Young Rooster Biting

[lilstarshine7]

Hello everyone. I have a young cochin bantam rooster, about 3 months old, maybe older not sure. He doesnt have his spurs yet and doesnt crow yet. I have raised him from a baby and lately when I go to let them out of the coop, the first thing he does is run up to me and bite me on my ankle...and once I went to change the water in there waterer and he bit me on my hand. He is very protective of the hens...I have 3 females the same age as him. They all free range and the only time I have gotten bit or pecked by him is when I first let them out in the morning. I can go outside during the day and he will rush up to me, all puffed up, but not do anything. I would hate to get rid of him, he is very protective of his gals. Any suggestions please. Thank you

 

[azygous]

You have a little cockerel who is coming into his hormones. He's not sure if you are better than he is as leader of the flock, so he's attempting to keep you in line, as he would any hen. You need to demonstrate your alpha credentials by immediately pinning him to the ground when he bites. Hold him with his head on the ground until he calms down and goes limp, then release him.

You need to monitor your behavior around him. I've had roosters who bit me in their teens, and it was mainly due to sudden, threatening moves on my part. Slow down, be deliberate and consistent in your motions. Watch for him to come up behind you, and be ready to pin him immediately if he makes an attempt to bite or peck. You may also tuck him under your arm and hold him until he quits struggling, and this also will cause him to accept you dominance over him.

Cochins are pretty easy to train, but his "bantamness" may make him a bit ornery. Just don't let him get away with any aggressive behavior without immediately taking action. It doesn't take long to train a roo if you're consistent.

 

[lilstarshine7]

Thank you , went out to feed some scraps and he rushed up to me. I did like you said and the next time I went out he was not so bullyish...lol. I really love my chicks and he is a great protector so far, so really would have hate to get rid of him. Will continue to keep an eye out for his behavior. Hopefully I let him know that he is not dominate over me....lol.

 

[azygous]

That's a very good sign he'll be easy and fast to train. Just be consistent!

 

[Bayrider16]

Most cockerals start to display their true behavior at this age. They begin to hit "puberty" and sometimes become agressive. I have two cockerals going through this stage right now. I would suggest holding him everyday. Believe it or not, most roosters wont bite when you go to pick them up. All my roosters are that way. If he does bite, dont back down to him. Pick him up anyways. He may bite your hand in attempt to get you to drop him. Dont give him what he wants. Continue to hold him. Stroke his head and find a spot he likes to be petted. Do this everyday and try to hand feed him. Dont act agressive towards him. That is what he wants. He is viewing you as a challenger right now and your not. Your his caretaker. I hope this helps! If you wish, keep me updated on your progess!

 

[One Chick Two]

Most cockerals start to display their true behavior at this age. They begin to hit "puberty" and sometimes become agressive. I have two cockerals going through this stage right now. I would suggest holding him everyday. Believe it or not, most roosters wont bite when you go to pick them up. All my roosters are that way. If he does bite, dont back down to him. Pick him up anyways. He may bite your hand in attempt to get you to drop him. Dont give him what he wants. Continue to hold him. Stroke his head and find a spot he likes to be petted. Do this everyday and try to hand feed him. Dont act agressive towards him. That is what he wants. He is viewing you as a challenger right now and your not. Your his caretaker. I hope this helps! If you wish, keep me updated on your progess!

You have a little cockerel who is coming into his hormones. He's not sure if you are better than he is as leader of the flock, so he's attempting to keep you in line, as he would any hen. You need to demonstrate your alpha credentials by immediately pinning him to the ground when he bites. Hold him with his head on the ground until he calms down and goes limp, then release him.

You need to monitor your behavior around him. I've had roosters who bit me in their teens, and it was mainly due to sudden, threatening moves on my part. Slow down, be deliberate and consistent in your motions. Watch for him to come up behind you, and be ready to pin him immediately if he makes an attempt to bite or peck. You may also tuck him under your arm and hold him until he quits struggling, and this also will cause him to accept you dominance over him.

Cochins are pretty easy to train, but his "bantamness" may make him a bit ornery. Just don't let him get away with any aggressive behavior without immediately taking action. It doesn't take long to train a roo if you're consistent.

This is the best advice anyone could give.

We have 20 roos, and they are all nice and get calm attention and handling, with only one being a hand biter when he was a cockerel. I did this and held him and petted him until his eyes closed. He does not do that anymore. Just takes some conditioning sometimes. Good luck!

