Bought 6 polish chicks (and other breeds) a year ago. 3 of the polish turned out to be boys. Rehomed 2. Remaining one starting to come after me. Advice? He is in a large run with attached coop.
Crockpot???
Yes I have thought about that.
I currently have an aggressive rooster and have had to chase him around the barn throwing things at him a few time to get him to back off., we currently have a truce. I tolerate him because my chickens are free range and he does an excellent job of protecting the hens from obnoxious dogs and various predators. If they were in a coop I think he would have a date with the crock pot.
Crockpot for sure
Badminton racket
That and we would love to see a video of that encounter.
When we had chicken . We had one rooster my little sister used a tennis racket on. It worked to keep him away.
Some aggressive roosters can be rehabilitated, some can not.
It may be helpful to view this rooster as someone who takes his job defending his hens VERY seriously, just a little too seriously.
First of all, try not to kick him or swat him with a badminton racket; this tends to up the ante and make the aggression worse.
What you need to do is reinforce your alpha status. If he comes at you, pick him up. Tuck him in the crook of your arm and carry him around as you do chores. If he fusses and fights and wonât settle when you pick him up; briefly hold him upside down by his feet, then cradle him and carry him around. (Briefly because being held upside down for longer than a minute or do can be really damaging.)
Youâll know this is working when he starts to avoid you and even avoid eye contact with you and pretty much pretends you donât exist.
If this doesnât work, well, the crock pot is also an option. A couple of our aggressive ones ended up there; others reformed and became good citizens.
Yes, if you want to keep him, do as McGurk says first. If that doesnât work out, I would cull.
I have 0 tolerance for a human-aggressive male, but Iâm breeding. I hatch so many males that I have plenty of choices, even though trying for good type does narrow that down. I donât want to breed that sort of temperament forward. On the other hand, one does want a rooster that has some sense of taking care of his hens, too much on the âpansyâ side and youâll have less vigor and probably less fertility if heâs not even bothered enough to mate. Anyway, I digressâŠ
I did all of these things with the rooster we once had. I also beat him to within an inch of his life once (not on purpose, I landed an unfortunate blow, and was quite traumatized that I thought Iâd killed the rooster I loathed). NOTHING STOPPED HIM. He would see me coming from across the barn yard and charge me. It was actually frightening. We got rid of him.
I donât know if this would help or not, but years ago I was visiting my Auntâs farm and she had some really aggressive geese. I had my infant son with me so I was having none of it. I took my umbrella out of the car and when they came for me I opened it. Backed those suckers right off. Kept it with me for the remainder of my visit but didnât need it after a bit. Good luck!
I once kicked my rooster into a wall hard enough he took a long time to get up, then walked in circles for 10 minutes. Now he only attacks me when my back is turned. If heâs a good protector or makes nice babies keep him. If not, eat him.
Itâs posts like this why I spend so much time on COTH. I laughed HARD out loud on this one. Yes, could we please see some video? P.S. I was chased as a youngster and it was terrifying. So maybe my hard laugh is a nervous response to PTSD.
@JessSwan posted about an aggressive rooster years ago. As the saga went, the rooster began to only attack her when her back was turned⊠She had to resort to doing chores carrying a racket and wearing a halloween mask on backwards so the rooster couldnât tell if she was coming or going. He eventually met the pot.
Thanks all for responding. I think I will try to rehome him with a couple hens. Anyone in western NY got room?
OP, I am very sorry for your rooster difficulties but I would like to personally thank you, and all of the other contributors, for making me laugh out loud.
Ha ha since I am âstaying homeâ alone I wonât be able to provide a video of me with a badminton racquet, sorry.
Hens, yes. We just lost one to a fox.
Mean rooster no, we already have one of those.
If he is destined for the pot, best not to do battle with him. You will get very little usable meat. I like the umbrella idea, if you have to defend yourself and he is loose in the yard. If you want to dress him out, just wait until they chickens go to roost, pick him up off the roost and wring his neck. It sucks, but that is the best way. If you donât want the meat, wring his neck and double bag him when he stops flapping before putting him in the garbage (make sure heâs dead).
Beating him while heâs awake is cruelty and you are likely to get nasty scratches from his spurs. They can leave scars. We know someone who actually lost an eye from a rooster attack. She was just a kid, but still, pretty awful.