How do you stop a rooster from attacking?

Answer 1

Let me just say first that I am speaking from years of experience. I have about a dozen roosters right now, am not afraid of any of them, they are all tame, and even the one "mean" (meaning overly macho) rooster is easy to deal with. I even know toddlers that have been taught "the ways of the rooster", and are totally unafraid of them! (Although really little kids shouldn't be left unsupervised with a rooster, unless your roosters are as docile and nice as some of mine).

It's actually much easier than most people think. There are very, very few roosters that can't be taught to respect you, but even those rare few truly mean ones can be dealt with easily, even the 'meaner' breeds, such as barred rocks.

Simple steps are: Don't ever be afraid of him, make sure he knows who's boss (without hurting him), and tame him down.

First off, the # 1 step, and the VERY MOST IMPORTANT STEP, is to NOT be afraid of the rooster: if you are, many roosters will simply take advantage of what they see as a weakness. This applies to many different animals too. And as they say with dogs, you don't have to train the dog, just the human. As I said, there are almost no roosters that can't be taught to at least respect you. There are very few feisty ones that will continue to attack, but you should easily be able to deal with them.

Even if you're still afraid of him, don't act like it: DO NOT back off, do NOT run away, don't throw things at him, as that will make him even more mean. It may take some getting used to, but once you really get to know the rooster, you won't be afraid of him anymore.

Step #2 and #3 is to tame your rooster as much as possible. This serves the dual purpose of making him 'know who's boss'. This is much easier when he's very young, and gets harder the older (and more stuck in his ways) he gets, but it's usually doable. Pick him up whenever you can. Then, pet him, rub his wattles, carry him around, etc. It seems to 'humble' them (or just humiliate them!) and show them who the 'bigger rooster' is. It also shows him you're not afraid of him. Feeding him a treat here and there does a TON to make him tamer. Just don't make the mistake of treating him like a total baby: many people do this with their dogs, then are afraid of them. They simply have different 'rules' of behaving, so treating them TOO much like humans usually doesn't work well. Once you're used to him and would never be afraid of him though, you can treat him like as much of a baby as you want!

Whenever a rooster is acting like a bit of a smart-alec, or even makes the slightest move to attack, I pick him up, make a bit of a fool out of him in front of the hens, and sometimes shake him up a bit if he's being a bit mean (without hurting him of course).

If I DO encounter a mean rooster, I have a bit of a 'matador session' with him, sidestepping whenever he tries to attack, then grabbing him. Not saying you have to do this, but once you're used to roosters, it's quite useful, as, again, it makes the rooster respect you, (and is actually quite fun).

Also, ACT CALM around him. If you're exited, scared, or unstable around an animal, they will usually pick up on that and respond in a way that isn't always good. This is KEY to catching chickens, and to calming them when you're holding them. Calm begets calm.

Some people have trouble just catching the rooster, or getting him to come to them.....that means he's probably scared of you, and a scared rooster is quite often a mean rooster, so how do you deal with this? Well, for some of you, it may just work out that way: maybe you don't WANT a tame rooster, or maybe you want him to be scared of you, but honestly, I really wouldn't recommend this, especially if you have kids around. I've seen this happen too much: the human thinks that they have him under their 'command', because he's scared of them, and then the next day he goes and attacks them. Next thing you know, the rooster is dead, just because he was scared and trying to protect himself and his flock. Does that make any sense? Is that fair? Some people will then say, 'Well, my rooster attacked me, but he wasn't scared, he was just a macho show off', but some roosters won't act scared, when in reality, they are, or they just see you as a threat and as something that should be chased away for the safety of the flock. Some roosters, especially certain breeds, will be quite aggressive even if they don't seem that scared of you, because they may still see you as a threat, or even as a challenger. These roosters require the most work, and have to be 'dominated', in other words, you have to show them you're the head rooster, but without hurting them. That would be counter-productive, as it would help to make them scared of you, and see you as an even bigger threat. Violence creates 'hard feelings', and more violence, so it's best to do it in a non-violent way, even if the rooster can be quite frustrating to work with.

