Bad boy rooster!

So...what are yall's thoughts on roosters who attack. I have raised roosters for years, currently have the hens split into 3 flocks with a rooster over each flock. In what I would call our main flock is my favorite rooster, Pepper. He was one that we saw hatched by a favorite hen and he has been mild mannered for a few years now. And is beautiful. My kids are in and out of that coop a lot. Well today he sneak attack spurred the poo out of me yall. Like both of my legs gushed blood, it cut me deep. He has jumped on me one other time and scratched me a bit, and I ran him down and made him submit. I have always felt like a rooster should be given some grace since they are protecting a flock and especially if it is spring. So I dunno...what do yall do? Give chances? Make stew? We do eat roosters all the time but I am just seeing what others have as their rules. I have learned a lot on here by asking. Thanks guys!

If he is drawing blood, he is stewpot material.

I'm all for giving grace, but without improvement a decision needs to be made is my way of thinking.

Timothy Norton wrote:If he is drawing blood, he is stewpot material.

I'm all for giving grace, but without improvement a decision needs to be made is my way of thinking.

Good point!

I typically have a '3 strikes and they're out' policy, but on a case by case basis. There are also times when there are no 2nd chances.

I would be concerned for your children so would not give the rooster another chance.

I generally agree with above, however, I would also consider if something in that group of birds, or something about you has changed?

Example, I've been wearing the same farm hat for years. It got sopping wet on a bad evening and hadn't dried by morning so I wore my "back-up" hat, and a rooster who'd never seen it reacted badly. He's been fine since and he did *not* draw blood.

I also generally follow a regular pattern when I go into the run in the morning, and I have occasionally had issues if the pattern gets disrupted also.

Megan Palmer wrote:I would be concerned for your children so would not give the rooster another chance.

Agreed! 1,000%! I was responding from my current perspective - we don't even get young kids visiting, here. With littles around, it would be one & done.

I'd vote stew.

Your kids' eyes are worth more!

Hi Abigail,
Personally, I want a feisty rooster to protect my flock... but I want him feisty with critters that are trying to eat them, not me. So I do give them some leeway, and I also try to understand the circumstances.

I agree with Jay on seeing if anything had changed. I had a rooster who was generally fine. But one day I had let a friend of my children in to see the chickens, and he chased them around and scared the hens, which the rooster did not like. The rooster started attacking the boy. The boy was wearing one of those poofy coats that makes a certain sound. Ever after, if my kids were wearing a coat that made that sound, the rooster would try to attack them... other coats were fine. So they do have memories of things that scared their hens.

My rooster only attacked me once (beyond a little sideways dancing on occasion), and I let him live, because I had backed him into a corner accidentally. If I saw it as a pattern (I like three strikes your out idea), I would definitely turn him into stew. I did not hold the attacks on people with those coats against him. To me that was very different than suddenly they attack with no reason.

I am with the others. He is too dangerous. I would not keep him.

Thanks, these are great comments. My husband and I were both thinking that if the kids were not part of the issue, he would be a good rooster to protect the flock. Of course, we could never turn our backs on him again. But the kids ARE a major concern now. I cringe thinking of how often my 2 year old has hand fed this rooster. Definitely going to be way more cautious in general with my kids around the roosters. I do sort of wish we could give him another chance, because as some of you pointed out, changing the routine does seem to throw them off. And I was actually walking through the chicken yard to check on a brooder we had set up in a new place. So it was way different than what I am normally doing in the yard. But again, he can't get his 3 strikes, not with these kids involved. I almost needed stitches yesterday! We don't get attached to ANY of our chickens (or ducks, or rabbits) so much that they can't be dinner if need be!

Abigail M Johnson wrote: And I was actually walking through the chicken yard to check on a brooder we had set up in a new place. So it was way different than what I am normally doing in the yard.  

So for the future, having a "rooster first" routine before entering the area, where you call his name and say stuff he doesn't understand but reminds him you're friendly, may prevent a future rooster problem.

That said, a rooster that attacks from the rear and draws blood isn't likely to get a second chance from me either. My suggestions are more along the theory of learning how to prevent future problems and teaching kids how to stay safe around farm animals.

Jay Angler wrote:

Abigail M Johnson wrote: And I was actually walking through the chicken yard to check on a brooder we had set up in a new place. So it was way different than what I am normally doing in the yard.  

So for the future, having a "rooster first" routine before entering the area, where you call his name and say stuff he doesn't understand but reminds him you're friendly, may prevent a future rooster problem.

That said, a rooster that attacks from the rear and draws blood isn't likely to get a second chance from me either. My suggestions are more along the theory of learning how to prevent future problems and teaching kids how to stay safe around farm animals.

Absolutely! And don't we always learn far more from mistakes or problems than from everything going great? That's homesteading, gardening, and life in general. Haha! I am glad to have a new outlook on our care of roosters and how we raise them near kids. We do value roosters very much. I love them! But I have taken for granted how dangerous they can be. And I want to respect them enough to try to prevent them turning aggressive. Although I will say, we have to date not had any roosters that stay mild mannered. Some have been absolutely horrible. Some are very friendly for years and then change. None have ever stayed nice so far. Maybe what we are doing, worth the effort to explore that idea.

Abigail M Johnson wrote:....Make stew? We do eat roosters all the time but I am just seeing what others have as their rules. I have learned a lot on here by asking. Thanks guys!

