Should I cull my aggressive rooster??

[BirdLady88]

Just looking for opinions here... I live in a residential area and have a collared rooster who has become quite aggressive, I can barely enter the coop without getting attacked. Because this is my first rooster, I'm wondering whether I'm unreasonable to consider culling him, since he is "doing his job" to protect the flock. Are all roosters this aggressive? Should I take the chance on a different rooster and eat Mr. Jerkface rooster?He fights with everyone except the chickens and frankly I'm over it... We have new baby roos we could raise up or eat, also open to suggestions on how to make then more tame to us humans and the dogs if we keep one of those.. Thanks!

 

[speedy2020]

Just cull and get a new one. There are plenty free one around. I found English Orpington, Bielefelder, and Dorking are calm and not aggressive to human.

 

[microchick]

It's a tough decision to make, to cull or keep. IMHO and experience. If you cannot make a rooster respect you then he needs to go. We have 4 roosters. 3 of the 4 will occasionally push the limits but they know when they do that they can expect to be chased, caught, carried around, pressed down to the ground in a submissive breeding position until they submit, and then released. They don't try aggressive nonsense too often and are otherwise good flock protectors.

Roosters need to realize that they have to stay away from you. If you approach them, they need to back away quickly. If you cannot get the rooster under control, then he needs to go. I have culled two aggressive roosters from our flock due to aggressiveness towards other roosters and towards humans. Life is to short to put up with that behavior.

There are many really good articles on BYC on taming down an aggressive rooster.

On the other hand, a certain amount of testosterone is not a bad thing. Last week we had two hawks fighting over our coop and run. The roosters set up the alarm and herded all the hens under the barn overhang in a corner and positioned themselves between the hens and the hawks. They stayed there until the danger had passed.

There is nothing better than having a good rooster to protect your flock, and nothing worse than a bad one that makes you afraid to enter your own enclosure.

Hope your decision isn't a hard one for you to make. I think you already know what you need to do.

 

[bobbi-j]

I wouldn't keep him. I keep chickens for the enjoyment of it. If a chicken takes away that enjoyment, I won't keep it. If someone comes into your yard and your dog bites them, would that be OK? After all, the dog is "just doing his job". Or, the bull in the herd of cows. You want him coming after you because he's "just doing his job" protecting the cows. Get rid of him, raise up your young ones and see how they turn out. I don't make pets out of my chickens. In my opinion, the best rooster is the one who gets out of my way when I come near.

 

[Mrs. K]

He is not protecting the flock, he is attacking you, trying to make you submit to him. It is not the same thing. He was probably a darling brave chick. He learned early that people are nice, and chicken equate nice as being lower in the pecking order, and therefor should submit to them.

I am making the assumption that this is your first flock, and that he was raised with just the other chicks. Being a rooster, he grew faster and became bigger than the pullets. He became sexually active much sooner than them, and found that by attacking he could get what he wanted.

In a multi generational flock, the rooster chicks grow up under bigger birds, they are not the biggest bird in the pen, and those older birds thump some manners into them. The chicks raised in the flock are a sub flock, and are much lower in the pecking order for some time.

Cull this bad boy, he is not going to work out, he is not going to be nice, and if you live in a community, it is like being responsible for a mean dog. The neighbors won't think it funny or be understanding. Even if a kid is not suppose to be there, they should not pay with being attacked in the face.

Contact some other local poultry people, they will often have a sweetheart of rooster that has been too nice to cull, and that is the rooster you want.

Mrs K

 

[Chkinkeeper7474]

I mean I think you should just cull him. That may sound harsh,but if he just attacking you all the time you can find a new one. My Buff Orpington and Rhode Island roos are fantastic. Plus if you have young cockerels in the making then just try them out. You'll find one.

 

[donrae]

Mrs K hit the nail on the head. Lots of folks let their roosters get by with attacking them by saying "He's just doing his job" or " He's just protecting his hens". this is simply not true. You are not a threat, your are not a predator, you did not hire him to protect those hens from you. Those hens are yours, pure and simple.

Animals that attack humans have a very brief lifespan here.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm totally with Mrs. K and donrae. He's an idiot, attacking the giant that brings food every day. He's not taking care of his hens when he's after you. He needs to be in someone's crock pot, if not yours, very soon.

 

[microchick]

Very well put Bobbi-j and Mrs K. My roosters know that they need to get out of my way when I am in the run. If they do not they will experience the 'walk of shame' from me where they are carried around and treated like a hen for 10-15 minutes.

Don't ever turn your back on your roosters. Know where they are at every moment in conjunction with where you are.

Don't ever make a rooster your pet. A member here on BYC said it best in an older thread. Make hens your pets, never make a rooster your pet. I know there are people who are going to say how their rooster is their pet, sweet and gentle. Blah Blah Blah. I have a sweet and gentle Buff O rooster but I trust him about as far as I would a stallion. Which isn't very far. And as much as I love the bird, he knows I am top of the flock order and he has to get out of my path when I am in the run.

Another question you have to ask yourself if you are counting on your bad boy to fertilize eggs for you is, do you really want to pass these bad boy genes onto your future generations of roosters that you will have to deal with? I think not.

I personally like to give them a chance to modify their behavior before culling. It takes time which being retired I have, and I have to admit, I get a lot of exercise galloping around the run after them. If you cannot modify, then cull. Like I said. Done it twice. No it isn't easy, especially after you have raised them from chicks. But it is better than living in fear or being injured by a dangerous bird.

 

[pfields]

Get rid of him before he sends you to the hospital. I let mine have too many chances and he got me to the bone on both legs. It hurt really bad and by evening after a trip to the hospital for antibiotic shot it started to swell. Kicking at him only got me spurred on my right leg as well.