 

[lilstarshine7]

Thanks for all the advice. I will work with him, I really like him and do not want to part with him. My granddaughter named him Olaf...from Frozen...lol Will let you know how he does. Thank you.

 

[Amina]

I've got a cockerel that keeps biting me all the time, including while I hold him. does anyone have any additional advice? should I just keep holding him daily?

 

[vivi]

I have a baby chickie, growing fast. He was hatched out of season, a couple months ago. The mother rejected him, he was frozen stiff, my son threw him in the trash can (itty bitty thing) and when the sun came up he thawed out and my son happened to see it, put it in his shirt and brought it to me. I carried it all day and we took it back to sneak it back under the mother but she wanted nothing to do with it. I got it back and kept it in my shirt, bed and carried it around for months until it got too big and started pooping big. It is 1/2 meat bird and 1/2 aracauna. I would get up at night to use an eye dropper to give it water and fed it moist dog food with chickie crumble. It stayed on my bed in the shoe box, almost dying when it climbed between the soft cozy and the reptile warmer, it was upside down without any way to back out. I got a larger box and it stayed on my bed another month and I carried it around in my shirt some more. I began to put it outside when the sun was out and made a cage out of a portable, folding dog run. The day a chicken hawk came I used more dog kennel screen to secure it when outside. It was soo cute! I'd put my hand in and it would put it's head into my hand and shake it's head back and forth like it were nuzzling. Then it began to pinch my hand a couple weeks ago. At about the same time it developed a scream that I thought it was dying. I now realize it was trying to crow - it has some ways to go before it gets the "crowing" just right though. Yesterday instead of pinching, it grabbed the skin on my hand and shook like a dog would shake a toy. Today it put two blood blisters on my hand. I am not tough, I'm a little grey-haired old lady with thin skin. I put my shirt sleeves over my hands for protection but can't understand why it got so aggressive so suddenly. I put it out every morning, rain or shine now days and we had snow. When the hens got mean they chased him into the snow and he had no idea what to do. Luckily I'm very attentive and my dog is extremely alert. I check on him every hour or so just to be sure the chicken hawk isn't back or that he is where I put him. He has his place still but I've moved the dog run so he can roam a bit more. The hens are cruel and I suspected it a behavior of the backyard yard birds. He pretty much has all his feathers so my question is when can he stay out? I just got a larger clear tub for him but he only became aggressive to me, not the hens. He sticks his head out the top of the tub and the dog stays clear. He has an extremely long neck too that flares out, unlike the hens. The hens are just 1 year old and we acquired a stray that was accepted immediately. One would think they would accept him seeing how he's been outside with them daily for the past couple months and I've made a point to feed them all in the same place but the hens run him off. A flock of sparrows hang out in the bush right next to him every day (I feed all the birds that come to the yard)




. Anyone? Suggestions?? Tried to put up some chronological photos of "Chickie" and couldn't find most of them - then duplicated one and not smart enough to get it deleted so enjoy! Smiles 4 Miles, ViiDii

 

[azygous]

So, I take it Chickie is around 8 weeks old? It's possible for cockerels to start crowing at such a young age, but he's still a good ways from coming into his hormones. When he does, in another two or three months, you may have a real problem with him.

My rooster Penrod was doing to my hands just what Chickie is doing to yours - biting hard enough to raise nasty blood blisters. My hide is old and thin as tissue paper, too, so I understand how you need to take measures now to get him to stop biting.

Even though he's still a chick, he's not too young to train. He needs to be taught that he is not the one in control. You are. You do this by immobilizing him the instant he starts going for your hand. You need to be on your toes, go slow with your hands when near him so he doesn't catch you off guard. As often as you can, handle him and make sure he knows that you decide when to hold him and when he can be free. You do this by only releasing him after he has submitted by being calm and perfectly still. Never release him while he's still struggling.

When he makes a stab at your hand, grab his beak, holding it tight. Again, don't release him until he's calm and still and accepts your dominance. Penrod had a little son, and I trained little Izzy from a few weeks of age to accept my dominance over him, using the methods I just described. When Izzy came into his hormones around age six months, he challenged me briefly, but inside of two weeks we were past that and he was never any problem, although he did exhibit a tendency to bite like his daddy. We nipped it in the bud, so to speak.

I hope this advice will be useful to you. I loved your story of saving the little chick and I hope he can be trained to be a sweet roo.