It’s taken me a few nights, but tonight i finally got hold of that horrible rooster. Killing him was not as cathartic as i thought it would be though. For a couple of weeks i’ve had to carry a big stick around with me wherever i go. If i put down the stick to do something down in his vicinity he’s tried to sneak up on me. He’s gotten me thrice. All three times while i was feeding sheep. All three times a sneak attack at my back or the back of my legs.
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oof, it hurts when they get you with those spurs. And who wants to walk around your own yard in fear of attack. I only keep one rooster at a time, and routinely warn him that he can go in the soup pot at any time if he misbehaves.
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A flogging with a badminton racket is better than a stick, just sayin’. 
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i have a very nice young rooster coming up. I was quite afraid that i was running out of time before this mean old guy would start fighting him. I am like you, one rooster is plenty.
no kidding?! i have been daydreaming about an aluminum baseball bat lately…lol
With roosters, is all about respect and a badminton racket is the right tool for that job.
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Breed is also a thing. This guy was an OEGB (old english game bird), and i think those are the main ones they use for cockfighting. I got a whole bunch of them last Spring, there is only one hen left. They basically killed eachother. I’ve never had chickens quite like them. I was hoping they would breed some good flying capability into my flock. That was the plan anyway. Not a good plan, but a plan nonetheless.
The DH “took over” the chicken situation here a few years ago now (after previously announcing that chickens were stupid and dirty, and how could anyone ever keep chickens???). He likes them now- it took a while, quite amusing. We acquired a rooster in a bunch of Barnevelders we bought as youngsters. He was beautiful, and at first, not a problem. But he became a problem, and attacked the DH a few times. Shot him with a 22, tossed him down the bank next to the chicken house. Problem solved. No more roosters allowed here.
When we had our racing stable, a rooster from next door showed up. A beauty, of course. We had a few escapees from that place, they bought animals at the local auction and sold them for 10X their purchase price to ethnic minorities who wanted things killed in a certain way, with a sword… so escapees wisely came our way. This rooster was one of these for sure. We had him in the barn for years, he was a great pet for several of the horses- he liked horses. He liked me too, I was his human, but attacked everyone else. We had several horse owners who were terrified of him. It was pretty amusing. “Just PUNT the bird!!!”
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My first rooster I got as one of 2 day-old chicks.
Mutt breed, he was handsome grown - rust color with cream accents in his tail.
But when he hit rooster puberty he became an asshat.
At first he respected me, but he’d zero in on any visitors, bowing, scratching & challenging them, before flying at them.
From behind 
He got me a couple times, when I let my eye on him lapse.
For me, it’s not so much the spurs, but the flogging that hurt. Wing bones! 
He fell victim to a fox when I freeranged that flock.
He was most torn up of the 3 killed, so at least he died defending his girls.
My Roosterbeater is an old plastic rake that has no tines, just the big fan-shaped paddle.
Able to launch a rooster. 
I got 6 Barred Rock poults - around 6wks - free, and 3 turned into roosters 
The shyest is still here, King of the present 5 hens.
The other 2 went to auction & got me $20.
Then, when I was down to 2 hens (due to free-range attrition 
), Faux Grandson got me 6 more young hens.
The alleged Blue Orpington* became a rooster.
*color is closer to Lavender, but he has some off gold on his saddle, so not show quality.
Bluey (yes- named for you @Bluey) is bigger than the BR, but so far their pecking order has him 2nd in command. BR is 3, Bluey 2.
If they ever start fighting in earnest, BR is going to the auction.
No more freeranging, all live peacably in a goodsized fenced yard attached to the coop.
Question:
BR has spurs a good 4" long.
Chicken breeder friend claims I can just twist them off. 
True?
I planned to just blunt them by cutting off an inch or 2.
yes you CAN twist them off, but it usually takes a pair of pliers as they’re smooth and can be slippery…esp if you’re wearing gloves to do it. I always take them off on older roos whose spurs have gotten too long and curvy to do anything but get in their way. It’s hard for them to walk when spurs get so long.
Oh, and i despur in the winter because of flies in the summer. THere is a bit of blood and they are sore for a couple of days. But never has seemed to cause much more stress than that.
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So:
Just clamp in pliers & twist?
Wish me Luck 
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you don’t have to really press very hard… just a small easy to hold and adjust hand pliers is all you need.
YOU GOT THIS! (and he’ll thank you for it)
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Wouldn’t wire cutters or nippers work better than twisting with pliers? Cut them clean?
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NO!
There is a sheath with a bone underneath. Cut that bone and there will be a LOT of blood. Twist off the sheath and they will still have ‘spurs’, just not the horney coating.
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The bone is probably about 1 inch long, still pointed, still quite …dangerous (for lack of a better word). The bone grows very very slowly and tops out on roosters shorter and more quickly than the bone-horn on a goat or sheep or cow does. The sheath, the horn, comes off very easily with a twist on a rooster and most of that length will be gone. And it will be clean too, there is no flesh inbetween bone and sheath…
This thread made me look up a video I made 15 years ago. Very low tech lol about a rooster we called Brother Clucker. He was such a jerk. Every day you had to pretend it was 4th and ten and punt his feathered butt. He was a little Banty who thought he was 10 foot tall and bullet proof
I got this when i tried: 
i’ve been hand-raising a singleton cockerel. As a chick and fledgling i took him everywhere with me in a cat cage…releasing him on the ground wherever i was working around the farm. I have been calling him to my arm and bringing him inside every night and taking him out in the morning.
I’ve never raised a pet rooster before. Several hens though…
I’m hoping it doesn’t turn out like berserk llama syndrome
I was happy to end that bad rooster’s life last night not just for my safety, but for this new little guy’s. His name is T-bird 
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Beware:
My asshat roo was pretty much hand-raised with his turned-out-normal hen sister.
I have small flocks - never had more than 7 at a time.
He was fine until his hormones arrived.
Then it was @JSwan 's Chucky all over again.
If the fox hadn’t beat me to it, he’d have been coq au vin!
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Awwwww sorry. I thinks it’s because of the background music uploaded. It was AC/DC lol.
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