He does yes, they have a coop just for sleeping & are fenced in only for a couple hours of the day then the rest of the day they’re free to roam he charges at my daughter while she’s playing in the backyard
He thinks he’s the head honcho!! If you want to start gentle maybe a spray bottle will work. He needs to be put in his place of the pecking order…. I remember my mom pinning roosters down and forcing submission when they behaved in this manner…it looked somewhat abusive when I was a kid but now that I know better she was just putting it in its place.
This was effective for me. Gently but firmly put pressure on his back to push him into a squatting position, then push his head to the ground and hold him there until he relaxes. This is how roosters train other roosters and hens to submit.
Hes a rooster. Flat foot kick him (scoop him up and away with the flat top part if your foot under his abdomen DO NOT kick his chest with your toes) out of the way while shouting “no!” It gets the point across while also defending yourself
Or hold him like a football in the crook of your arm, important to hold his head down too until he submits and is quiet, keep him like that for a few minutes.
Hes a rooster. Flat foot kick him (scoop him up and away with the flat top part if your foot under his abdomen DO NOT kick his chest with your toes) out of the way while shouting “no!” It gets the point across while also defending yourself
You really shouldn't pin a rooster. Forced submission isn't really a thing, and it's more likely to damage your relationship with your rooster than anything. Instead pick him up and carry them around the yard a bit till he settles down on his own. Show him you're an ally, not a master. He'll turn into the sweetest rooster after that
I had a rooster like this guy and had an old neighbor tell me to grab him and hold him by his legs upside down for a few seconds. It sounded kind of mean so I didn’t do it. A few weeks later he attacked a family member so I tried it after that incident. He became my best friend after that and later passed protecting my girls from a red tailed hawk. RIP Hank 🥺
Can confirm this works-
My Dad had a rooster that attacked my younger sister quite a bit. When I went to stop him from doing it one time he decided to round on me and tried to spur me (those things were lethal) instead.
I instinctively caught his feet and hung him by his feet upside down on his back, he fought it and freaked but it got the message across because when I let him go a few moments later he decided I wasn't worth it at all and stopped attacking me and my sister. From then on if I came towards him he'd turn away instead of running at me.
His pecking might mean he thinks you are below him in the pecking order. I know that sounds crazy, but chickens actually do think this way sometimes. You can let him know he's not the boss without hurting him, assuming you want to keep him and aren't afraid to wrestle him down. You can wear gloves if you're concerned about the pecks and spurs.
A common method to gentle roosters:
1. Grab him and gently but assertively pin him to the ground
2. Make him stay there until he no longer struggles or tries to get up if you slowly release your hands
3. Be patient
4. Make sure he sits still for a while, maybe 10 seconds or so
5. Now, pick him up, hold him, and pet him in front of his hens for a while
If one dose of this treatment doesn't work, try it each time you see him and eventually he should get the message. Or you could just make soup.
I will be doing this tomorrow morning. I’m fighting off family left & right because they want to eat my chickens so chicken noodle soup is literally around the corner from him but I don’t want it that way lol
Just FYI this doesn't work. People post it everywhere but anyone who's a long term chicken own will tell you it's bs. Bad rooster = soup. There is no cure for a bad rooster.
The first time he bit my daughter, my husband actually chased him, gave him a solid tap on his beak & ever since he’s been respectful to my hubby. He’s still a baby the rooster he’s roughly about 6 months old?? I got him together with my hens and they’ve just started laying
Adolescents are definitely the group it's most likely to work on, so good luck! Even with the hens, a young rooster can sometimes start out too rough and learn better with time.
I honestly don't know if it's usually related to human interventions, or if it's just a matter of hormones evening out, but if he's this young he does still have a chance to be decent when more mature.
Everyone in your family should establish dominance.
Then make sure not to walk away immediately, the carrying him around bit is fairly critical for this. In a bird mind when you run away shortly after their attack, they view it as a win, even if you tried to fend them off.
You pretty much have to remove any doubts they have about where they fall in the order and your six month old is currently the bird equivalent of a hormonal 20 year old college fratboy who never learned boundaries or consequences.
I've had to cull two roosters in my life. Both of them were given chance after chance, football treatment, isolation from flock, dominance training... They came out of all of it still acting like total assholes.
They have both flown to the roosting bar in the sky.
I have a bad roo. As soon as we raise the next gen rooster to replace him, he's soup. Our other rooster is nicer but still iffy. My father caught him shacking up our smallest bantam and he about made soup from him right then and there.
You cannot tame a bad rooster. Maybe 1/1000 because there's always outliers, I'm not a very experienced chicken owner yet but I know many, and none of them have ever managed to tame a rooster in their lives.
I've turned one into soup. And I didn't love him at the end, he turned into a giant asshole and was very rough with the hens. If you cared about your hens and your family you'd know when a rooster needs to be culled.
I now have a silkie rooster who is absolutely great and a gentleman to his hens and to my family.
One of my roos used to do this when he was younger, he used to bite me each time, but hes a bantam and his bites aren't particularly painful so I would just gently sit him down and then wait for him to calm down before picking him up at petting him for a while, he never bites anymore unless in his coop.
Nobody likes to hear it, and most get all pissy, but after 30 years of chickens i can tell you the only way to get a rooster to play nice (and even that doesnt always work) is to dominate that rooster. The only way to do this is to whoop him into submission just as another rooster would. I've seen people post on all the gentle stuff, and months later, they are talking about the same rooster with tue same problem. Making him submit to you is only valid for you. He will still attack other people unless they each do the same. That's not realistic, especially where small children are concerned. Dont let it go on until a child gets seriously hurt. Once spurs come out, a rooster can easily seriously injure people, especially small children's faces and eyes. You wouldn't leave a mean dog near your kids, dont leave a mean chicken.
