I have had vicious roosters. I have three now that are great. The vicious roosters beat the snot out of my hens, and tried to fly at my head with spurs out more than once…that earned them their ‘freedom’ so that they could do as they could outside the coop until they couldn’t. May be harsh, but that’s the life of a rogue rooster on a farm. And I’m glad I was able to help feed the fox, which have a far better role around here than those roosters ever did. For most, the life of a rooster isn’t a grand thing.
I keep chickens and like them. I even have more than my share of roosters.
Here’s the deal with roosters: You can’t keep them all.
If they won’t live nicely with other roosters, then the most humane thing to do is to send them to freezer camp. You can keep one rooster in solitary, and if you’ve got a nice open pen for him that’s pretty awesome for him. But, once you have 5 roosters, or 10 roosters, you have to start getting real - they can’t all have pens like that most likely. If you are hatching your own chickens, you are going to be making roosters that will need to be eaten. It is inevitable.
If you do have a group that is getting along, the balance is delicate. Take one rooster away for a day or two and put him back and they will fight most likely. Or, for no reason, one day they will turn on the lowest status one and gravely injure him.
Mean roosters are mean and they can be pretty dangerous both to people and to other birds. Sometimes its just an adolescent phase and they’ll grow out of it, but not always.
Roosters in with the hens year round will pull the feathers from them and make the hens a lot less happy. This is even true with a relatively nice rooster and a large ratio, like 10 hens to a rooster.
If you can’t give him a nice big solitary run with interesting plants and bugs, and if you’re not keeping the rooster for breeding, then he’s probably better off enjoying what life he’s had and then going into a freezer. There’s just not a happy way for lots of male chickens to coexist.
Chickens are not like horses.
[QUOTE=cowboymom;7734729]
Why on earth would she want him to stay alive? “Re-home?” NEUTER him? What the what? He’s a mean little noise maker-the best he deserves is a quick, humane death, not an alternative home.
I’ll speak for the primitive thinking folks and say if she doesn’t have the sense or guts to wring his neck or get someone to do it for her she should put it on craigslist-free rooster, no questions asked. I’d like to say no offense but I’m sure this is coming across as offensive. She needs to toughen up a bit if she’s going to have farm animals; by keeping this nasty rooster she’s incurring pain and suffering on the other animals. Not to mention aggravating the neighbors.[/QUOTE]
I’m not the OP, but i don’t find your post offensive. Its’ the truth, and exactly what I was thinking. There’s NO place for an aggressive rooster other than dinner or that great mealworm farm in the sky.
[QUOTE=cowboymom;7736107]
I’ve had hundreds of chickens over the last 20 years. I probably have around 40 right now and about 15 of them are roosters. (2Dogs?)[QUOTE]
:no:Nope!
Still not interested in “Re-homing” one of your boys 
My hens are now leading an idyllic rape-free Life & liking it.
Exhibit A: the little Ameraucana-cross hen I got from a friend who implied she was “Asking for it”.
What the What? Did she just call my hen a ho? :mad:
Now, more than 2 months later, poor little girl still has no feathers on her sitdown (the poofy bustle part) and broken primary feathers on her wings from a too-determined rooster.
Even if she was a hen-skank, she’s paid her dues & is probably only too happy to be done with it.
One of the roosters where she came from had spurs at least 5" long :eek:
Oddly enough, he was the puppydog of the flock, can be picked up & carried & generally acts like a stuffed toy.
Rooster are like zucchini… difficult to give away, even for free! :no:
I am going to have to butcher some roosters this fall-in the summer they are free ranging and they all have their space and particular hens but in the winter when they’re more confined they fight to the death. I had one hen hatch out seven roosters and as they grew they fought like crazy.
I’ve only had one that was mean to people though-a Barred Rock rooster. I have a bunch of banty/Buttercup crosses right now and they’re all sweet and kind except when they’re raping the poor hens.
[QUOTE=cowboymom;7736246]
Rooster are like zucchini… difficult to give away, even for free! :no:[/QUOTE]
I would take this rooster and any extra zucchini anyone has laying around. I’d eat them both. Possibly in the same dish.
The other thing to note from my post is that the only way I’ve had success keeping multiple adult roosters in the same pen is when they have lived together since birth. Trying to bring even another adult rooster from the same breed from my same farm has never been successful.
My BO had a NASTY rooster last year. He was actually a gentlemen to his ladies but would chase and attack anyone who came within 25 feet of him.
And relentless too! He would go after my shins while I was leading my horse to and from the pasture. :eek: The more I fought back the more he’d go after me. Needless to say, he didn’t last that long.
Then she had one who was super friendly with people but would rape the sh*t out of the hens. He went to rooster heaven as well.
Luckily, the two she has now are friendly and gentle “lovers.” 
lol
OP, if this rooster is evil, he needs to die.
I’m a chicken fan. I have a lot of roosters. But what I will not tolerate is aggressiveness towards hens. I would put this little a-hole on your local classifieds for free, someone will come and get him.
Eat him. There are plenty of nice roos about that need homes.
It’s not ‘emotional’ to tell you that the best place for a bad rooster is in a pot.
It’s just the reality of livestock.
[QUOTE=PeanutButterPony;7736368]
Eat him or give him to someone to eat. He should be rehomed , he’ll fit in here perfectly.[/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly, lol!
