Nasty Rooster

I searched for a similar post and surprised found none...so if one has been posted before, my appologies.
I have a NASTY Barred Rock Roo. I have read many things about aggressive roosters and have tried chasing him down beating him with a rake or shovel or what ever is handy at the time. I have ruffled him when he has done nothing and will not allow him to breed the chickens when i am around. I have also just started to catch him and pack him around with me when he attacks me..and he gets packed around for a good hour. Today, again he was coming for me, and luckily i turned around just in time and he fell over trying to turn around fast as he saw me turning around to catch him in the act. I honestly don't want to put him in the pot, he is just a yr old now and i kind of like him. But he is pissing me off to say the least. Has anyone been successful breaking a nasty rooster? and....now that i have some more chicks coming up, i would like to keep a rooster from each variety..is there any way to stop the nastiness from coming out
thanks...bigrock

I know it is frustrating, but this is something he can pass on in his offspring as well. I personally don't tolerate it I am afraid and I know it is not what you want to hear, but soup is the only really successful way to cure this.

I am surprised your search didn't bring anything up either as this is a frequent discussion with chicken keepers. (I think there is a secret to a successful search, but don't ask me what it is)

THis is my opinion only. At some point, beating on a rooster because he is attacking you crosses into animal abuse. Roosters are PROGRAMMED to do this and you have to wonder how much capacity their teeny brains have for learning. So to beat the guy thinking it's going to change his behaviour is, in my opinion, 97% pointless. IT has been my experience that very, very, few roosters change this behaviour once it starts. You will never trust him completely, you will always keep an eye on him.

So I will boot a rooster a few times or whack him with the feed bucket. BUt when it comes to smacking them with shovels and rakes several times, I have moved into what I consider abuse and it's time to deal with the rooster.

Since you do not want to chop his head off, you have to find a way to deal with him safely. Buy a cheap plastic laundry basket, keep it at the hen house and when you need to work out there, drop it over him. Instant cage. He is not going to attack you and when you leave, remove basket.

Few people consider animal aggression a desirable trait, so using him for breeding might be something you want to take a look at. If he's only a year old and starting this, he is not a bird I would keep for breeding, no matter how pretty he is. Having said that, some breeds are known for over-the-top aggression and if you like those hens, then get used to being attacked by those roos. There are certain birds/breeds/sexes that I will not have here because of temperament issues.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep your eyes on the boy because one of these days, he will hurt you.

Are there nice Barred Rock roosters out there? or is the breed considered an aggressive breed-roosters

The first rooster I ever culled and ate was a mean essohbee. He would claw at and bite at your calf when you turned on him. If you leaned down to pick him up it was claws launched towards the face.

The roos I have now are vicious if a new rooster is introduced or escapes his pen, but they won't come after me, and I wouldn't accept it. I need to know if someone goes into my coop to care for my birds or to follow me that they are safe, and the guineas are hell enough with their fly first worry about where to go next demeanor. I won't allow roosters or hens to scrap when I'm in the coop, and I also stop the rooster I don't want top dog from breeding when I'm around.

I will also not tolerate hen abuse at this point. I have a rooster who might be hitting the pot because he'll take a hen screaming her head off and try to mount younger birds that aren't interested and he -does not- take no for an answer. It's like rape, seeing it. Its gone so far as one of the hens to start fighting him like a rival rooster -- he lost because I intervened but he wasn't about to give up.

Like Uno, I'm not above booting a rooster that's coming at me. It's not an all out soccer kick, but it is enough of a thump that he knows it and it moves him. I'll also slap or push a bird if it is, for instance, caught eating an egg. I hit them on their wing, hard enough to make them jump a bit, but not to push them aside. I think it's the sound that scares them. I also would not use a tool, simply because I can feel the amount of fource when I use my body, you can't always judge it with a tool.

I understand not wanting to cull him, but like others said, he could pass that on, and unless you're in the business of fighting cocks, I would very much take a long and hard thought on not culling him.