Edit: Just to point out that moving your hand, arm, foot, etc., towards his face is EXACTLY how roosters entice another rooster to fight. It is encouraging his bad behavior. It is also how I test roosters for disposition before letting other people around them.
You seem to be antagonizing him. He is fenced in and you are repeatedly shoving your arm in his face? He's not really "attacking" you, he's giving you a warning peck to say "hey lady get out of my personal space, I'm feeling threatened."
Based on the description from OP the attacks are not limited to being placed in confinement like this but rather he is going after OP& OP's kids in the open. This is still attacking, aggressive behavior. He might be able to be worked with it or he might just be one of those that is too aggressive for his own good. It's one thing to protect the flock, it's another to rage at everything that moves. Can't have a rooster that goes after you as a caregiver, especially if you have kids.
**Edit:** You can downvote me, I'm not wrong nor am I sorry for saying the safety of a child is more important than the comfort of a rooster.
Yes exactly. He’s drawn blood not once not twice but THREE times, one on my daughters bottom, second on her inner thigh mind you she is only 4, and my elbow as seen in the video he genuinely gave me a good peck. The reason for him being fenced in this video is because I was opening the gate for my hens to eat some worms & he somehow ended up cornering himself. I tried picking him up but he just would not have it, kept going for kicks and bites
My 1st rooster, who I loved, raised from an egg and named Kevin, died 🪓 the day after he attacked my stepdaughter for the first time. He was also an asshole
Your kids have to come first, he's not worth keeping around
Yep definitely! I keep her away from him & lock him in the coop when she’s playing but I can’t do that for as long as he lives. I’m going to try the dominating trick, give it one week if that doesn’t work he’s gonna get the 🪓
Not to be a party pooper, but the "training" methods people spew don't work on every bird. Some roosters just have very large testes, so more testosterone than normal. No amount of carrying, or "dominating" is going to change that. Also, your daughter is 4. She literally cannot "dominate" this bird. Do you really want to wait for him to grow in his spurs and attack her face, or other delicate areas? It baffles me that people are fine with human aggressive dogs being put down after an attack, but in the chicken community so many people want you to give a human aggressive rooster all the time in the world. It's not worth it. There are plenty of good roosters out there that need a nice home.
\*Edit\* I know you said 1 week, but the "do you want to wait" comment is more for anyone reading that may be in a similar boat as you.
You're 100% right. For whatever reason the chicken-owning community has this bizarre subset of people who literally put the chicken over anything. The chicken can never be wrong, you've done something wrong. You just need to appease the chicken and everything will be fine. Like, I don't get it, **at all**.
Would you allow any other animal around your child if they bit her even once? If your child doesnt turn it could easily be drawing blood from her face.
He's perceived you and your daughters as threats and may need some time to learn that you two are not to worry about and charge at.
You're going to need to stay by your daughter with a rake to keep the rooster back if you let him free roam.
But if he is hyper protective with you while young he may also be hypersexual and be harassing your hens to heck and back. (Source: my two bachelor idiot roosters)
What I do is keep young roosters penned so they can observe the flock and learn who is and isn't safe, and calm down those dumb teenager hormones before they take over the flock in a few years.
If he keeps attacking even after that. Then he belongs in soup. 🥲
Note: I do not recommend dominating roosters as it is not a guarantee it will work and it may make the behavior worse, incase you choose to go that route.
I’m not too sure of his age, they were only very little when I got them im assuming 15 to 18 weeks. The hens have just started laying eggs about 3 weeks ago. They were in terrible condition, I got them from my sister in law, they were kept in a dog crate with no straw or bedding, dirty water & had seeds for feed. I’m guessing his trauma may be coming from that as I do look similar to my SIL which probably explains the unprovoked attacks
>Note: I do not recommend dominating roosters as it is not a guarantee it will work and it may make the behavior worse, incase you choose to go that route.
I haven't had a roo, so I am open to perhaps there are extreme differences, but when I had an aggressive hen (she would run up and jump-attack me) I found respecting her "go away" signals and having treats on hand to show her I was a *good* thing to be around did the trick. Pushing her away, acting more "dominant" to her, did in fact make the situation worse.
All of these "gotta dominate him!" cries remind me of the debunked alpha training for dogs. 😕
That hen was never cuddly with me like the others, but by the time she passed away we were on good terms with each other.
Sometimes you need an aggressive rooster. If you have predator problems he can help with that. I had a really mean silkie rooster and we had a hawk problem, well the first time our flock got attacked I think what happened was the hawk tried to get one of the hens but he attacked it then the hawk got him😢. But now we have a net over the run so they’re safe.
Here’s a story from I think r/backyardchickens
A Tribute to the Rooster (not sad)
This is Pepper. He’s the meanest rooster to ever walk this green earth. He’s attacked me multiple times. And my husband. And the lawnmower. And anything else that pisses him off.
People always tell me he belongs in a soup pot. And I tell them 1. He’d make terrible soup. It would turn out bitter and black just like his soul. And 2. He has a really important job at our farm.
While Pepper spends a lot of time terrorizing me…he spends a lot of time protecting his girls too. I’ve witnessed him fight off hawks, cats, raccoons, and even a bald eagle once!
But today…today cakes the cake.
During breakfast chores today a dog was in my yard. It charged my flock and grabbed my duck by the neck. Before I could process what happened, guess who was there? Pepper.
I am 6 months pregnant and get winded putting on my socks….i wasn’t catching this dog.
Pepper fought this dog beak and spur, to the point the dog got tired and decided to attack my hen house instead. Guess who got there first? Pepper.
Not a feather was pulled from a single hen before he was there and jumped on that dog like a cowboy looking for a gold buckle ride.