The “SECOND” time (I gave them the benefit of the doubt the first time) my pet roosters tried to flog/spur me as I fed them dinner I called a neighbor to remove them to their yard. I’d guess they were keeping company with a pot of dumplings very quickly!! IMO…there is no salvation for a hostile/killer rooster!!
It’s such a simple solution when you have yummy critters; it’s hard to believe we’re even having this conversation. Reminds me of earlier this year there was a campaign warning people of how hard it is to get rid of pet hens who are done laying, and how the rescues are overflowing with them. Talk about a first world problem!
Saultgirl: I had to laugh at your post. If this thread is so ridiculous, then why do you participate?
Chism… Just to clarify: saying in that post that someone doesn’t have “the sense or guts to wring…” is simply rude. There was nothing in the OP for anyone who has basic reading skills to conclude that the rooster owner is reluctant to do either. The purpose of the OP was to fact-gather, which is what responsible people do before taking a course of action.
Maybe you shd try doing that yourself – get informed first. Act second. You might be surprised at the nice outcome, the lowered reactivity, and the insight into others you might gain.
It’s my u’standing that the rooster – a product of a dumb 5th-grade teacher’s class project – is not aggressive toward humans, but is abusive toward the hens. Yes, it’s more than crowing at non-human hours that has him under scrutiny.
Honestly, I am constantly surprised at the aggressiveness that comes out on COTH. The reactiveness, the lack of comprehension “… And these people keep animals??” I find myself asking.
[QUOTE=cyberbay;7737073]
Saultgirl: I had to laugh at your post. If this thread is so ridiculous, then why do you participate?
Chism… Just to clarify: saying in that post that someone doesn’t have “the sense or guts to wring…” is simply rude. There was nothing in the OP for anyone who has basic reading skills to conclude that the rooster owner is reluctant to do either. The purpose of the OP was to fact-gather, which is what responsible people do before taking a course of action.
Maybe you shd try doing that yourself – get informed first. Act second. You might be surprised at the nice outcome, the lowered reactivity, and the insight into others you might gain.
It’s my u’standing that the rooster – a product of a dumb 5th-grade teacher’s class project – is not aggressive toward humans, but is abusive toward the hens. Yes, it’s more than crowing at non-human hours that has him under scrutiny.
Honestly, I am constantly surprised at the aggressiveness that comes out on COTH. The reactiveness, the lack of comprehension “… And these people keep animals??” I find myself asking.[/QUOTE]
Me too. This rooster isn’t evil or a jerk or anything else - he is just a rooster with a bird brain. He doesn’t know right from wrong or good from bad. Roosters can be nice, but many are aggressive. That isn’t them being bad, it is just them being what they are.
Realistically, it is difficult to find homes for roosters and I doubt anyone will want this one. That leaves two choices that are humane. Either your friend should build this rooster a separate pen and keep him there, or she should ask someone to kill him in a humane way. There isn’t anything wrong with either choice. If your friend is willing to build this rooster a separate enclosure and keep him, then he doesn’t “need to die.” If she doesn’t want to invest that much in a single rooster (which I can understand) then he has probably had a good little rooster life and if he is killed humanely, it has certainly been better than what many chickens in this country to through before they are killed for food.
If your friend gets attached and goes through a lot of angst about stuff like this, then I think it makes sense to buy sexed hens and no more roosters. I just don’t understand the anger directed at this rooster that is acting like . . . many roosters do. I know that killing hens isn’t ideal, but I don’t think he is doing it because he is evil. It is just what he is. He has a teeny tiny bird brain. He doesn’t know.
[QUOTE=saultgirl;7737019]
It’s such a simple solution when you have yummy critters; it’s hard to believe we’re even having this conversation. Reminds me of earlier this year there was a campaign warning people of how hard it is to get rid of pet hens who are done laying, and how the rescues are overflowing with them. Talk about a first world problem![/QUOTE]
Indeed.
[QUOTE=cyberbay;7734486]
A friend has a rooster that she is suspecting of killing off 2 hens, and mutilating her goose (pecked out an eye? Possible?). Also, it’s ticking off the neighbors with its untimely crowing.
In order to not fall into a primitive way of thinking, she would prefer to find a new home for this guy. So, being chicken-ignorant, would anyone know if there are rooster rescues, or would another chicken owner be interested knowing its crimes, or ??
Thanks for any suggestions.[/QUOTE]
Is she a vegan? If not, she’s already primitively gnawing on something’s flesh every day. The hypocrazy (yes, I spelled it that way for a reason) is stunning.
Hi, I haven’t read all the responses so this may have been mentioned, but there is an excellent site where you may post this and find takers almost immediately called www.backyardchickens.com
There is a free to good home area where you can post pictures and find takers hopefully in your area. I have placed over 10 roosters to date. Mine are bantam breeds and not suitable to eat unless you are into black meat and small portions (silkies) so there are obviously more interest for what I think are the right reasons, but there are people who like aggressive roosters that will protect their free range hen flocks and of course those looking for those traits for unmentionable reasons, which I won’t comment on my opinions and those that say they will give him a great home and have a cookout the following day. Either way it’s piece of mind for me. Check it out if you still need a taker.