Remember: a scared rooster is also an unstable rooster much of the time. Some roosters will take any chance to attack if they see an opportunity. Even though he may be scared of you, and never attack you because he's just that scared, if he sees someone different, or someone smaller, he will often take that opportunity to attack THEM. It's just him protecting his territory from what he sees as a threat.

So what if you DON'T want him to see humans as a threat? What do you do? Well, biggest thing is to NOT hurt him: hurting him repeatedly will just make him scared and on the offensive. I know a lot of people like to use brooms, sticks, etc, to 'dominate' him and scare him off (usually because they're scared of him), but that ends up almost always being counter-productive.

Getting him tame if he's so scared though is a bit more of a challenge, and is easiest if you start when he's a chick. Best thing to do is simply offer him something to eat. Sit somewhere close, and don't make eye contact with him or make any sudden moves that will scare him. If your hens are tame, that makes it a LOT easier. If you have them come up to you, the rooster will see there's probably no danger and come closer. The problem with a "moon (lead) rooster" though, is that he usually has a thing about getting caught while in front of the hens. The tame roosters I have are the subordinates: the lead rooster is always tame for me, but doesn't always act it as long as he is the lead rooster. Sure, I can catch him, but he doesn't always like it. He sees ME as the boss, and as a rooster, so he's really proud about taking food from my hand, especially in front of the hens. This is actually a good thing though, because, as I said, he sees me as the alpha rooster, which is just how I want it. Still, he WILL eat from out of my hand. The rooster I have now is so, so tame that even though he's proud, he'll let me come right up to him and pet, feed, or hold him.

I can tell you one thing: chasing your rooster is NOT going to make him tame. I find it pretty funny that whenever I take my chickens to the school for a visit (sort of an 'end of year' program), whenever one of them gets loose, the kids chase after it like maniacs. They would catch the chicken so much easier if they would simply squat down, slowly approach, and better yet, offer them some food. Even if my chickens weren't tame, that would be easier than running after them. (And yeah, I admit it, I just let them chase after the chicken, because it was just so darn funny!).

So yeah, taming your rooster is going to take some time, if he's not a chick, but you CAN still just catch him, then hold him for a while. Show him that it's not a bad thing: feed him something. Then, just let him go slowly (when he's not struggling) and let him walk away. Don't make a move towards him: he might take it as a threat and become that much more apprehensive. Best thing though is, like I said, to just slowly tame him by sitting near him, and getting closer and closer to him. It takes time, but it's worth it. Just make sure your hens are getting tame too: he's probably not going to get tame if his hens aren't.

And just think: don't you WANT to have a tame rooster, who you don't have to be paranoid about all the time, who you can actually pick up and pet? He doesn't have to be a pet, but he at least has to respect you, and be a stable rooster. Plus, having a tame rooster is so much more rewarding: they are extremely fun to have around when they're tame.

Another thing is that even if you DO tame your chickens from the time they're babies, almost all of them go through a sort of 'rebellious' stage, almost exactly like a human teenager! One week, they will be so tame they'll come running to you when you come out the door, the next, they won't want to be picked up, and shy away if you try to catch them. I amazes me just how much this parallels how many human teenagers act: it's not that they aren't tame, it's just like they're 'too cool' for you now (not that I treat my chickens like they're my kids or something, lol....it's just something they do). I'm not exactly sure why they do this, and not all of them do, but just continue to be nice to them, don't try TOO hard pick them up. They will still come if you have food, so that's a good thing to do to keep them tame. Eventually, the stage will pass, and if you did keep them tame, then they should come up to you like usual. It seems that only the super, super tame chicks don't do this, and the ones who have their hen mother to go to, if she's also tame. On a separate note, it's worth mentioning that if you tame your chickens, each generation will get tamer. The hen will literally teach her chicks to be tame.

