I have a 6 month old rooster who recently has become very aggressive. I actually have a hard time feeding my birds because he tries to attack me every chance he gets. He actually chases after me. Is he destined for my soup pot?

-- MARK ZIERK (ZIERK@MILWPC.COM), December 04, 2001

Answers

Pressure cooker will work too. Yep he should be dinner.

-- renee o'neill (oneillsr@home.com), December 04, 2001.

It depends how badly you want a rooster. I have had several aggressive roosters like yours. I usually carry a pail of water with me when in the chicken yard if I know I have a nasty rooster. When he comes even remotely near I throw the water on him. If I miss I get another pail of water until he gets a direct hit. He will soon know who is boss of the chicken yard. Mine soon run the other way when I come with a pail, be it water or food.

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), December 04, 2001.

Well.... you could stew him, or tru my hubby's approach. We were given 2 roosters from our neighbor back in VA after we moved. I was thrilled to ahve chickens again as it had been about 2 yrs. They gave them because they were mean, so i named them Meanie and Nasty. Well.... these roosters sure were mean, and they would attack ya for no reason. I was getting ready for work one AM and hubby was going out the door. Meanie was on the front porch and he went up to him and attacked. So hubby, being a ex football player saw him coming, he had his wing out in a very threatening position. Hunny raised his leg and punted him. That rooster landed about 100 yards away, and looked like a missle flying through the air. he managed to land like a cat on his feet, was funny. But after that he didn't attack anymore. Then one day we were at work, our dogs went or a stroll and this hunting dog which was a bird dog mix came by. The hunters in VA could se their dogs to hunt with. She was hungry and came, really sweet dog, then she came back after I shooed her and proceeded to kill the roosters, so there goes the last of my Mean roosters, geeze!

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 04, 2001.

Yes, if you have young children. If you intend to keep him, I'd take his spurs off at least. Without them he's more of a nuisance than a threat.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 04, 2001.

Empty soda cans make good missles too. Every couple of months I REMIND mine that I am bigger, whenever he starts puffing his feathers at the sight of me. If I don't have a pop can I raise my hands above my head and CHASE him! I probably look ridiculous but it works! If he does jump up to attack (very rare) I kick him-NOT hard enough to cause an injury but plenty hard enough to give him an attitude adjustment! Chickens have a pecking order and I will NOT be bossed around by a 5 lb. bird!

It is very healthy for roosters to respect humans---I once got rid of a rooster because it was flying over the fence to attack small children. I couldn't change this and not even clipping it's wing could keep it in, so I had no choice but to get rid of it. I don't actually think that roosters resent getting hit when it attacks someone: It is a LOT kinder than what another chicken would do to it if it misbehaved!

5 minutes every couple of months makes all the difference in the world for your typical rooster, and if it doesn't then it may be dangerous. I have seen roosters deliberately go after peoples eyes, and if you bend over you DON'T want it to go for your face.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), December 04, 2001.

Bet it's a Bantam. I had one that I would dunk in the water trough, three times. If I couldn't catch him, I would take him at night after he roosts and dunk him three times. Once so he knew he was wrong, twice so he knew not to do it again, and third for good measure. It got tired after a while, got rid of him. I have a Domonique now and he not only doesn't have spurs but is nice.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 04, 2001.

I had a rooster, didn't matter how hard I kicked him, he'd still come at me. Worse, he terrorized the children. And he'd fly right at my face. A bad rooster is bad. Why put up with one when there are really nice ones as well.

-- mary (mlg@aol.com), December 04, 2001.

Think poultry psychology for a minute.....

This young fellow is establishing pecking order and you're included. don't show him fear, rather walk out like you're the boss you intend to be. When he comes at you reach down and pick him up. Tote him around with you for the rest of your chores and then some. As a matter of fact, every time you go out there pick him up. Tell him in your sweetest voice that you're the boss, not him. Soon he'll associate you with being picked up & humilated.

I've found that my being aggressive leads to even more aggression from the rooster. When i kicked, pushed or rubbed their little heads in the grass, they came back more angry than before ready to fight.

If you want no physical contact with him, use a water bottle or super soaker water gun. They won't bother you knowing they'll get a blast of water.