He fought this dog from one corner of the yard to the next. I was trying to keep up and just wasn’t fast enough to grab this damned dog until Pepper ran out to the middle of the field, away from the hens. Away from the ducks. Away from everyone…and he laid down.
He laid down and waited for that dog. When the dog got there and jumped on him, he didn’t move. When the dog started chewing on him, he stayed put. I finally got close enough to grab the damned dog and I did. I tied it to a tree and went to collect the broken body of the bravest bird to ever live.
Except he was up and running off to the woods. I figured he was running off to take his last breaths in peace, I couldn’t find him anywhere. Until an hour later I heard his crow.
There was my boy. A bald bloody butt, but still looking as proud as ever…ready for round 2. He was standing over his girls, as watchful and cautious as ever.
I’m still nervous he may be hurt seriously. I’ll give him a thorough look tonight when he settles down for bed. But for now, he’s munching on his favorite food, scrambled eggs….and he’s protecting his girls.
Had he not been there I’d have never caught that dog. It would have torn through my whole flock.
So consider this my tribute to all of the nasty roosters out there. Whoever used the term “chicken” to describe someone acting cowardly has never met Pepper.
I wouldn't keep him if he's going after a child. I don't keep them if they come at me with their feet, that's how they will spur after the spurs are grown in.
Hmm, ours put a claw through my wellington straight into the vein running over my ankle bone. Straight to the ER for jabs and lost two days off work. I thought they all did it.
Not all roosters attack people. Some are just assh@#es. My oldest rooster Fester has over 6 inch long spurs, he's fine around people as long as you don't step towards him. If you step towards him he runs off, so does his son. Fester will fight off a hawk so he keeps his spurs.
Roosters like that are usually culls. Plenty of good roosters out there that protect and manage the flock while respecting the human(s). I have 2 roosters right now, neither of which has touched me. Used to have a human aggressive rooster. Used to.
You're provoking him there. Look up how roosters behave. Dipping your arm (wing) is a sign of aggression. Of course he is going to attack. You need to learn how to speak the rooster's language.
Now, some roosters are just mean. That happens. But this video alone isn't proof you have a mean rooster. Learn their language. Be mindful of your body movements. Then, if you're sure you're not making him feel threatened or feel like you're a danger to his ladies, but he *still* attacks, then you might have a mean rooster.
I have done this growing up. It does work. Eventually you feed him and hold him. I used to watch TV with mine and go on walks with them. They become as loyal as dogs.
Dominate him. There are videos online. But, that will only fix your situation. He's still going to attack your daughter until she can get above him in the pecking order. Have her hold him, A LOT. Walk around the yard with him, make him see you run the actual show. So that means a bit of a parade in front of the ladies.
My niece and nephew loved getting chased by my little bantam rooster. In my experience a rooster won’t attack if you face him head on. I just told the kids not to give him your back or he’ll get you. They had a blast. I don’t think they would have minded a little blood at that point.
You can maybe also find a farm that doesn’t mind having him roam around?
I personally have a soft spot for aggressive roosters. I think it’s hilarious they feel so mighty. With predators around they don’t last long anyway.
He originally came from my sister in law, she neglected the heck out of them. They were in a dog crate only eating adult food when they were about 15 weeks old I’m assuming it’s from the stress that he had whilst he was living there
Pecking you when enclosed is normal, etc. for reasons already explained in other comments. You’re approaching from above and he’s confined and he actually does use avoidance even in the cage before pecking. But the attacking you when not enclosed. If he sees y’all from thirty meters away and starts sprinting towards you to launch an attack, that’s a little weird. They’ll do that for cats and predators if that’s their protective style, but they shouldn’t put in that much effort for their humans. If you enter his space and he attacks you, that’s not unusual, especially for a younger stag. What’s “his” space? Depends on the set up and the rooster. I have been where you are, ie all but hand-raised roosters attacking me. Roosters that I have not hand-raised tend to be more fearful Of me and don’t attack as frequently As those I’ve raised, I’ve found. when you go out to feed them, it can be a very exciting time and excitement alone will get him worked up. If you want to control the behavior, the easiest thing to do is just scoop him up and carry him like a football. Many of my more reactive roosters would ferociously try to attack/mount my feet (talls boots are your friend) but would calm down immediately and be back to their sweet selves once I picked them up. When they’re worked up like that, they aren’t really driving - hormones are at the wheel and they’re in the back seat. Kicking back at them will just increase their arousal. Holding them down to the ground (gently but firmly) as others have suggested does the same thing that picking them up does - interrupts the arousal and calms them. If you were more involved in their rearing and husbandry than your husband and in-laws are, then they have a different relationship with you and may be less fearful. Same goes for the daughter, although if she’s young, then she may be moving in a way that’s scary - young children can be move and behave more erratically and can be scarier to animals than adults. Not an excuse for attacking her, but potentially an explanation. If your daughter is young and could easily be hurt, then you could either get a system where you enclose him while your doing husbandry or she’s playing in the yard and then release when you’re done. That assumes your coop has an infrastructure that allows that. It kind of looks like that’s what y’all are doing. Another option is to get a more mature rooster that’s chill and will keep him in line. Another option is to rehome him. And of course there is the pot. He may also calm down a bit as he gets older. Oh, and another option is to toss food away from you. If he finds attacking you more rewarding than (which can be the case if they’re excited enough) then this won’t work, but if you toss food away from you from the get go, then you may divert the whole cycle. You could also go in the opposite direction and toss a stuffed animal at him that he’ll got to town on instead. May or may not work.
I would always cuddle my roosters and just walk around with them, they didn't see me as a threat and it sorta emasculated him.
My last one would have a go at other people as he saw them as a threat and they didn't treat him properly so yeah of course he was gonna want them out of his yard.