Depends on how old he (.....was?...just hedging here....).  If I'm going for whole-bird processing, then probably best to make a big pot of stew to tenderize meat.  If mid-range to younger and rather skinny, you could just go for he legs and breast without full cleaning.  Still cook out in water, but the meat is great in things like egg-rolls, enchiladas, etc. where some spicing may help the flavor.  Yeah, it's a bit wasteful not cooking the carcass but that goes to the coyotes....who need to have Easter dinner as well! ;-)

John Weiland wrote:

Abigail M Johnson wrote:....Make stew? We do eat roosters all the time but I am just seeing what others have as their rules. I have learned a lot on here by asking. Thanks guys!

Depends on how old he (.....was?...just hedging here....).  If I'm going for whole-bird processing, then probably best to make a big pot of stew to tenderize meat.  If mid-range to younger and rather skinny, you could just go for he legs and breast without full cleaning.  Still cook out in water, but the meat is great in things like egg-rolls, enchiladas, etc. where some spicing may help the flavor.  Yeah, it's a bit wasteful not cooking the carcass but that goes to the coyotes....who need to have Easter dinner as well!

What we do is let rest in a brine or marinade for up to 4 days in fridge. Then slow cook in either a rice n gravy type situation or chicken n dumplings. We keep rooster legs separately saved up in freezer to slow cook and shred for enchiladas. The leg meat is so so dark and slightly gamey and just cooks differently than the rest of the bird. Otherwise, regardless of age they taste dang good like this! Every part of them gets used. Bone brone from carcass, chickens or dogs get everything from butchering, feathers to the garden.

My rooster, Soupy, started to attack me, but then he got attacked by a fox and saved the hens. I brought him in the house and kept him alive, though that wasn’t easy. I had to stitch up his wounds. He finally made it back to the coop, but then mites and a very cold winter. He lost lots of feathers. He’s alive and crowing again and we are now best friends. I call him Super, now. Bad boy to great boy rooster! He’s tough!

Schatzi Hall wrote:My rooster, Soupy, started to attack me, but then he got attacked by a fox and saved the hens. I brought him in the house and kept him alive, though that wasn’t easy. I had to stitch up his wounds. He finally made it back to the coop, but then mites and a very cold winter. He lost lots of feathers. He’s alive and crowing again and we are now best friends. I call him Super, now. Bad boy to great boy rooster! He’s tough!

That sounds awesome! I wiah we could have kept Pepper, but he is in an ice bath right now and will be in a marinade in fridge shortly. He was a good bird, except for my leg that time.

I had a lovely gentle Black Orpington rooster named inigo Montoya. His father, on the other (five-fingered) hand, attacked my son in the paddock one day, and so the tale is told.

These really extreme roosters may be few and far between.  I have had a few dozen roosters at least in the last 35 years.

I had forgotten all about my little toddler in his overalls and the barred rock rooster I killed on the spot after he attacked my baby.

Bad idea Mr Chicken!  Human Mamas can be very protective of their young.

And I have heard of people who “can’t bear” to kill the gnarly rooster take the rooster and drop him off in “coyote country”.  

An attack rooster is just a little confused about the pecking order. Resetting the pecking order is not difficult; just put your game face on.

Enter the chicken yard and immediately go on the attack before he can: chase him hard, round and round. If he tries to chase you have a broom in hand to knock him around until he's convinced to run.

Once he's convinced to run hard away from you, then catch him. Hold him upside down by the legs and shake him a bit. When roosters fight they bite the comb. So grab the comb, pinch it a bit, and shake his head around with it. Toss him to the ground and keep chasing him until you're satisfied there's no fight left in him.

Next involve the kids. Let them pinch the comb and hold him upside down, toss him and chase. That should do the trick.

It is sad when a favorite rooster has to become soup ..

My earliest memory was when I was about age 2 and was chased by a chicken, assuming it was a rooster.  That kind of memory never goes away ...

I have since had chicken and never been chased by any of those.

Confused understanding of the pecking order says it all.🤣. And I am glad to know how to unconfuse him, but in the case of young children being attacked, I don’t think I will take the chance.

At present, no toddlers present, all roosters gentle.

Yeah, I have had many roosters attack me and my older daughter, who is now 9 and has been raised around them. Pepper was the only one who has ever donw THIS...drawn blood to the point of deep wounds nearly requiring stitches. I always do what was described if one comes at me even sideways...run him down and attack him back. It usually works for a little while. In this case though, as others pointed out, I couldn't take the chance on keeping him. That really is sound advice though in general. I agree!

I don't know what may cause a rooster to attack like that, but it seems there must be something that triggers that kind of aggression.  
If one could come up with some plausible reasons for the why of it then they might also be able to come up with reasonable solutions
to address it.

We have a rooster here that will stalk my brother before attacking... He sometimes catches my brother unaware. My brother will chase
him and punt him like a soccer ball when he finally catches up to him. The rooster will make an approach to me, but never in a threatening
way and usually with a group of 2 or more hens in tow... more of a looking for a handout of some scratch or sunflower seeds kind of thing.

I am gentlemanly with his hens that he protects, not ever teasing or chasing them and often (but not always) I will squat down and try to
keep myself positioned sideways to him when he comes near to me. I try not to present directly frontally which I presume may be regarded
as confrontational. It may just be my imagining that is why he doesn't attack me, but it seems to be what works. I think chickens are smarter
than some may give them credit for. At least I know from observation that they remember behaviors and react/respond (or not) accordingly.
Just my 2  cents

I see it as some roosters are aggressive and some are not. I've never had a peaceable one turn aggressive. We don't have kids here but if a rooster attacks a human, he's lucky if he gets a second chance and no way a third. I've had some roosters for years without problems, like my current one. I figure if a rooster is problematic, it's remarkably easy to get another one, free.