[ciwheeles]

My 5 mo Barred Rock old rooster had been fine the last few months, but lately he's started to change.

He always used to just stay near his hens and mind his business, but now he's constantly threatening and being a menace. I know roosters are suppose to protect their hens, and I respect that he has his instincts but it's getting to the point where its hard to just sit out on our porch. I'm not easy to intimidate, but he makes me nervous sometimes now. Which is sad because I raised him, and he used to be such a calm easy going guy.

Is there any kind of correction I can give him so he'll back off? A spray of water maybe? Or, is this as good of behavior I can expect from a rooster? I really want to keep him, but not if this will continue or even escalate..

 

[Scottyhorse]

Try the water.

 

[nancy d]

Tell you what, Ive never had a nice Bard Rock roo. If you can find a way to prevent attacks I'd sure like to know.

 

[sbhministry]

I would try the water. Hopefully it will work. We have had various barred rock roosters with no problem. The one that was aggressive was a Red and we rehomed him to a family with hens and no rooster. They had no problem with his behavior because their two boys are energetic and gave it right back to him.

 

[happybleats]

we had three Barred Rooster..all three ended up in the stew pot..they got meaner as they got older..they would chase my kids..I had enough when one frightened my daughter and she fell..it jumped on her and spurred her calve of her leg...he was the first to go..hope the water bottle works ...

 

[ciwheeles]

Wow, thanks for the advice everybody, I will try the water. I hope he doesn't get worse but I'm prepared to send him on down the river if I have to.

 

[NyGoatMom]

Sometimes if you raise a rooster like a pet, it will see you as an equal and forever challenge you.Roosters do better if you don't coddle them while maturing.The reason for this is, they will see you as an equal when handled too much and will forever try to gain top position.
A lot depends on lines, not just breed. I have had a LOT of breeds of chickens and seen nice in every one.I truly believe 9/10's of the problem is when you raise them with TOO much contact......

When I get a rooster who flogs, I fry him and serve him with taters

So sorry he is not working out for you.......

 

[ciwheeles]

Huh that's really interesting and makes sense. This prob sounds stupid but we just tried to acclimate him to people as much as possible and treat him like his hens. We have treated him and the girls as more pets, so I guess from here on out that needs to stop.

 

[happybleats]

we have several rooster...some black giants, RR, Game rooster, a few mutts, none have ever attacked or challenged us....We never made pets out of any of them...but those barred roosters were just mean lol..but all from the same hatch so who knows..could have been bad blood lol

 

[Trickyroo]

I have a Buff Roo and he is a jerk ! I have tried the water , sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I did find if I walked around with a rake , one of the huge plastic leaf litter rakes , and gave him heck with it if he even looked my way . It did make a difference , I must say.
I have no problem cooking that hump , but my husband doesnt want to.
He rather rehome to someone who doesnt mind his behaviour.
But I would wack him with it to push him backwards , not hurting him , but just to let him know IM not backing down , he is !
Once he would get up on his feet , I wouldnt let him catch his breathe , I would be right back on him like glue. I looked like a freak chasing a roo around with a rake , but let me tell you , I made him run around away from , back towards his pen . He hasnt even threatened me since.
So , how long that will last , I dont know. Maybe he got the hint .
But seriously , if it so happened he "landed the wrong way" I would be on him plucking him and shoving him in a pot before hubby knew it , lol
Looky what I got on sale at the market honey !!
Good luck .

 

[NyGoatMom]

Huh that's really interesting and makes sense. This prob sounds stupid but we just tried to acclimate him to people as much as possible and treat him like his hens. We have treated him and the girls as more pets, so I guess from here on out that needs to stop.

It's a common mistake I hope it works out for you!

 

[OakHollowRanch]

We sadly lost our pure BR roo to a coyote about 2 years ago. He was respectful to people and very good with his hens. Luckily, we got one gorgeous son out of him right before he passed, who is 1/2 EE. He is huge and beautiful, with a lot of the same traits as his dad. Definitely my favorite rooster so far. We have also had a lot of old english game/BTW Japanese bantam mix roosters over the years. Those broodies keep hatching chicks left and right! Not one of those chicks have EVER grown into a mean rooster. Some are raised by broodies, others we have had to raise due to bad mothering skills. They come to us for food, but are not over friendly.

