young rooster keeps “raking” and making his spurs bleed

[eclectic-em]

i hatched george at the beginning of the year. he was the only one to hatch successfully and then in february i was able to finally find a pullet his age. they were extremely bonded.
i’ve since raised and integrated a dozen more pullets into the flock but my first pullet died a bit over a month ago around 6 months old.

george didn’t like men or feet before but as long as i wore my boots he and i never had any problems. just a few days after sophie died he started attacking me, mostly my boots/legs. i’ve been trying my best to assert my dominance back over him but he keeps trying to do the same to me. so because of his kicking (which it has gotten better, but he will try to get in one or two here and there) he’s broken his back toenails AND caused his spurs to bleed. it keeps happening and i’m not sure what to do. i don’t want to remove him from the flock bc i have another cockerel (sexed as a pullet and of course i had that luck) who he gets along with and i do not want to upset the balance. he takes really good care of my girls and despite having 2 hens that are of egg laying age he mostly sticks to mating with his stuffed animals but warns the flock when he sees a hawk (he doesn’t understand that the netting and sunshades covering their run keep them safe but it’s sweet of him) and gives his treats to the hens and the 12/16 week old pullets without trying to mate them. so he is a good boy, i just don’t know how to reconcile with him so he stops hurting us both.

i have to cover him with some light fabric while i tend to the wound so he doesn’t bite me, this is from this morning. he only got in 2 swings at me and it broke open.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post a photo of all of him? What breed is he?

How I treated busted up spurs on my cockerel was rinse it well. Apply a little triple antibiotic ointment on a small square of gauze, put over the spur, then wrap the leg and feet with vet wrap. By wrapping from the foot to above the spur, the vet wrap stays on.
Keep the bird on clean dry bedding. Change out wrapping every 2-3 days.

IF the wrappings get wet or fairly soiled, then change daily. You need to use your judgement on how often wrappings need to be changed!

As for behavior. You need to consider your goals with this cockerel. It may be too late to change your behavior and his by now. Culling may end up being the only option you have as he matures.

 

[eclectic-em]

Can you post a photo of all of him? What breed is he?

How I treated busted up spurs on my cockerel was rinse it well. Apply a little triple antibiotic ointment on a small square of gauze, put over the spur, then wrap the leg and feet with vet wrap. By wrapping from the foot to above the spur, the vet wrap stays on.
Keep the bird on clean dry bedding. Change out wrapping every 2-3 days.

IF the wrappings get wet or fairly soiled, then change daily. You need to use your judgement on how often wrappings need to be changed!

As for behavior. You need to consider your goals with this cockerel. It may be too late to change your behavior and his by now. Culling may end up being the only option you have as he matures.

he was a “mystery” hatch. but he came from a green egg so mother was an EE and the roo must have had a rose comb since he has a cushion (i think). have no idea what though. he was 5.5 months when his companion died. they had mated once she started laying eggs (he waited until after and only used stuffed animals until then) and they followed each other around all day while the younger pullets did their own thing so i’m sure losing her really did a number on him (me too). it was really the 2-3 days after she died that he started attacking my boots/legs. i also just realized around that time i brought another hen and an almost hen home so maybe that added to the mix. he still doesn’t mate with them. maybe a few times a week. he prefers a build-a-bear i gave him.

but anyway, i’d do or try just about anything to fix this. it has gotten better the last week or 2 because i’m learning how to assert myself but like you said it may not help as he ages. he’s almost 7 months now.

thank you so much for the advice about how to treat his spurs!! do let me know if you have any recommendations for either of our behaviors.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

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he was a “mystery” hatch. but he came from a green egg so mother was an EE and the roo must have had a rose comb since he has a cushion (i think). have no idea what though. he was 5.5 months when his companion died. they had mated once she started laying eggs (he waited until after and only used stuffed animals until then) and they followed each other around all day while the younger pullets did their own thing so i’m sure losing her really did a number on him (me too). it was really the 2-3 days after she died that he started attacking my boots/legs. i also just realized around that time i brought another hen and an almost hen home so maybe that added to the mix. he still doesn’t mate with them. maybe a few times a week. he prefers a build-a-bear i gave him.

but anyway, i’d do or try just about anything to fix this. it has gotten better the last week or 2 because i’m learning how to assert myself but like you said it may not help as he ages. he’s almost 7 months now.

thank you so much for the advice about how to treat his spurs!! do let me know if you have any recommendations for either of our behaviors.

Do you have an object your chickens are terrified of for no reason? It may not work for everyone, but I used a blue plastic storage basket that my chickens hated to make sure my aggressive rooster didn’t bother me while I was refilling waterers. The problem with this is that it will likely scare your hens and other rooster as well, so it’s best to only use it when they’re free ranging. If you don’t free range your chickens, this advice is probably useless.

 

[Anime2lover]

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he was a “mystery” hatch. but he came from a green egg so mother was an EE and the roo must have had a rose comb since he has a cushion (i think). have no idea what though. he was 5.5 months when his companion died. they had mated once she started laying eggs (he waited until after and only used stuffed animals until then) and they followed each other around all day while the younger pullets did their own thing so i’m sure losing her really did a number on him (me too). it was really the 2-3 days after she died that he started attacking my boots/legs. i also just realized around that time i brought another hen and an almost hen home so maybe that added to the mix. he still doesn’t mate with them. maybe a few times a week. he prefers a build-a-bear i gave him.

but anyway, i’d do or try just about anything to fix this. it has gotten better the last week or 2 because i’m learning how to assert myself but like you said it may not help as he ages. he’s almost 7 months now.

thank you so much for the advice about how to treat his spurs!! do let me know if you have any recommendations for either of our behaviors.

You can try spur covers and those chicken blind folds. I have a four yr old rooster that started attacking the boys last yr because they didn't know how to handle chickens and roosters yet. We put spur covers over his spurs and kept him penned unless we were out with them. And also taught the boys how to be safe with roos and hens. He hasn't attacked them since then. Keeping the covers on prevents injury and will dull the spurs if their kept on for a good amount of time.

 

[eclectic-em]

You can try spur covers and those chicken blind folds. I have a four yr old rooster that started attacking the boys last yr because they didn't know how to handle chickens and roosters yet. We put spur covers over his spurs and kept him penned unless we were out with them. And also taught the boys how to be safe with roos and hens. He hasn't attacked them since then. Keeping the covers on prevents injury and will dull the spurs if their kept on for a good amount of time.

i will definitely look into that!! thankfully the last 2 weeks he stopped attacking me. we’re basically back to how it was in the days before our matriarch hen died. not sure if time heals all wounds (both literally and metaphorically) or maybe the weather ever so slightly cooling off (PNW heatwave) has eased the tension. for the first time in almost 2 months i don’t have any bruises on my legs from him LOL

 

[Anime2lover]

i will definitely look into that!! thankfully the last 2 weeks he stopped attacking me. we’re basically back to how it was in the days before our matriarch hen died. not sure if time heals all wounds (both literally and metaphorically) or maybe the weather ever so slightly cooling off (PNW heatwave) has eased the tension. for the first time in almost 2 months i don’t have any bruises on my legs from him LOL

Maybe.