I never used to pet my chickens until a year or two ago....they never seemed to like it. If you do it when they're chicks though, they get used to it and seem to really like it. Also, they like it when you 'preen' them, which is, in a way, weird, because chickens are such social, and yet anti-social birds....they like to be with other chickens, and yet they aren't affectionate towards each other....it's interesting. Course, you obviously don't have to spoil your chickens or anything (mine don't get special feed....just leftovers/compost sometimes and treats sometimes, plus a lot of attention).

It's very important to teach (in other words, show by example) little kids how to at least not be afraid of chickens, if you can, and they'll take over the rest, if they like spending time with them (of course, you should supervise with most roosters). If the kid is big enough, you may even want to teach them how to Dodge and grab the rooster if he attacks, and, again, supervise. An unstable rooster who's not used to people will attack when he gets the chance, while a well-adjusted rooster will not. Even the well adjusted rooster will sometimes attack if someone is afraid of him, such as if someone runs whenever he makes what they consider to be 'a move to attack them'. Small children often make more jerky movements, that can alarm a rooster. That's why it's good to have the rooster with kids when he's a chick, so he gets used to it.

Most people seem to be afraid that even nice chickens will peck them. Of course, don't ever leave a little kid unsupervised with the rooster.

A few people who don't know better might say this is the 'wimps' way to go about it: taming your rooster down and even treating him like a pet, but it's NOT. It's even recommended by so called "chicken experts" (who, you say? I recall something along these lines being in Backyard Poultry mag). Sure, you don't have to treat him like a pet if you don't want, but if he's at least tame, or if he at least respects you, without fearing you too much, you'll BOTH benefit from it. If your rooster is afraid of you and you're not afraid of him, that can work, but he'll be scared of you and take any opportunity to attack you when your back is turned. It's much better to get him to actually be tame and even, dare I say it, like you. Most of the roosters I have are so tame I can simply walk up to them, pick them up, and pet them, all without ever getting attacked, even when you walk away, even if you're a little kid.

As I said, it's much easier than most people think, and if you try, you can have quite a nice rooster, and maybe even a nice pet.

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Answer 2

Roosters almost never actually fight with hens. They may peck a hen once or twice, but the hen will usually give in. Hens usually fight with young, inferior roosters, but not for long. There may be a particularly aggressive hen that continues to fight with the rooster, but they should work it out soon enough.

However, many people mistake the rooster mating with the hen and think he's attacking her. To mate with a hen, a rooster climbs on her back and grabs her neck feathers with his beak. She may squawk a bit, thus the impression that she's being attacked. Don't worry though: it perfectly natural. To fight with each other, chickens face each other with hackles raised: they almost never jump on each others backs when they're fighting. If a rooster jumps on a hen's back, he's mating with her.

Just make sure you don't have too many roosters with the same group of hens. Roosters lower in the pecking order will usually mate much more aggressively and if there are too many, they'll end up hurting the hen. Watch her back for feather loss and file down the rooster's claws if she starts loosing too many feathers on her back. If she keeps loosing feathers, either take her away to recover, or buy a 'hen saddle': and though piece of cloth that goes over her back and stops the rooster from scratching it when he mates with her. Do NOT wait too long to do this, as her back can get bloody and infected. If you only have one or even two roosters though, it shouldn't happen.

If you have a hen and rooster that are actually FIGHTING, they should work it out, but if they don't after a few fights, separate them, at least for a while.

Make sure they all have enough room to run too, as chickens get aggressive when cooped up for too long.

Answer 3

Let me just say first that I am speaking from years of experience. I have about a dozen roosters right now, am not afraid of any of them, they are all tame, and even the one mean rooster is easy to deal with. Even my 2-year-old niece has been taught "the ways of the rooster", and is totally unafraid of them!

It's actually much easier than most people think. There are very, very few roosters that can't be taught to respect you, but even those rare few truly mean ones can be dealt with easily, even the 'meaner' breeds, such as barred rocks.

