Culling Aggressive Rooster

[DuchessVonRabblerousen]

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted in a while but I have a quandary and would like some feedback. My chickens are 8 months old now. Out of 6 I only wound up with 1 roo. He has recently started displaying very overprotective behaviors with my girls to the point where he attacks me nearly every time I go outside. Its one thing if my hands aren't full and I can whack him or hose him down. But I'm tired of dealing with his BS and hes now also started ganging up with my alpha hen in attacks on my wyandotte hen because she's the low girl on the totem pole. He absolutely refuses to submit to me and now he just anticipates war with me every time I go out to sit with the girls.

I plan to cull him but I have never culled a chicken. I also know that catching him will be an epic display and I don't want my girls traumatized. I also want it to be as peaceful as possible for him because I do respect his nature and that his aggression is out of a protective mechanism. I've posted him up for rehoming but no takers and I have little kids that frequently come over and play in the back yard so I can't just hold onto him and hope for the best.

So what do you all think about a plan to snatch him out of the henhouse at night, hold him upside down (I've seen that birds will typically go limp) and then do the deed?

He is a very astute boy so I expect that its possible that even the hen house snatching could be a noisy and traumatic debacle.

Pic of the little jerk for reference.

 

[LaFleche]

snatch him out of the henhouse at night, hold him upside down (I've seen that birds will typically go limp) and then do the deed?

Sounds good. Wait until the chickens are well asleep and wear a headlight.

You can wrap him like a burrito in a towel so he will not be able to hit you with his wings or scratch with his feet.

Put him head first into a cone and cut off his head with sharp pruning shears. Be aware that he will start to move after the head comes off which is the usual reaction of the nervous system.

Good luck!

 

[Sally PB]

Wait until the chickens are well asleep and wear a headlight.

A red headlamp is really helpful in this kind of situation. I've gone in at night with a red light, and the chickens know something is there, but they can't see well enough to move around much. I was doing a worm treatment (pour on ivermectin), and planned to do it over two nights. That was a good plan, because even though they didn't fly around, they did get antsy by the time I'd been in there for a few minutes.

So go in and grab quickly.

 

[Mrs. K]

Wear a thick sweatshirt, and hold each end of a towel in each hand. Flip the towel over him, and grab for the feet. Now this should be like diving, once you are off the platform you cannot quit. So if you get just a wing on one side grab on and hang on. Once you get ahold of him, pull him quickly to your self, then re-grip for the feet.

A broom stick method is also good, and a five gallon bucket to put him in afterwards, repeat over and over, the death throes MEAN he is dead. Often times think that jerking motion, means they are still alive, and they are not.

It is hard, we know, but the relief will be worth it.

 

[McChooky]

Catch him in the dark,tie his legs and put him in a dog crate until daylight .Kill him away from the coop so the hens can't hear or see

 

[Sondraa]

Sounds good. Wait until the chickens are well asleep and wear a headlight.

You can wrap him like a burrito in a towel so he will not be able to hit you with his wings or scratch with his feet.

Put him head first into a cone and cut off his head with sharp pruning shears. Be aware that he will start to move after the head comes off which is the usual reaction of the nervous system.

Good luck!

Yes...head down in a cone. You can make one. Cardboard and tape if you don't have anything else. You hold his head and cut between your hand and the cone quickly with a sharp knife. It's the least confronting and most humane way to do it of all methods at my disposal in my opinion. Don't rehome him. He will take his temperament w him and hurt someone. Sorry you have to do this. It is confronting for some of us. It is for me for sure. Good luck!

 

[Sondraa]

Sounds good. Wait until the chickens are well asleep and wear a headlight.

You can wrap him like a burrito in a towel so he will not be able to hit you with his wings or scratch with his feet.

Put him head first into a cone and cut off his head with sharp pruning shears. Be aware that he will start to move after the head comes off which is the usual reaction of the nervous system.

Good luck!

I never thought about shears. Great idea but only if they are really sharp. Anything you use needs to be very sharp for the roosters sake and yours.