That Rooster!

Mar
7

meanrooster
He’s mean. He’s so mean, Princess won’t help with the chickens anymore. She says he comes after her when she goes to put them up at night. He watches for me when I go out to the chicken house to collect eggs. He dashes from the chicken yard into the house and harasses me while I’m taking eggs.

Then yesterday he bit me on the leg.

I think he’s about to become our first experiment in free ranging.





Comments

  1. Suz in the Tules says:

    :chicken: My grandad had a rooster that would go after my mom every time she went out to hang up clothes. One day, he actually spurred her leg. Using the side of her foot, she booted (not kicked) him across
    the yard. After that, he left her alone. She hadn’t known he was challenging her to a p***ing contest!
    Suz in the Tules

  2. Debi says:

    :chicken: Had the same thing happen with one of our Roos as Suz’s mom. Just give him the boot but good. He’ll bounce right back up and most likely it won’t happen again.

  3. Kate Smith says:

    G’day Suzanne,
    I live in Brigadoon Western Australia but orginally am Scottish – where I used to know of a Sandra McMinn. However, I have hens or as we call them here – chooks and that rooster needs to go in the pot or oven ASAP! He is beautiful but that attitude cannot be tolerated. I have two roosters at the moment , father and son and they have nice temperaments except for the father chasing the son when the son gets “ideas above his station” *vbg* Its very funny to watch! Try different breeds perhaps like Rhode Island Red or even just a Bantam which mine are.
    Love your blog – must look for your books – are they published in Australia?
    Best wishes
    Kate Smith

  4. Leah says:

    That rooster shouldn’t bite the hand or in this case the leg that feeds him! ๐Ÿ˜†

  5. CindyP says:

    Hmmm…maybe you gave the wrong one to Kathy and Mike? ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Ms. Caddy Wumpus says:

    Once our rooster starting attacking – he once ran after my little brother and jumped on him when he fell, pecking him incessantly – he became something else: dinner.

  7. shirley says:

    HMMM……..sounds like it’s time for another bedtime story for him and him alone.Get out your trusty cookbook and read the Chicken Fricasee recipe to him.

  8. Cyndi Lewis says:

    Isn’t the rooster’s job to protect his girls? Don’t cook him just yet… try the punt first. Did I just advocate that?

  9. Bee says:

    We had an old meanie like that when I was a little girl. He was kind of free-range but he still chased us around the yard. He became Chicken Bog!

  10. epon4 says:

    Don’t know if you can do it Suzanne, but ya might want to send the boy off to freezer camp. :hungry:

    He is a beauty. And from what I’ve read, barred rocks (or Dominique it’s hard for me to tell the difference) are both supposed to be pretty docile. Try giving him a boot, like the others suggested. If he keeps it up then see if 52 would be willing to do the deed. You want roos to protect your flock, but you don’t want them going after you or your kids.

    Maybe it’s because spring is close at hand? My barred rock banty roo and my Sussex roo haven’t come after any of us…but they are doing a lot of posturing with each other! When I went to the coop this morning I noticed the Sussex (a BIG boy!) had lots of scabs on his comb. Looked like the banty got the better of him last night!

    We have an order of straight run chicks (Sussex and Buckeyes) coming here in May. The plan is to keep the best couple of roos and the other roos will be dinner. This will be my first time and I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it. I might have to take them out to an Amish family who does it for a fee!

    Good luck with the guy.

  11. Karin says:

    Or perhaps Sunday dinner! :hungry: I had a rooster chase me when I was twelve. That chase is among the top ten scariest things I have ever done. Thankfully, my dad tripped the rooster and I escaped unscathed. They can be so, so mean.

    Lovely blog!!

  12. Nancy says:

    We have a roo that attacks only me and only when my back is turned. He never goes after my husband. He flew at me and hit me hard in the back the first time and almost knocked me over. I’m determined to not let him scare me away. Recently I actually cornered him and grabbed him. I held him for about 5 minutes…he was not happy. Keep up the good fight….a little punt across the yard doesn’t hurt either!

  13. Kathie says:

    Does he have enough hens? He should be too busy with them and protecting them to bother stalking you. I hate to think of eating him.

    • epon4 says:

      I’m hoping upping the number of hens will help my boys as well. We were given some leghorn chicks this Thanksgiving. 2 of them turned out to be roos and the other 4 are hens. I’ve been worrying about what to do with those two roos since we already have 2 (and they only have 3 ladies!) We’d decided that once they were full grown, we would butcher them. We didn’t want to raise leghorns and that would be just too many roos. THANKFULLY, I found a woman who needs TWO leghorn roos to help service her 20 hens!!! So, tomorrow those boys get to go to heaven ๐Ÿ˜‰ and my 2 roos will have 4 more ladies to protect and “serve”.

