Rooster behavior.

[emmalou1]

Dorothy, was supposed to be a pullet but has turned out to be a rooster. He is 14 weeks old and recently I have noticed that he will stand sideways to me and spread one wing a little and do a little tap dance when I’m in the back yard with him and the 3 hens. Is this his way of trying to intimidate me? Is it a precursor to a full blown rooster attack? I’ve seen him do it to my 17 month old daughter as well when she walks by. My daughter isn’t afraid of the chickens and I’d hate for Dorothy to attack her and ruin the love she has for them. Is there anything I can do to prevent this behavior?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

For the safety of your daughter I would get rid of him or lock him up. That's a rooster dance. It could lead to an attack next. Not always but it's disrespectful to you. Keep him away from your daughter. She will be an easy target for him to practice on.

 

[JadeFarms]

I had one just like it. Hand feed him and make sure your daughter is with you so he knows she is helping him too. Hold him often with your daughter near. I would love to see a pic, heres the one I tamed that was just like that:

 

[emmalou1]

I had one just like it. Hand feed him and make sure your daughter is with you so he knows she is helping him too. Hold him often with your daughter near. I would love to see a pic, heres the one I tamed that was just like that:
View attachment 1791703

This was earlier today. I put him in the coop once I saw him dance at my daughter and he was NOT a happy camper.

 

[mixedbreeds]

I agree I would not let him around your daughter the attack can happen so fast and little children are at close to the same level and the outcome could be horrible. It just isn’t worth it.

 

[JadeFarms]

I have never gotten rid of a rooster that was mean, I have always tamed them, though it’s your decision, tame or keep. If you wanna tame the rooster I’ll tell you how I tamed mine.

 

[JadeFarms]

That cage is big enough to keep him in (if you want to keep him in there) just make sure he has a buddy.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I thought that was the Rooster Love Dance. Drop on wing, tap dance around the hen counter-clockwise with sweet little clucks.... You know, "Baby, do ya wanna?" I don't see them doing it to other roosters, only to the hens. If she is ready and willing, she squats for him and he mounts her. If she is not interested she ignores him and he walks away. End of transaction. Nobody gets hurt.

Something totally different happens bwtween the roosters. They flat-out charge each other, jump up at each other, full frontal, wings thrashing, spurs flailing. But after a couple of encounters one rooster dominates and the other lays low and stays by himself. He may try to sneakily seduce a hen away from the flock, but if Boss Roo catches him at it, he'll rush at him, and the Batchelor makes a quick and lonely escape.

That's what happens in my yard anyway.

 

[emmalou1]

I have never gotten rid of a rooster that was mean, I have always tamed them, though it’s your decision, tame or keep. If you wanna tame the rooster I’ll tell you how I tamed mine.

I’d love to hear what worked for you!

 

[emmalou1]

That cage is big enough to keep him in (if you want to keep him in there) just make sure he has a buddy.

He was in the coop. It’s about 10’x8’ and the hen house only takes up about 1/4 of that so he has plenty of room but he definitely didn’t like being in there while everyone else was out. I read that if a chicken is being a bully to isolate it then once reintroduced to the flock it’s on the bottom of the pecking order.