My only experience with a vicious rooster was with a mixed-breed indeterminate aged bird that was given to me. I tried all the tactics you might hear about, including trying to allow him to relax in my arms, or hand feeding him, to whacking him and capturing him with a basket so he couldn't get at me. I spent so much time on that bird, and I have the scars to prove it.

He was delicious. I will NEVER put up with that kind of behaviour again.

I'm sure there are a few people on here who can speak specifically to BR roosters' natures.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

I have barred rocks and have yet to get an aggressive one, if I do he will taste real good ground up and in my pasta sauce!!

I’ve had Barred Rocks for a couple years now and the boys are some of my best natured birds. Real gentlemen with the ladies too.
Though I think a mean one can happen in any breed.

I’m sorry but your roo sounds like a bad seed...and a good fit for the stew pot.

Yeah that's too bad. Last spring/summer I was dealing with more than one super nasty roo. They were just turning 1 year old as well. A White chantecler ( all of my purebred Chant Roos (white and partridge) have been very very nasty. The third last summer was a purebred Copper Marans roo. He was the worst. These three Roos received everything I could think of to deter - and in the end it didn't matter. They WERE going to conquer that huge Roo that came in and fed them everyday no matter what.
Made my kids cry a few times on the front lawn. And in July we were getting ready for vacation and the caretakers didnt have much experience with chickens plus had small kids so I had my DH go and "take care" of the mean ones before we left.

I have no mean Roos currently; one White Chantecler x Copper Maran who is quiet and mellow, one Jersey Giant x Copper Maran who is happy and gentle,
and Modern Game who is half the size of the others but with twice the authority. Quite funny little fellow, all the hens loooove him, he always has a large group following him.

The best pet roosters we have had are consistently Jersey giants from ChickeesMom's Line. They are the nicest. My kids have befriended every one we have had.
The other little roo that tolerates my 4 year old carrying him around for hours is a Polish Bantam. He is my sons favorite thing on earth, has been for a year.

Oh geeze, such a discussion that should always take place, with experiences, such as here displayed. That rooster must go. As much as you like him, please, he will not change, it will get worse and you may be severely injured. There is absolutely no room in any chicken yard for a mean rooster. Period. If you love the barred rock rooster so much, find someone, and there are many, that have barred rocks, getting hatching eggs, or chicks, or even a rooster and use that rooster, if you like the eye candy so much. Couldn't be anything but eye candy, cause what is there to like about his personality. Nuthin'. right? So think about that. You WILL get injured, it is just a matter of time, your back turned one day, when something gets your attention. You are a target and you have a very dangerous tool running around there. Please. Get rid of him before you are hurt. At this point, wonder how long his spurs are? They are going to get much more long. anyways, you have been presented with some thoughts here, take the ball and fly and make your own decision. But remember, that dude is what he is, some are good, some are bad, and it does not depend on breed, as you have heard...I have heard buff orpington roosters can be aggressive, but haven't seen one yet in my couple of years into the breed. Genetics. A mean rooster will create a propensity to have mean offspring...hope you find a decision that brings you safe peace of mind. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

I have had mean roosters before. Some of them were Aseels, which are a fighting machine and tuff. I used two methods to cure them. I would slap him around with an old curling corn broom, a house corn broom would also work. It didn't hurt him much but he knew he was not going to win this battle and give it up and was never aggressive towards me. Another method I also used that worked was to carry an empty feed pail, metal or plastic, and always out that in front of him to beat on. He would hammer that making lots of noise and held it in front of him until he was blue in the face and realized that it was not going away and gave up and never brought me again. If he try to get aggressive again out came the feed pail for him to beat on. It worked for me.

Sebas49 wrote:I have had mean roosters before. Some of them were Aseels, which are a fighting machine and tuff. I used two methods to cure them. I would slap him around with an old curling corn broom, a house corn broom would also work. It didn't hurt him much but he knew he was not going to win this battle and give it up and was never aggressive towards me. Another method I also used that worked was to carry an empty feed pail, metal or plastic, and always out that in front of him to beat on. He would hammer that making lots of noise and held it in front of him until he was blue in the face and realized that it was not going away and gave up and never brought me again. If he try to get aggressive again out came the feed pail for him to beat on. It worked for me.