      I love my two roos. They are so good to their ladies. My banty barred will make nests when he knows one of the girls is getting ready to lay. It’s amazing to watch. He will find a corner and build a nest in the bedding. Then he will sit in it and “sing” to her! He’ll get up, she’ll try the nest, if she doesn’t like it, he will build another. I’ve sat there watching him for 20 minutes while he tries to find the “perfect spot”. Then he stands watch over the hen till she’s done laying. My big roo is sweet to the girls as well. Feeding them and making sure they get into the run at night. I really would love to have these boys father some chicks sometime.

      Chicken “tv” can be so much more entertaining than than regular tv!

  14. Lucy says:

    I love roosters. Mean little farts that they are. They’re so arrogant and have such an attitude. But I still think they are so pretty. I can remember being attacked by one big mean rooster when I was about five or six when I was sent to the chicken coop to get eggs. You’d think I would have done the Alfred Hitchcock thing and been afraid of them since but I never was. Cool guys.

  15. Cathy J. says:

    On the chicken forum I visit (backyardchickens.com), many on there advise grabbing them by the feet and carrying them around under your arm for a while. Also not letting them mate in your presence tells them you are top “roo”. Kick them away from the girls if they try. Also, carry something in with you, a broom, shovel, anything different. This may make them a little more cautious as they are not familiar with it.

  16. Sheila Z says:

    I have no problem turning a mean rooster into chicken and dumplings. If he were mine his head would be off before the sun set another day. Having a vicious rooster fly at my face with spurs extended is not a fun way to start a day. Been there, done that. I’ll be damned if I’ll let a bird blind me.

  17. Suzette says:

    It’s been interesting reading these comments. Not being a chicken person, my first response when I read today’s blog post was that he’d be chicken-n-dumplin’s on MY farm. I talk a big story! ๐Ÿ˜† Maybe adding more ladies will help his disposition. And if not…there’s always a dumplin’ waiting!

  18. Ang. says:

    Yep, you need to give him the boot! I have a Speckled Sussex roo that hates me. After a few go arounds, he gives me a wide berth. Don’t let him win! ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. Runningtrails - Sheryl says:

    Roosters are always pushing for control. You have to push back. Chase him around the yard, carry him around, don’t let him mate in your presence, control his access to food (head roo eats before the others) and just push him back. You’re bigger than he is. Don’t get down on his level and try to pet him. Roosters don’t see things the same way we do. Maintain control and the head roo status and he’ll probably be fine. He will never be a cuddly pet. That’s not what roosters are about.

  20. jan-n-tn says:

    I’m in favor of “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” or you’ll soon be feeding the hand that feeds you. You have a secure pen for the hens and other roosters for them as well. There is no need for such an aggressive cock. The first morning you go to let out the chickens from the house and find bloodied combs, beaten birds and him strutting around…you’ll wish that THE POT option had come sooner. I love having our goats, turkeys, chickens and the gardens. But- there is a time for everything! My son (35) called the house on one of those days and innocently asked whatcha- doinโ€™? Iโ€™m not one to lie, so I said that I was getting rid of the overstock in the back yard. He made it very velar that he was sooo glad to be an only child.

  21. jan-n-tn says:

    Sorry I meant ‘clear’

  22. Fencepost says:

    I have never heard of a rooster biting. Only pecking or spurring. Which I have endured both. Learn something new everyday.

  23. Kate says:

    Oh yikes! That’s no good… I got attacked by a rooster once; flew up behind me and grabbed on to my neck. Very terrifying for an 8-year-old girl!

  24. Kathryn says:

    The boot across the chicken yard might help. If you don’t want to use your boot, use a broom. Then, never go in that yard w/o the broom, and Mr. Idiot will get the idea. Princess can carry the broom, too. My auntie had a rooster that went through this every Spring. The broom stayed by the gate into the yard. She’d shut him up in the washhouse with his old blind mama every night because he’d cause such a ruckus in the henhouse during the season as it were. The rest of the year he was just the best boy you’d ever want.

  25. Darrell from NC says:

    If he were mine, he would be wearing his butt for earmuffs the next time he attacked :chicken: after that …. :hungry: chidken pie!

  26. Melissa says:

    or, he becomes dinner like in ‘Cold Mountain’. I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight!