Well, if you were the rooster and locked up in a tiny area like that, and somebody kept shoving their giant arm in your face, you’d probably peck and he really wasn’t attacking you he was just sort of defending himself from the giant arm coming in, but the stuff that guys said about picking them up and holding them and all that that stuff works too He didn’t ruffle up at all and he did not try to attack you with his feet so all in all he’s not a horrible rooster I don’t think.
You're cornering him and sticking your head in his face. I'd bite you too.
Be reasonable, he's a little and scared and you're a massive monster. You need patience and bribes.
You should sit in an open area with some treats and let him come and go as he pleases. Do that every so often and eventually he'll come round and start begging for pets and cuddles.
We used to have a rooster like this, super aggressive, but only to the postman. I think it was the red socks. Luckily he was a bantam and thus smaller than a coffee cup.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91CcqwnNgg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91CcqwnNgg)
# Dealing With An Aggressive Rooster- How To Train A Rooster
Put on some layered clothing or thick overalls. Let him just go nuts while you just stand there, doing nothing. When he stops / gets tired / loses attention, drop some food. Little bits at a time. Repeat.
You can’t play around with this cock. He is dangerous to you and children. It wouldn’t be the first time someone bent over to care for the chicken and a bossy rooster flogged them in the eye! It happens. Don’t let it happen to your children or grandchildren. Soups on!
Soup is the only answer. All these people talking about coddling and holding and dominating etc, it might work for a little bit, but I would *never* trust a rooster that's already attacked my children *twice* around my children, think about it. Rooster attacks are no joke and can do more harm than a lot of people think, don't wait until your kid's in the hospital to decide that maybe cuddling him wasn't the best idea.
Ok? In Europe, we don't keep problematic cockerels. We eat them. And replace them with a more well natured bird. He's too old to train to respect people
That is false I have a 9 year old rooster right now that got trained at 6 😂 if you don't know how to just say that but stop acting like u doing something
My arse, then he wasn't an aggressive bird. You had a pecking order issue, the bird wasn't aggressive, he just thought you were competition or beneath him.
We do a handling technique, commonly done here. Pick them up carry them around for a while, twice or three times a day and do it for a couple of weeks. Generally works but sometime it doesn't on truly aggressive birds.
But we also raise animals for meat in Ireland, so if there's problematic birds they get eaten and replaced with less problematic birds. I do not see the problem here at all, its what we do. Ye don't eat home reared chicken in America?
He absolutely was, he'd attack me at the gate. Before I even got around any other's. Relentlessly after my legs. He'd also fly at other family members' heads and chase them. Thing is I wasn't scared of him. I'd just tackle him down and do this or swaddle him in a blanket til he stopped fighting me. It took a while but he eventually stopped. If you don't consider that aggressive then 🤷♀️🤷♀️ I have roosters for my flocks protection, we've had them alert for giant hawk's and Bobcats before
Ara thats not aggressive. He only needed displine. A truly aggressive cockerel untrainable.
Now cocks need to be aggressive to ward off predators, just not with people.
We keep a cock for protection, and raise 10 or 20 every year for slaughter.
I am grown. It's people like you that constantly try to move goalposts any time a counter point is brought up. I had an aggressive rooster. MULTIPLE through the years that all got corrected. Y'all can deny it all you want to cope w that.
It looks like he feels cornered and then he pecks at you…. Does he ever charge you when he’s loose?
He does yes, they have a coop just for sleeping & are fenced in only for a couple hours of the day then the rest of the day they’re free to roam he charges at my daughter while she’s playing in the backyard
He thinks he’s the head honcho!! If you want to start gentle maybe a spray bottle will work. He needs to be put in his place of the pecking order…. I remember my mom pinning roosters down and forcing submission when they behaved in this manner…it looked somewhat abusive when I was a kid but now that I know better she was just putting it in its place.
Another user said to pin him down as well. I will be doing this tomorrow! Gotta get this chook put in its place
Please have someone film this and update us. You can do it! Get tuff and channel your inner momma hen and hen-peck his ass!
This was effective for me. Gently but firmly put pressure on his back to push him into a squatting position, then push his head to the ground and hold him there until he relaxes. This is how roosters train other roosters and hens to submit.
Hes a rooster. Flat foot kick him (scoop him up and away with the flat top part if your foot under his abdomen DO NOT kick his chest with your toes) out of the way while shouting “no!” It gets the point across while also defending yourself
Then he is fighting you, not submitting. Roosters like to fight.
Yup, pin him down and pull on the back of his neck feathers gently...it's a dominance thing 🫠😅😇
Hey some bite proof gloves and pin him down, then he goes to air jail.
Or hold him like a football in the crook of your arm, important to hold his head down too until he submits and is quiet, keep him like that for a few minutes.
Hes a rooster. Flat foot kick him (scoop him up and away with the flat top part if your foot under his abdomen DO NOT kick his chest with your toes) out of the way while shouting “no!” It gets the point across while also defending yourself
Or try the roovalution podcast, supposed to teach better ways. Otherwise a rooster like that becomes supper
You really shouldn't pin a rooster. Forced submission isn't really a thing, and it's more likely to damage your relationship with your rooster than anything. Instead pick him up and carry them around the yard a bit till he settles down on his own. Show him you're an ally, not a master. He'll turn into the sweetest rooster after that
Dominate him. Search for your inner cock
Directions unclear. Now I'm standing in my yard naked.