Simple steps are: Don't ever be afraid of him, make sure he knows who's boss (without hurting him), and tame him down.

First off, the # 1 step, and the VERY MOST IMPORTANT STEP, is to NOT be afraid of the rooster: if you are, many roosters will simply take advantage of what they see as a weakness. This applies to many different animals too. And as they say with dogs, you don't have to train the dog, just the human. As I said, there are almost no roosters that can't be taught to at lease respect you. There are very few feisty ones that will continue to attack, but you should easily be able to deal with them.

Even if you're still afraid of him, don't act like it: DO NOT back off, do NOT run away, don't throw things at him, as that will make him even more mean. It may take some getting used to, but once you really get to know the rooster, you won't be afraid of him anymore.

Step #2 and #3 is to tame your rooster as much as possible. This serves the dual purpose of making him 'know who's boss'. This is much easier when he's very young, and gets harder the older (and more stuck in his ways) he gets, but it's usually doable. Pick him up whenever you can. Then, pet him, rub his wattles, carry him around, etc. It seems to 'humble' them (or just humiliate them!) and show them who the 'bigger rooster' is. It also shows him you're not afraid of him. Just don't make the mistake of treating him like a total baby: many people do this with their dogs, then are afraid of them. They simply have different 'rules' of behaving, so treating them TOO much like humans usually doesn't work well. Once you're used to him and would never be afraid of him though, you can treat him like as much of a baby as you want!

Whenever a rooster is acting like a bit of a smart-alec, or even makes the slightest move to attack, I pick him up, make a bit of a fool out of him in front of the hens, and sometimes shake him up a bit if he's being a bit mean (without hurting him of course).

If I DO encounter a mean rooster, I have a bit of a 'matador' session with him, sidestepping whenever he tries to attack, then grabbing him. Not saying you have to do this, but once you're used to roosters, it's quite useful, as, again, it makes the rooster respect you, and actually quite fun.

If you have kids, make sure you get them used to the roosters so that they're not afraid of them. If the rooster is really untrustworthy, teach the child how to dodge and grab the rooster if he attacks, and supervise them so no one gets hurt. An unstable rooster who's not used to people will attack when he gets the chance, while a well-adjusted rooster will not. Even the well adjusted rooster will sometimes attack if someone is afraid of him, such as if someone runs whenever he makes what they consider to be 'a move to attack them'.

A few people who don't know better might say this is the 'wimps' way to go about it: taming your rooster down and treating him like a pet, but it's NOT. It's actually recommended by many chicken experts, and by far the best way. If your rooster is afraid of you and you're not afraid of him, that can work, but he'll take any opportunity to attack you. It's much better to get him to respect and maybe even like you. Most of the roosters I have are so tame I can simply walk up to them, pick them up, and pet them, all without ever getting attacked.

As I said, it's much easier than most people think, and if you try, you can have quite a nice rooster, and maybe even a nice pet.

Good luck!

Answer 4

To reduce the chances of egg eating by the rooster you need to provide the hens with dark nesting boxes, birds do not like to eat in the dark, but they do like to lay eggs in dark areas. Use smaller doors on the nest boxes, hens will crawl in but roosters will not.

Most often the reason the rooster is eating the eggs is because they have been broken by the hens moving around among the previously laid eggs. To minimize this, provide larger nest with deep litter and collect the eggs more often.

Answer 5

kick it if it starts attacking or stay away from it period. Or you can show it who's boss around here: you bend down and taunt it with your head, the rooster thinks it can reach your head so he jumps up, and while he's in the air.... you slap him really good on the head! He might do this a couple of times but keep slapping him, then the rooster realizes to not attack you or he'll get a slap on the head! It worked for my dad!

Answer 6

My favorite breed is Muff they are made for strong power. Most peoples favorite breed is Hatch they are a all around good rooster.

Answer 7

The answer is six words. You-Do-NOT-fight-a-rooster.

Answer 8

Put him in a separate pen