  27. LauraP says:

    Chicken soup time! Seriously, if you let him out to free-range, he’ll likely become even more of a problem since he’ll have free access to anyone walking through the yard. Plus, you could end up with a whole barnyard of hatchlings that grow up to be mean roosters.

  28. MissyinWV says:

    OH NO!!! Please try punishing him for his actions, Before he is killed……. :no: :no: :no:

    Plus picking the feathers off a chicken…really sucks

  29. Laura says:

    epon4~
    Where are you getting your Buckeyes from? A girlfriend of mine is interested in starting a flock of them (probably next year), but neither one of us have heard of a hatchery that carries them. Would you be interested in giving up your source? It would be appreciated!
    ~Laura

  30. Dawn anon says:

    I don’t know about roosters, but i know about a farm goose that got meaner with the more yard he had to roam. I was tired of his owner (my friend) telling me that he wouldn’t hurt me… as the bites went from my boots…too my ankles… to my calves and thighs. I was tired of being terrorized. When she wasn’t looking one day, i gave him the punt treatment. He continued to “chase” me everytime i was there, but never again got within a few feet of me. He did continue to nibble at other visitors.

  31. Jill says:

    Its like with any animal you have a pecking order and he thinks he is top dog! You have to be the one in control and if that means giving him the boot then by all means do it. He will learn and back off you have to mean business when you see him. Don’t let him think he is the boss!

  32. tillie says:

    i say go for the free range experiment and let nature takes its course…becoming part of the food chain might just change his attitude.

  33. Heidi533 says:

    On one chicken list I belong to, someone said they take a laundry basket out to the coop with them and when the mean rooster comes at her/him they drop it on top of him. Then when the chores are done in the coop, they let him out.

  34. Bobbie says:

    :chicken: I have been wanting to get me a few hens-have the old milk house but not the old milk cow and it would make a perfect hen house. I am wondering-don’t laugh ๐Ÿ˜† , but do the hens “need” a roster to lay eggs? Can I have just my hens and they give me eggs? Bobbie

  35. Meghan Rosenstengel says:

    That’s exactly why I don’t keep a rooster!

    The first time he comes at you, hit him with the flat side of the shovel. The next (last!) time, hit him with the sharp side and get a new rooster.

    It sounds mean but they don’t ever seem to shape up once they turn mean and life is too short to be terrorized by something that is so tasty in the pot.

  36. Shirley says:

    Sounds to me like it’s time to make chicken & dumplings. The hens will continue to lay, they just won’t be quite as content.

    Course it won’t be long til settin’ time again. Might put up with him til then.

    Then he’d be in the dumplin pot for sure.

  37. norma says:

    My Grandmother always hated nasty roosters on the farm. When they became mean, they became Sunday dinner.

  38. Kady says:

    Please don’t think about doing the Rooster in. He’s just trying to protect “his girls”. That’s what roosters do. I’d take along a spray bottle of water (nothing to harm him) and give him a spritz when he advances toward you. It works wonders for cats when they claw furniture or get on counters and it doesn’t hurt them at all. It will startle them a bit, but they soon learn. It usually only takes a time or two. Your rooster is a very handsome guy. Please keep him!

  39. Nancy in Atlanta says:

    This is sooooo funny to me! The apt. dwelling city woman reading about roosters and hens! I’m really envious – I would love to go outside to watch chickens and bring in fresh eggs! I can’t offer any advice on the rooster problem, but – honest – it reminds me of dealing with my cat! She was a rescue who came to live with me almost 1.5 yrs ago. I started giving her canned food in the morning at a time I wanted to be up – this was on purpose to help me get a better start on the day. She quickly learned she had to get me out of bed to get her breakfast, but her method was much like your rooster – she bit me! Any spot of skin she could find! I finally booted her (not kicked, honest!) off the bed just as she was clutching my foot that stuck out and biting my toes. Took a couple of times, but she finally stopped that.

    Now she gets on the bookcase headboard behind me and pokes her paw/claws on my head! Gotta work on that –

    Good luck, Suzanne!

  40. Kerry says:

    When I had my chickens we were given a beautiful white rooster
    that had been a kindergarden hatching project that went home with a student to an apartment. That didn’t last long.He was so mean that I had a special “chicken stick” outside the pen that I used.
    Woe to any child that took my “chicken stick” to play with. It didn’t help with him tho- he just bidded his time and came after us anytime we were in the pen. His name was Pot Pie and thats what he became.

  41. Gail says:

    Sounds just like our rooster. He is a Welsummer, and beautifully colored. He was babied as a little one, carried around and petted, etc. Now he is the meanest creature I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with. We too have joked about him becoming the first free ranging chicken here! We take a rake (the fan shaped leaf rake type) in the run with us to keep him away. We stare at him, he stares at us, and we’re both thinking “make my day!”! LOL
    I love farm life…it sure isn’t boring!