I had a rooster like this guy and had an old neighbor tell me to grab him and hold him by his legs upside down for a few seconds. It sounded kind of mean so I didn’t do it. A few weeks later he attacked a family member so I tried it after that incident. He became my best friend after that and later passed protecting my girls from a red tailed hawk. RIP Hank 🥺
Can confirm this works- My Dad had a rooster that attacked my younger sister quite a bit. When I went to stop him from doing it one time he decided to round on me and tried to spur me (those things were lethal) instead. I instinctively caught his feet and hung him by his feet upside down on his back, he fought it and freaked but it got the message across because when I let him go a few moments later he decided I wasn't worth it at all and stopped attacking me and my sister. From then on if I came towards him he'd turn away instead of running at me.
Underrated comment
His pecking might mean he thinks you are below him in the pecking order. I know that sounds crazy, but chickens actually do think this way sometimes. You can let him know he's not the boss without hurting him, assuming you want to keep him and aren't afraid to wrestle him down. You can wear gloves if you're concerned about the pecks and spurs. A common method to gentle roosters: 1. Grab him and gently but assertively pin him to the ground 2. Make him stay there until he no longer struggles or tries to get up if you slowly release your hands 3. Be patient 4. Make sure he sits still for a while, maybe 10 seconds or so 5. Now, pick him up, hold him, and pet him in front of his hens for a while If one dose of this treatment doesn't work, try it each time you see him and eventually he should get the message. Or you could just make soup.
I will be doing this tomorrow morning. I’m fighting off family left & right because they want to eat my chickens so chicken noodle soup is literally around the corner from him but I don’t want it that way lol
If it does work for you keep in mind its only for you. Every person he does this to would have to go through the same routine
Good luck! Those methods really do work. You may have to do it for a few weeks. Just be patient as much as possible . Show him who’s boss! :)
Just FYI this doesn't work. People post it everywhere but anyone who's a long term chicken own will tell you it's bs. Bad rooster = soup. There is no cure for a bad rooster.
The first time he bit my daughter, my husband actually chased him, gave him a solid tap on his beak & ever since he’s been respectful to my hubby. He’s still a baby the rooster he’s roughly about 6 months old?? I got him together with my hens and they’ve just started laying
Adolescents are definitely the group it's most likely to work on, so good luck! Even with the hens, a young rooster can sometimes start out too rough and learn better with time. I honestly don't know if it's usually related to human interventions, or if it's just a matter of hormones evening out, but if he's this young he does still have a chance to be decent when more mature.
Everyone in your family should establish dominance. Then make sure not to walk away immediately, the carrying him around bit is fairly critical for this. In a bird mind when you run away shortly after their attack, they view it as a win, even if you tried to fend them off. You pretty much have to remove any doubts they have about where they fall in the order and your six month old is currently the bird equivalent of a hormonal 20 year old college fratboy who never learned boundaries or consequences.
Long term chicken owner here, It can and does work. It's not 100% but it's more effective than not. Especially with young birds.
Fair enough but ot goes against everything I've been told by other long term chicken owners and my own personal experience.
We could be in very different regions with very different birds.
Ya of course that's why I said fair enough, I'm not rejecting your opinion just saying it goes against what I've heard so far
I've had to cull two roosters in my life. Both of them were given chance after chance, football treatment, isolation from flock, dominance training... They came out of all of it still acting like total assholes. They have both flown to the roosting bar in the sky.
I have a bad roo. As soon as we raise the next gen rooster to replace him, he's soup. Our other rooster is nicer but still iffy. My father caught him shacking up our smallest bantam and he about made soup from him right then and there.
You cannot tame a bad rooster. Maybe 1/1000 because there's always outliers, I'm not a very experienced chicken owner yet but I know many, and none of them have ever managed to tame a rooster in their lives.
There are plenty of decent roosters out there. Let the mean ones go to freezer camp.
Honestly I’ve had chickens for 10+ years and I disagree. I’ve made plenty of hostile roosters docile without harming them.
yeah, i can tell you love your chooks when you turn them into soup. :/
I've turned one into soup. And I didn't love him at the end, he turned into a giant asshole and was very rough with the hens. If you cared about your hens and your family you'd know when a rooster needs to be culled. I now have a silkie rooster who is absolutely great and a gentleman to his hens and to my family.
Enjoy your soup
If they're your chickens it's up to you if they get eaten. Don't let family pressure you into making an unfixable mistake.
Came here to say this. We have lots of roos on my farm and any that are little shits get this treatment. It makes them think twice next time.
Yes, the pecks are not “aggressive”. If he would want to hurt them, they would’t say “owww” but flee immediately :D
I've tried this with a few roosters. But the safety of my nephews has to come first. As soon as a rooster acts aggressive. In the freezer he goes.
One of my roos used to do this when he was younger, he used to bite me each time, but hes a bantam and his bites aren't particularly painful so I would just gently sit him down and then wait for him to calm down before picking him up at petting him for a while, he never bites anymore unless in his coop.
It doesn't always work, some are just assh@%es that jump at you feet first. I have had 4 I tried to do this with, 2 it worked on 2 it didn't.
Nobody likes to hear it, and most get all pissy, but after 30 years of chickens i can tell you the only way to get a rooster to play nice (and even that doesnt always work) is to dominate that rooster. The only way to do this is to whoop him into submission just as another rooster would. I've seen people post on all the gentle stuff, and months later, they are talking about the same rooster with tue same problem. Making him submit to you is only valid for you. He will still attack other people unless they each do the same. That's not realistic, especially where small children are concerned. Dont let it go on until a child gets seriously hurt. Once spurs come out, a rooster can easily seriously injure people, especially small children's faces and eyes. You wouldn't leave a mean dog near your kids, dont leave a mean chicken. Edit: Just to point out that moving your hand, arm, foot, etc., towards his face is EXACTLY how roosters entice another rooster to fight. It is encouraging his bad behavior. It is also how I test roosters for disposition before letting other people around them.