I will have to try the metal bucket trick.
Thanks.

The bucket thing works well because I'm usually carrying something like that anyway.

The bucket idea sounds good in theory but don't we all want to walk amongst our birds without the worry of "am I ready to defend myself" or "where is he??" you know?

I think the only vessel you should consider is a crock pot. There are so many nice, really lovely roosters out there. Why perpetuate a mean gene?

Yup..husband and i talked about it...this fellow is not going to be breeding...he is nice to his girls and does his job well. We will see how this goes, if he attacks me again, i will have his head for sure. Thanks for all the great advice. If i do decide i want to raise some Barred Rocks, then i will ask who has some good ones to chose from...
In the meantime....while i am planning on raising some more roosters..Does anyone do anything special while raising them? or do you treat them no different from your hens?

I think roos are best raised in groups of 9 or 10 roos of same age, they seem to learn some "group manners" then.
An older rooster is a good idea to introduce in the Fall as he seems to be able to keep the peace very well within the group of young ones.

I try to separate off my roosters when I can into a bachleor pad, but I don't treat them differently than any of the girls. Same feed (I typically feed grower with free choice oyster, seems to work better for me), same water, same treatment, erry-ting. Where possible, I'd prefer if they had a run that wasn't massive, in order to allow them freedom while promoting laziness for meat quality. I'm fine with the way they are now, but it's just a thought. Big dreams. Biiig dreams.

Well our first chickens many years ago
were barred rocks. We got 100 straight
run put all but 5 roosters in the freezer.
The five we kept were fine except one
hated our youngest son. Have not idea why
because this son is the animal lover and
a real softy. But every day after school
this rooster would come out of no where to
attack. So in the morning son would take
broom stick to the top of the drive way
so when he got off the school bus he had
something to defend himself with. This went
on for over a year and every day this rooster
would attack. Now remember I said this son
was the softy. Well one day he comes running
in the house crying sobbing that he had killed
the rooster. He had aparently hit him harder
than before and broken his neck. So being the smart a**
that I am said quick go get him and we will have him for dinner. At which point son started sobbing even harder and ran to his room. So out of about 50 roosters there was one bad one. Just had to share even today we bug son about this story.

karona wrote:Well our first chickens many years ago
were barred rocks. We got 100 straight
run put all but 5 roosters in the freezer.
The five we kept were fine except one
hated our youngest son. Have not idea why
because this son is the animal lover and
a real softy. But every day after school
this rooster would come out of no where to
attack. So in the morning son would take
broom stick to the top of the drive way
so when he got off the school bus he had
something to defend himself with. This went
on for over a year and every day this rooster
would attack. Now remember I said this son
was the softy. Well one day he comes running
in the house crying sobbing that he had killed
the rooster. He had aparently hit him harder
than before and broken his neck. So being the smart a**
that I am said quick go get him and we will have him for dinner. At which point son started sobbing even harder and ran to his room. So out of about 50 roosters there was one bad one. Just had to share even today we bug son about this story.

This reminds me of all the nasty rooster stories my husband has told me from his childhood.

My original Ameraucanas were poorly bred mutts, and some of the roosters were mean. I would give them a kick square in the chest as they came at me. Usually they didn't do it again, but I didn't want to use them for breeding.

Had a wonderful RIR once, called Kellogg. He and his flock were free-ranging in the yard when a coyote came. He went ahead to meet the coyote and gave his life for his girls. He is still my favorite.

I am remembering an incident last fall. I had a Houdan that would randomly fly at me. He worked up to this from lesser behaviour. Anyway, as he flew at me I held up my hand and miraculously caught him by the neck! He looked just as surprised as I did. It was a classic moment.

He is isolated until the next trip to the butcher.