  42. Taryn says:

    Hens lay eggs just fine without a rooster. My 9 hens lay between 4-8 eggs a day.
    Roosters are the reason I hated chickens for so long. I didn’t know all chickens were not mean.
    My hens are so friendly, they get under your feet when you walk around. I can lift them off their nests while they are laying, and they don’t protest. Well, one of them hates to be watched and makes this loud, obnoxious noise, “Do you MIND? I’m OVULATING,” until you leave her alone and let her finish her business.
    I think I have been convinced to NOT get myself a rooster!

  43. catslady says:

    Oh what a wonderful bog this is. I am never going to be raising chickens but I just love hearing all the stories and advice. I’m in the group not wanting to kill your rooster and that’s why I’d make a lousy farmer unless it was a vegetable farm – those I could kill :hungry:

  44. Amy Weishuhn says:

    Better yet, stew him and use the meat and broth to make a chicken pot pie. Best way to deal with mean roosters!

  45. Mary Kellogg says:

    Husband and I had a mean bast**d rooster named Barney, who looked alot like yours, and he was beaten into submission.

    I know you are soft-hearted, but get yourself a BIG stick and whack him when he comes after you. He’ll get the message after a few knots on his head, belive me.

    We finally gave Barney to a “rooster rehab” (swear, really!) gal who said she would socialize him. We just wanted him GONE! Ahhhh the peace and quite was great. The girls seemed pretty happy, too!

  46. mommyread says:

    I have been told that if you have more than one rooster, they won’t bother the people! Can’t say if this is true or not, but might be helpful

  47. Susan Flemming says:

    We had a rooster like that once. He wouldn’t attack me, but he started to attack the kids when they went to gather eggs. I asked my Dad come down and chop off his head as hubby was away in Bosnia on Peacemaking Duty.

    This is just part of country life. I’m as soft-hearted as the next person, but safety comes first.

    And for the poster who asked if you have to have a rooster for the hens to lay eggs… the answer is no. You only need a rooster if you want those eggs to be fertilized so you can hatch chicks.

  48. Estella says:

    Let hin know you rule the roost. Whap him one.

  49. Holli says:

    My dad used to use old skillets for their water, and when the rooster would come after me when I was a kid, I would just pick up that skillet and smack him. You could get the feed down and the eggs pick while he was shaking his head trying to get his bearings back.

  50. Imogene Burdette says:

    When I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, I had a pet rooster that I had raised from a baby, played with him and carried him around with me, and loved him dearly, but one day when I walked through the gate, he attacked me! What I remember most about it is how much it hurt my feelings…I thought he was my friend and I felt betrayed, so I never trusted him again. Lesson learned! Guess that could apply to a lot of life situations.
    Your rooster could probably benefit from an attitude adjustment…just be sure to use lots of SAGE! ๐Ÿ˜†

  51. mim says:

    My friend’s grandparents had this rooster that everytime you crossed the footbridge to go to the toilet, he thought he was the troll in
    3 Billy Goats Gruff. No matter what he could get you but you couldn’t get him. :chicken:

  52. Susan says:

    Maybe you should offer him a cookie. :hungry:

  53. JoLyn says:

    Into the frying pan for that one!

  54. lola falana says:

    You could try this approach. Pick him up by putting your hands over his wings. His butt end should be facing you. Pet him and talk to him authoritatively, then put him under your arm and go about your business in the chicken house. Just don’t let his beak get near your eyes, or wear glasses. I don’t know if this causes them to feel fondly toward your or is humiliating, but eventually they move themselves one down the pecking order.

    Never run from him or show any fear. That just reinforces his challenging behavior. :chicken:

  55. Jan says:

    mean roosters apparently make the tastiest soup ever. We’re down to one rooster – he’s a barred rock like yours but so far he isn’t mean. When I bring the hens oatmeal on cold mornings (och aye – they’re wee Scottish hens) I make him wait. I say “no” and point at his head so he has to let them eat first. He thinks I’m the head rooster and that’s good. He is a noisy bugger though but that’s why we keep him. He lets us know if anything’s gone awry and we can come out and scare whatever it might be away. OK – sometimes it’s the summer tires or the wood pile but mostly he’s right.

  56. wkf says:

    Eat him. If you turn him loose in the yard he might stalk you….
    You go out side and a rooster is chasing you off the porch. Trying to get to the hen house or the goats and you are getting ambushed…. Sorta like Cujo…. Eat him…. Sorta like Hannibal Lecter. Just don’t wear him. That would be weird.

