Mean Roo

[slatetastic]

So, I'm a little sad tonight, but I know it had to be done.
We got out chickens as babies from Tractor Supply and ended up with two roosters. The slightly older roo took on his role as head roo, but didn't know how to act. He's been mean with the girls, quite rough with them (often to the point of really hurting them, tearing their combs and pulling out feathers) rude to the other roo, but most importantly, very very aggressive with any man that he comes across, which includes my dad, who has an auto immune disease, and my 7 year old son. I've been trying to find a new home for him locally, but no one wanted him. He straight up attacked my son today and my dad chased him (and happened to have an axe in his hand). Dad had every intention of killing him right then and there, but my mom stopped him. Anyway, I went to check on the roo tonight and found a massive gash under his wing and he was wheezing pretty bad, so Dad and I did what we had to do.
I'm hoping that if my son and I handle the other roo enough, he won't turn out the same. I'll take any advice I can on how to raise a well mannered roo, I'm very sad and don't want to lose any more of my babies until it's their time.

 

[microchick]

I'm so sorry and can well understand why you are upset. There are too many nice roosters wanting good homes to put up with an aggressive one. You are well rid of your trouble maker before he hurt your father, your son, or somebody else.

Roosters are some of my favorite chicken. I have four standard sized roosters and way too many bantam roosters ( I no longer count them although I have 60 birds and about half are roosters ) and one bantam/buff orpington cross cockerel. Not a human aggressive bird in the bunch. It wasn't an easy journey. I re-homed many birds due to human aggression that wound up in a stew pot for the new owners and went to work breeding for non-aggressive birds. I wish I could say that it is easy. A lot has to do with genetics. All roosters get a little over the top when the hormones kick in, some more than others.

Personally, what works for me is 1) show no fear 2) always be the alpha rooster and 3) lots of handling. Any transgression of the rules meets with the law breaker being carried around like a football for at least 15 minutes, then put into the dominant down position with my hand on his back, pushing him chest first to the ground until he stops struggling. If he doesn't he gets carried around and the dominant down repeated until he submits to my authority. Some times it works, some times it doesn't.

The rules are simple. If I am in the run or coop, get out of my way. Absolutely no biting or pecking and definitely no flogging or feet first attacks. And the final rule is that the hens belong to me, not the roosters. If one is getting ganged up on or mistreated I will come to her rescue with a vengeance.

Be aware that your remaining rooster, now that he is in charge of the hens, may act up. Also be aware that when they are about 18 months old, they settle down considerably. But like I said earlier, there is a genetic factor to consider and frankly there ain't nuttin you can do about genetics except learn to love fried chicken.

I consider myself very lucky to have 'nice' boys at the moment who hop on the roosts and beg for pets and cuddles from me when I enter the coop. Trust me, it wasn't always that way and I had to work like the devil--not to mention heal up my share of spur wounds--along the way in order to get them to that point.

My best advice is to handle as much as possible, don''t take any bull off of him and make him respect you. If that doesn't work like I said, there are a lot of nice roosters out there begging for a loving home.

Good luck. I'm so glad your son wasn't injured.

 

[slatetastic]

Thank you! I am really sad, this roo had never been aggressive toward me, but I'm not the only one that lives here. I'm usually more concerned about my dad, since he has a weakened immune system. I'll definitely have more hands on time with this younger roo, I know he matured much later than the other roo, so hopefully I still have time to make sure that he's better with the girls and the humans. I appreciate your reply, it helped a lot.

 

[microchick]

Hope everything works out with the new roo!