I will say though, that the only two mean rooster we have had were raised to be very friendly towards people. Our first rooster was a bantam cochin. We held him constantly when he was a chick. Once he got to breeding age, he became very agressive. The day he pecked my sister about 3 centimeters from her eye, he was disbatched. Our origninal OEG bantam roo was raised much the same way. 5 years later, he chases and attacks everyone in my family but me. My sister has finally decided he will have to go next time we take a trip to the auction.... The lesson for us, feed your roosters and change their waters. Babied roosters turn into monsters.

 

[Trickyroo]

Yeah , I can belive that ^^ ! Ours chicks werent held or coddled or anything. When we had gotten them , I didnt have the time to baby them. But this roo grew up nasty anyways . He even rips out the poor hens feathers when he mates them. I keep telling my husband I want to get those saddles for them . I hate to see such beautiful hens with red raw backs I rather see my roo nice and crispy on the outside , juicy on the inside His time is limited . He may meet an untimely death ( quick , humane ) when hubs isnt home , idk.

 

[ciwheeles]

Mine isn't all that crazy yet, but he did peck my mom the other day and it drew blood. That was a week ago and since then his behavior has slowly gone downhill. I mainly would like to keep him to protect our hens and get a few eggs to hatch in the spring, but not if he's dangerous. If I have to I will just take him somewhere to be butchered.. I would rehome him but I don't want him to end up somewhere bad or hurt anyone.

 

[NyGoatMom]

I definitely think he should NOT be rehomed for sure. The stew pot/frying pan/freezer camp is the best alternative.
Even if you gave him to someone who was willing to deal with it, he may continue producing mean offspring and so on and so on. I truly believe in slaughtering mean roos....there are WAY too many nice ones out there to bother with a mean one!

ETA: I knew someone with a mean roo...they thought they could deal with it....until he flogged a three year old and took a piece of her lip off

FREEZER CAMP.

 

[GoatieGranny]

We've not had a mean roo yet, but my sister did. There was no calming that critter down! They had to do him in, which broke her heart, but everyone is better off and safer with him buried on the back 40! (She said she couldn't eat him.) I forgot what he kind he was. Possibly an Easter Egger.

Our roosters are Rhode Island Red mixes, the only roos we've ever had. Very protective of their girls, but none have ever shown aggression toward us. If they do, they are finished. It's not worth one of the kids getting an eye poked. No way.

 

[ciwheeles]

NyGoatmom that is scary!! And I never thought about him producing mean offspring, but you bring up a good point. I did want to eventually keep some of the fertile eggs to hatch, but you I think you may be onto something.

 

[partimecountryboy]

We had a Dominiquer ( hope I spelled that right) roo and he was mean!!! We never really cuddled him much. He was marked as a rooster when we got him so we always left him alone and he'd mind his buissness.( when we first our chicks we dipped their beaks in sugar water I accidentally dunked his whole head in so the joke was he was traumatized by that and hated me) but I guess around five months or so as well he got mean. He chased everyone. U couldn't even walk outside!!! We eventually took a stick to him but it only made him meaner so I wouldn't suggest the water bottle, cuz we had to always carry a stick! We had a bantee rooster that was mean from the start and after attacking all of us we got rid of him. With the Dominiquer the dog got him. But unless your REALLLLLLLY wantin chicks I'd say your best bet is to relocate stew or get rid off him

 

[ciwheeles]

He's still bothering me but now I just give him a smack of the broom and he runs off back to his hens. He has gotten better, since I started that and he doesn't seem as interested in challenging us.

 

[Smallfarmer]

When my dad was little he had a mean rooster that would always attack him. One day after school the rooster attack and he had enough. He grabbed it and broke its neck. He felt so bad about it and thought he'd get in trouble but when he told his dad the guy just laughed. Gramps said it was about time. He wondered how long it would take before my dad got tired of being attacked and did something about it. They then had chicken for dinner.

Try sticking with nice breeds like cochins. I've never had a problem with them being mean.