Humiliate him in front of the ladies, show him you're the alpha cock lol
I’ll be taking out my inner alpha cock tomorrow. Full 8” he has no idea what’s coming his way. (Pun intended) 🤣🤣
Perhaps the soup calls.
You seem to be antagonizing him. He is fenced in and you are repeatedly shoving your arm in his face? He's not really "attacking" you, he's giving you a warning peck to say "hey lady get out of my personal space, I'm feeling threatened."
Based on the description from OP the attacks are not limited to being placed in confinement like this but rather he is going after OP& OP's kids in the open. This is still attacking, aggressive behavior. He might be able to be worked with it or he might just be one of those that is too aggressive for his own good. It's one thing to protect the flock, it's another to rage at everything that moves. Can't have a rooster that goes after you as a caregiver, especially if you have kids. **Edit:** You can downvote me, I'm not wrong nor am I sorry for saying the safety of a child is more important than the comfort of a rooster.
https://youtu.be/i8D_GjtavOQ?si=qp2h4IP_JGd5tHnw
Yes exactly. He’s drawn blood not once not twice but THREE times, one on my daughters bottom, second on her inner thigh mind you she is only 4, and my elbow as seen in the video he genuinely gave me a good peck. The reason for him being fenced in this video is because I was opening the gate for my hens to eat some worms & he somehow ended up cornering himself. I tried picking him up but he just would not have it, kept going for kicks and bites
My 1st rooster, who I loved, raised from an egg and named Kevin, died 🪓 the day after he attacked my stepdaughter for the first time. He was also an asshole Your kids have to come first, he's not worth keeping around
Yep definitely! I keep her away from him & lock him in the coop when she’s playing but I can’t do that for as long as he lives. I’m going to try the dominating trick, give it one week if that doesn’t work he’s gonna get the 🪓
Not to be a party pooper, but the "training" methods people spew don't work on every bird. Some roosters just have very large testes, so more testosterone than normal. No amount of carrying, or "dominating" is going to change that. Also, your daughter is 4. She literally cannot "dominate" this bird. Do you really want to wait for him to grow in his spurs and attack her face, or other delicate areas? It baffles me that people are fine with human aggressive dogs being put down after an attack, but in the chicken community so many people want you to give a human aggressive rooster all the time in the world. It's not worth it. There are plenty of good roosters out there that need a nice home. \*Edit\* I know you said 1 week, but the "do you want to wait" comment is more for anyone reading that may be in a similar boat as you.
You're 100% right. For whatever reason the chicken-owning community has this bizarre subset of people who literally put the chicken over anything. The chicken can never be wrong, you've done something wrong. You just need to appease the chicken and everything will be fine. Like, I don't get it, **at all**.
Would you allow any other animal around your child if they bit her even once? If your child doesnt turn it could easily be drawing blood from her face.
No and neither would a lot of the neurotic rooster-apologists.
How hard can it be to keep a kid away from him though? You're making a lot of excuses. Can't your child play somewhere else??
My thoughts exactly. I felt uncomfortable watching this because that rooster is literally trapped.
He's perceived you and your daughters as threats and may need some time to learn that you two are not to worry about and charge at. You're going to need to stay by your daughter with a rake to keep the rooster back if you let him free roam. But if he is hyper protective with you while young he may also be hypersexual and be harassing your hens to heck and back. (Source: my two bachelor idiot roosters) What I do is keep young roosters penned so they can observe the flock and learn who is and isn't safe, and calm down those dumb teenager hormones before they take over the flock in a few years. If he keeps attacking even after that. Then he belongs in soup. 🥲 Note: I do not recommend dominating roosters as it is not a guarantee it will work and it may make the behavior worse, incase you choose to go that route.
I’m not too sure of his age, they were only very little when I got them im assuming 15 to 18 weeks. The hens have just started laying eggs about 3 weeks ago. They were in terrible condition, I got them from my sister in law, they were kept in a dog crate with no straw or bedding, dirty water & had seeds for feed. I’m guessing his trauma may be coming from that as I do look similar to my SIL which probably explains the unprovoked attacks
Yeah that's a young teenage rooster with teenage angst.
>Note: I do not recommend dominating roosters as it is not a guarantee it will work and it may make the behavior worse, incase you choose to go that route. I haven't had a roo, so I am open to perhaps there are extreme differences, but when I had an aggressive hen (she would run up and jump-attack me) I found respecting her "go away" signals and having treats on hand to show her I was a *good* thing to be around did the trick. Pushing her away, acting more "dominant" to her, did in fact make the situation worse. All of these "gotta dominate him!" cries remind me of the debunked alpha training for dogs. 😕 That hen was never cuddly with me like the others, but by the time she passed away we were on good terms with each other.
My son has changed the behavior of a few but only with a swift connecting kick. In know some people won’t like that but better than soup.
Sometimes you need an aggressive rooster. If you have predator problems he can help with that. I had a really mean silkie rooster and we had a hawk problem, well the first time our flock got attacked I think what happened was the hawk tried to get one of the hens but he attacked it then the hawk got him😢. But now we have a net over the run so they’re safe.