-- Buk Buk (bukabuk@hotmail.com), December 04, 2001.

An experienced lady once advised the use of a 2X4, the object being actually getting the bird's attention in a lasting fashion.Don't worry too much about damaging it. If he's injuring you or your family and can't learn from this, you don't want him around anyway.

I thought this advise was a joke until I ran into a "sparring" partner who would not listen to reason or my boot (they simply lack the mass for a good, satisfying kick) and was injuring my family. The only caveat I would add is that the behavioral conditioning should be immediate for a proper impression. Otherwise you'll just have a neurotic attack rooster.

One other point. Two or three roosters fight more amongst themselves than with you.

-- Don Mruk (mruks@crystal-mtn.com), December 04, 2001.

A good broom stick to the head and neck works good. If you kill him, dress him and have noodles. Jim

-- Jim Raymond (jimr@terraworld.net), December 04, 2001.

Here, Here ! If he's mean now it's doubtful he'll become nicer with age. My vote is to behead him before he really hurts someone. A mean rooster is nothing to mess with. I grew up with a mean Rhode Island Red rooster, I had to carry a bat just to collect eggs. Even the bat didn't help, I thought I'd killed him a time or two but he just kept coming. LOL! We've had five roosters in the last two years, all but one are very friendly. Needless to say the one who wasn't we ate. We've had Barred Rock and Buff Orphingtons, we handled all of them from the start and all but the one were and are okay. Our daughter catches them and carries them around, even kisses them and they've NEVER offered to peck let alone attack ( the one mentioned above did attack our daughter on a Friday evening and met the stump Sat. morning)

-- Kelle in MT (kvent1729@aol.com), December 05, 2001.

He's aggressive because it's in his nature - he's inherited that tendency. Thing is, so will his descendants if you give him the chance to have any, and descendants are the only reason to keep a rooster. While I could deal with an agressive rooster if I had to, I wouldn't want to deal with an entire clan of them for generations untold.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 05, 2001.

Don's got a really good point. You don't want to propogate a whole line of nasty roosters. On the other hand, if for some reason this particular rooster is one you wish to save (rare breed, or whatever) I have done the pick up and carry method, and it worked quite well.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), December 05, 2001.

My pet Bantam rooster decided my husband was the enemy, but doesn't go after me. We've even tried fooling him by me wearing the hubby's barn boots, but he knows the difference. I got him as a young adult and tamed him down. I keep his spurs trimmed so he doesn't hurt anyone. He sends the two, "big", obnoxious free-ranging roosters we have (and need to butcher soon!) packing as well. I tell my husband chickens are an excellent judge of character.

-- Cheers, Renee M.

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), December 05, 2001.

We have had several that got mean, and with kids, you just gotta get rid of them. One of mine attacked me one day, when I wasnt in a particularly good mood to start with. He ran up behind me and flew into my back. That was the last straw, and I wasnt in the mood to chase him all over the farm. ca-chick, ca-chick--BOOM. End of that mean little bugger!! :-)

-- Panhandle Phyllis (tmblweed@wtrt.net), December 05, 2001.

The rooster that I had to get rid of started pecking the other chicks regularly at 2 days of age. For him, I think the meanness really WAS heredity. However, since this is recent behavior for the 6 month old rooster, he may really just be trying to figure out who is the boss and who will get out of his way. If so, once you establish yourself as the boss you may not have any more problems. If his behavior doesn't change, I wouldn't keep him. Even if you don't have kids your friends probably do, and a colorfull flock of chickens can be a real "kid magnet".

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), December 05, 2001.

I betcha picking him up would actually work, though I've never really thought about it before. All I know is that I was visiting a woman one day and one of her banty roosters kept attacking me, actually drawing blood on my shins through my jeans. Well, I wanted to kick him, but didn't think it would be politic. After a while, she said, "Just catch him." I tried for a bit, but couldn't manage it. However, with the tables turned on who was pursuing whom, he found he had more interesting things to do and left me alone for the rest of the visit.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), December 05, 2001.

An aggressive animal of any size should not be tolerated. Keeping him will mean a daily battle at the least and someone getting hurt at worst. Put him in the pot.

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), December 06, 2001.

may i suggest CHRISTMAS DINNER?? cody

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), December 08, 2001.