  57. Elcie says:

    Around here, that’s what we like to call “dinner.”

  58. Steph says:

    Hello, my mom has a rooster who is doing the same thing. He attacked my legs when I went over there. I just chased after him, picked him up and held him for quite a long time. The next time I went over there, before he had a chance to come after me again, I did the same thing. Now he never bothers me. He’ll watch my every move, but he won’t attack me. I guess he just doesn’t like to be loved on. :happyflower:

  59. Brandy says:

    Maybe take a broom with you next time and if he comes near you swat him with it? It works for me when the cats go where they’re not supposed to! *G*

  60. marianne says:

    I like Steph’s idea! There was always 1 rooster that would get super protective of his hens like this, we would scoop that rooster up on our boots and fly them backwards,but they always came back for more. They became chicken fricasee . Then the next rooster in line would take over the attack job eventually. We should have hugged them more as chicks!

  61. Jake says:

    I might not kill him but i’d spank his tail-feathers! He’d learn his place. ๐Ÿ˜†

    Did I just lie? :yes: I wouldn’t go near him…I’m scared to death of chicken’s n’ rooster’s! *bad experience in my aunt and uncle’s chicken house*

    I’d have my hubby do it. Yep.

  62. Letha says:

    Get a stick….Had one that looked just like him and he did the same thing. Of course, as soon as you turn your back he is back at it again. He would not bother me as long as he knew I was watching him. Teach him who is boss!!!

  63. Missy Martz says:

    I hate roosters! When I was little, my brothers thought it would be fun to lock their little sister in the chicken coop. Well, I got flopped and pecked while I was screaming to be let out. It took me a long time to agree to get chickens here on our farmette. (My sons love them and earn their own $ by selling eggs)

    When we finally decided to add chickens to the farm, a rooster came too. He lasted almost a year until he tried to come after me one day… Off to the sale he went to become a nuisance for someone else! He wasn’t a heavy breed so he wasn’t worth plucking for eating or he would have went to the stew pot. I agree with the other poster who said “Life is just too short.”

  64. Charlene says:

    I have the same problem with my rooster. He is so mean to me, he flogs me everytime I enter the hen house. He does not bother my husband. I am ready to make some chicken soup out of him. I hear you pain, I am over him.

  65. Travis says:

    i have a rooster that fights and spurs me all the time and i think it’s funny. and let him hit my shoe, it dosent hurt me. the only reason you’re rooster wants to fight is beacause he thinks it’s fun. let him spur you’re shoe a few times and he most likely wont fight for the rest of the day. also try feeding them shreded coconut that you buy in the little bags. thet’ll love you forever, at least my chickens do.

  66. Tim Pack says:

    I have a rooster named Puffy, he has taken to flogging me every time I go to collect eggs, I have 118 hens and had 4 roos, slaughtered 3 thinking he would start behaving again, but instead I have to carry a rake with me whenever I go into the house, the only thing he is afraid of are my embden geese, guess I will start carrying one of them with me. LOL

  67. Linda Stiens says:

    Hi everyone~I am having the same problem, we have had about 12 roosters turn mean but they were only mean to the hens and each other, so we froze them, we had 3 left that were nice,2 of them started trying to get me , I was chased away from the chicken house 2 times one morning I couldn’t get down there until evening so we froze them also. BTW, my husband never saw them being mean to me. And they didn’t bother him. Now we have one left, after about 2 weeks now, he started after me a couple days ago and I’m afraid of him. My husband says it’s my fault because they know I’m scared. I never use to be until this all started, he says we’re not getting rid of this rooster and I’m to petrified to get close to him so I don’t know what to do. We have 15 hens.

    • Suzanne says:

      Get a rake or a broom and carry it with you when you go around the chickens!

      • Linda Stiens says:

        Thank you so much for your advice, it helps but I think he’s trying t figure out how to get up above the rake to get me. My husband says the fertile eggs are better to eat. Does that make a difference? I thought it was just to make the eggs fertile to have babies.

        • Suzanne says:

          I don’t know about that (fertile vs unfertile). Honestly, I never know which are fertile and which aren’t, so I can’t compare!

          • Linda Stiens says:

            That’s what I think too! I’m trying to figure out if I really need a rooster. I got into this thinking about the fresh eggs and the peace of mind and being responsible to take care of my hens and keep them happy,but for some reason roosters don’t like me and they are messing with my peace! If I could only convince my husband that they are stealing my joy. Thanks again~Linda

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