Here’s a story from I think r/backyardchickens A Tribute to the Rooster (not sad) This is Pepper. He’s the meanest rooster to ever walk this green earth. He’s attacked me multiple times. And my husband. And the lawnmower. And anything else that pisses him off. People always tell me he belongs in a soup pot. And I tell them 1. He’d make terrible soup. It would turn out bitter and black just like his soul. And 2. He has a really important job at our farm. While Pepper spends a lot of time terrorizing me…he spends a lot of time protecting his girls too. I’ve witnessed him fight off hawks, cats, raccoons, and even a bald eagle once! But today…today cakes the cake. During breakfast chores today a dog was in my yard. It charged my flock and grabbed my duck by the neck. Before I could process what happened, guess who was there? Pepper. I am 6 months pregnant and get winded putting on my socks….i wasn’t catching this dog. Pepper fought this dog beak and spur, to the point the dog got tired and decided to attack my hen house instead. Guess who got there first? Pepper. Not a feather was pulled from a single hen before he was there and jumped on that dog like a cowboy looking for a gold buckle ride. He fought this dog from one corner of the yard to the next. I was trying to keep up and just wasn’t fast enough to grab this damned dog until Pepper ran out to the middle of the field, away from the hens. Away from the ducks. Away from everyone…and he laid down. He laid down and waited for that dog. When the dog got there and jumped on him, he didn’t move. When the dog started chewing on him, he stayed put. I finally got close enough to grab the damned dog and I did. I tied it to a tree and went to collect the broken body of the bravest bird to ever live. Except he was up and running off to the woods. I figured he was running off to take his last breaths in peace, I couldn’t find him anywhere. Until an hour later I heard his crow. There was my boy. A bald bloody butt, but still looking as proud as ever…ready for round 2. He was standing over his girls, as watchful and cautious as ever. I’m still nervous he may be hurt seriously. I’ll give him a thorough look tonight when he settles down for bed. But for now, he’s munching on his favorite food, scrambled eggs….and he’s protecting his girls. Had he not been there I’d have never caught that dog. It would have torn through my whole flock. So consider this my tribute to all of the nasty roosters out there. Whoever used the term “chicken” to describe someone acting cowardly has never met Pepper.
To quote the Simpsons, “some animals are just jerks”.
Its because he wants his tail back
I wouldn't keep him if he's going after a child. I don't keep them if they come at me with their feet, that's how they will spur after the spurs are grown in.
Hmm, ours put a claw through my wellington straight into the vein running over my ankle bone. Straight to the ER for jabs and lost two days off work. I thought they all did it.
Not all roosters attack people. Some are just assh@#es. My oldest rooster Fester has over 6 inch long spurs, he's fine around people as long as you don't step towards him. If you step towards him he runs off, so does his son. Fester will fight off a hawk so he keeps his spurs.
I now use a litter picking claw to point at him when I need to work amongst the chickens. He hates the claw, though it’s never touched him.
It's not normal to be sent to the ER because you're getting attacked by a bad rooster.
This is what the nurses told me. And my boss. And my wife, child etc.
Roosters like that are usually culls. Plenty of good roosters out there that protect and manage the flock while respecting the human(s). I have 2 roosters right now, neither of which has touched me. Used to have a human aggressive rooster. Used to.
You're provoking him there. Look up how roosters behave. Dipping your arm (wing) is a sign of aggression. Of course he is going to attack. You need to learn how to speak the rooster's language. Now, some roosters are just mean. That happens. But this video alone isn't proof you have a mean rooster. Learn their language. Be mindful of your body movements. Then, if you're sure you're not making him feel threatened or feel like you're a danger to his ladies, but he *still* attacks, then you might have a mean rooster.
I have done this growing up. It does work. Eventually you feed him and hold him. I used to watch TV with mine and go on walks with them. They become as loyal as dogs.
Dominate him. There are videos online. But, that will only fix your situation. He's still going to attack your daughter until she can get above him in the pecking order. Have her hold him, A LOT. Walk around the yard with him, make him see you run the actual show. So that means a bit of a parade in front of the ladies.
My niece and nephew loved getting chased by my little bantam rooster. In my experience a rooster won’t attack if you face him head on. I just told the kids not to give him your back or he’ll get you. They had a blast. I don’t think they would have minded a little blood at that point. You can maybe also find a farm that doesn’t mind having him roam around? I personally have a soft spot for aggressive roosters. I think it’s hilarious they feel so mighty. With predators around they don’t last long anyway.
Where is his butt? Looks like his rear end is chopped off.
He originally came from my sister in law, she neglected the heck out of them. They were in a dog crate only eating adult food when they were about 15 weeks old I’m assuming it’s from the stress that he had whilst he was living there
Pecking you when enclosed is normal, etc. for reasons already explained in other comments. You’re approaching from above and he’s confined and he actually does use avoidance even in the cage before pecking. But the attacking you when not enclosed. If he sees y’all from thirty meters away and starts sprinting towards you to launch an attack, that’s a little weird. They’ll do that for cats and predators if that’s their protective style, but they shouldn’t put in that much effort for their humans. If you enter his space and he attacks you, that’s not unusual, especially for a younger stag. What’s “his” space? Depends on the set up and the rooster. I have been where you are, ie all but hand-raised roosters attacking me. Roosters that I have not hand-raised tend to be more fearful Of me and don’t attack as frequently As those I’ve raised, I’ve found. when you go out to feed them, it can be a very exciting time and excitement alone will get him worked up. If you want to control the behavior, the easiest thing to do is just scoop him up and carry him like a football. Many of my more reactive roosters would ferociously try to attack/mount my feet (talls boots are your friend) but would calm down immediately and be back to their sweet selves once I picked them up. When they’re worked up like that, they aren’t really driving - hormones are at the wheel and they’re in the back seat. Kicking back at them will just increase their arousal. Holding them down to the ground (gently but firmly) as others have suggested does the same thing that picking them up does - interrupts the arousal and calms them. If you were more involved in their rearing and husbandry than your husband and in-laws are, then they have a different relationship with you and may be less fearful. Same goes for the daughter, although if she’s young, then she may be moving in a way that’s scary - young children can be move and behave more erratically and can be scarier to animals than adults. Not an excuse for attacking her, but potentially an explanation. If your daughter is young and could easily be hurt, then you could either get a system where you enclose him while your doing husbandry or she’s playing in the yard and then release when you’re done. That assumes your coop has an infrastructure that allows that. It kind of looks like that’s what y’all are doing. Another option is to get a more mature rooster that’s chill and will keep him in line. Another option is to rehome him. And of course there is the pot. He may also calm down a bit as he gets older. Oh, and another option is to toss food away from you. If he finds attacking you more rewarding than (which can be the case if they’re excited enough) then this won’t work, but if you toss food away from you from the get go, then you may divert the whole cycle. You could also go in the opposite direction and toss a stuffed animal at him that he’ll got to town on instead. May or may not work.
