. If he wants to peck you, show him that you'll peck back.

**just a word of advice** - wear glasses or sunglasses when doing all this. Protect your eyes, because a rooster will jump and peck at your face.

Best of luck!

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a copy of a post I posted in another thread on the topic...it works:

Quote:

 

[chickengeorgeto]

IMHO a cockerel isn't a rooster until he has completed his first adult molt or in the absence of an adult molt when he reaches 18 - 24 months old . It is the same difference between a 15 year old boy and a 25 or 30 year old man.

Whether you pickup your hens or not is immaterial. What matters is that your hens are quite and complacent when you do pickup or hold one.

A gentle and quite rooster begins with gentle and quite hens. An overly nervous and flighty hen will help spoil the whole flock, or at least make it hard to see what's going on with the rest of your birds. The hen contributes most of the personally to a rooster and a flighty hen will spawn more nervous roosters than tame ones.

Whether you pickup your hens or not is immaterial. What matters is that your hens are quite and complacent when you do pickup or hold one.

The post below may work but only if your hens don't go into orbit from the whipping and flogging or the beating of the floor that you are doing.
Quote:
For all the new flock keepers that is a very accurate description of a flock of chickens. I have yet to hear two roosters strolling wing in wing while singing Kum-ba-ha and I doubt that Beekissed has seen this sight either.

The next time you think that you have a bully of a hen, all she is doing is protecting her "personal" space which is all that the pecking order is about.