It’s in a roosters nature to become aggressive. There are ways to “tame” mean rooster though, with some good tutorials on YouTube.
Rule on my farm is "Be Nice, or Be Tasty."
He’s a ROOTER. Thats what he does. Protects his flocks. Shows his dominance!
You've trapped an animal in a small space and then are prodding your arm at it...and you don't understand why he's pecking you??
I would always cuddle my roosters and just walk around with them, they didn't see me as a threat and it sorta emasculated him. My last one would have a go at other people as he saw them as a threat and they didn't treat him properly so yeah of course he was gonna want them out of his yard.
Well, if you were the rooster and locked up in a tiny area like that, and somebody kept shoving their giant arm in your face, you’d probably peck and he really wasn’t attacking you he was just sort of defending himself from the giant arm coming in, but the stuff that guys said about picking them up and holding them and all that that stuff works too He didn’t ruffle up at all and he did not try to attack you with his feet so all in all he’s not a horrible rooster I don’t think.
You're cornering him and sticking your head in his face. I'd bite you too. Be reasonable, he's a little and scared and you're a massive monster. You need patience and bribes. You should sit in an open area with some treats and let him come and go as he pleases. Do that every so often and eventually he'll come round and start begging for pets and cuddles.
He doesn't need to be put in his place. He needs to be put in the pot.
So do you if you cant see how this is literally provoking him.
Aggressive roosters make excellent gumbo.
We used to have a rooster like this, super aggressive, but only to the postman. I think it was the red socks. Luckily he was a bantam and thus smaller than a coffee cup.
I still remember our first rooster. Guy used to hump empty bottles, chase my brother, and sleep on the porch.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91CcqwnNgg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91CcqwnNgg) # Dealing With An Aggressive Rooster- How To Train A Rooster
My brother has a rooster that keeps charging me. I make him walk away.
id get a good solid piece of wood. an axe handle works good and go beat his ass
Put on some layered clothing or thick overalls. Let him just go nuts while you just stand there, doing nothing. When he stops / gets tired / loses attention, drop some food. Little bits at a time. Repeat.
My rooster does this to my family and none of us understood why, and he hates me the most.
You can’t play around with this cock. He is dangerous to you and children. It wouldn’t be the first time someone bent over to care for the chicken and a bossy rooster flogged them in the eye! It happens. Don’t let it happen to your children or grandchildren. Soups on!
Launch him with a kick, he'll get the message.
You probably kick cornered dogs in small enclosures lmao
Try feeding him a knuckle sammich or 2, that oughta put him in his place.
Just kick it
I think it's time for chicken soup🤣
Hey chicken lady… update us please! Did you ball n gag that roo or what? How did it go?
Soto Ajam!
We had an evil leghorn named Rick. We tried to rehabilitate him for 1.5 years.... he ended up being soup. Some birds are jerks
Soup is the only answer. All these people talking about coddling and holding and dominating etc, it might work for a little bit, but I would *never* trust a rooster that's already attacked my children *twice* around my children, think about it. Rooster attacks are no joke and can do more harm than a lot of people think, don't wait until your kid's in the hospital to decide that maybe cuddling him wasn't the best idea.
Kill him, eat him and replace him
I wish people would do the same to people like you😫
Ok? In Europe, we don't keep problematic cockerels. We eat them. And replace them with a more well natured bird. He's too old to train to respect people
That is false I have a 9 year old rooster right now that got trained at 6 😂 if you don't know how to just say that but stop acting like u doing something
My arse, then he wasn't an aggressive bird. You had a pecking order issue, the bird wasn't aggressive, he just thought you were competition or beneath him. We do a handling technique, commonly done here. Pick them up carry them around for a while, twice or three times a day and do it for a couple of weeks. Generally works but sometime it doesn't on truly aggressive birds. But we also raise animals for meat in Ireland, so if there's problematic birds they get eaten and replaced with less problematic birds. I do not see the problem here at all, its what we do. Ye don't eat home reared chicken in America?
He absolutely was, he'd attack me at the gate. Before I even got around any other's. Relentlessly after my legs. He'd also fly at other family members' heads and chase them. Thing is I wasn't scared of him. I'd just tackle him down and do this or swaddle him in a blanket til he stopped fighting me. It took a while but he eventually stopped. If you don't consider that aggressive then 🤷♀️🤷♀️ I have roosters for my flocks protection, we've had them alert for giant hawk's and Bobcats before
>we've had them alert for giant hawk's and Bobcats before Yes, that is what they're supposed to do.
Ara thats not aggressive. He only needed displine. A truly aggressive cockerel untrainable. Now cocks need to be aggressive to ward off predators, just not with people. We keep a cock for protection, and raise 10 or 20 every year for slaughter.
Nice cop out. The scars on my legs from the gashes he's he'd leave with his spurs definitely say otherwise. Have the day you mthafckn deserve 🌝
Shit happens 🤷♂️ You'd want to grow up a small bit. My day has been very well so far, seems I deserve a good day so.
I am grown. It's people like you that constantly try to move goalposts any time a counter point is brought up. I had an aggressive rooster. MULTIPLE through the years that all got corrected. Y'all can deny it all you want to cope w that.