The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Btrobe on February 17, 2009, 07:31:26 pm
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Hi,
I got a bit of a shock today. Bertie our Rhode Island Red (only had him and his 3 ladies for 2 weeks) attacked me in the pen. If I hadn't had my wellies on I think he may have taken a chunk out of my leg. I tried to give him a gentle kick to show who was boss but missed him. Someone told me that once they start to attack they never change - are they right? Has anyone else had a similar problem? He is a beautiful bird and I wouldn't want to get rid of him but want to enjoy feeding and looking after him. Anything I can do? Any advice would be useful.
Brenda
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Have had exactly the same problem with our RIR rooster. Kept on juming up towards my face, 1 day even cut a hole in my wellie with his spears. Caught him early 1 dark morning and put him in the pot. Made good eating also. Cruel maybe but he was far to dangerous.
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Our young cockerel Henry has always been quite friendly, we were even able to pick him up when he was poorly a few weeks back. Then last week I turned my back on him in the field and the next thing I knew he was up on my back, that was quite a shock. I was hoping it was a one off then two days ago I went into the pen to pick up eggs and he attacked my leg, claws in and beak pecking. Today he ran at my husband in the field and he had to fend him off with a stick and he attacked him again when he went in the pen this evening. He is such a beautiful looking bird (white with black necklace and gorgeous green tinged tail feathers) it would be such a pity to get rid but if this carries on I think he is going to have to go in the pot!
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We've had this problem too and I know of no way to cure it. If you ignore it they just carry on and if you try to give them a "clip round the ear" they fight back!
On both occasions we ended up eating him :( We recently had to dispose of a neighbours cockerel too as he had a similar vice and was attacking thier 4 year old daughter.
Dave
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We had same prob with ours. After the initial shock of being attacked i was perpared and started to catch him when he attacked, gave him the shock of his life he's not done it again, stays well out of the way. If this hadn't worked i think i would have been the same in the pot!! :chook: :chook: :chook:
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We had a Similar Problem, it was either a Fox Came around And after that Roosters just dont trust, Make sure he has little food and feed him to make him trust you again (Healthy Diet i dont mean Starve him) Or one of the Hens are getting Chicks.
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I had this problem a while back with the younger cockerel - did the same - grabbed him and picked him up, tucked him under my arm so he couldn't struggle and stared at him straight in the eye holding his neck at the top with my free hand, giving him a good piece of my mind. Walked around the run with him under my arm doing the other jobs as best I could one handed, then shut him in the shed for a couple of hours on his own in the dark. He never tried it again and always steered well clear of me.
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Glad I'm not the only chicken hugger on here!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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My ex batts all have a cuddle every morning, and they love a good old natter while I am feeding, changing water, cleaning up etc ;D The LS flee for their lives!
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I have a cuddle of mine too when I can, I certainly talk to them....No I'm not starting that discussion about chicken language again!!!!!! This item reminded me of my ex, he hated chickens as he and his twin brother used to have competitions to she how high they could wee over the chicken hutch, I'm sure you can guess whats comming?......one obviously thought they had a nice worm and jumped up and pecked him very hard!!!!
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Sandy that reminds me of what happened recently, Buck Roger our male goat was standing with his little pink pecker flapping about and one of the chickens spied it and ran straight up and pecked it, I just wish I'd had the camera to catch the look of shock on his face! Back to the cockerel attacking, I think there are a lot of hormones raging in our barn at the moment. The goats have been kidding so we have nursing mothers and one of the geese has a nest of eggs which Ugly our naked neck chicken is sharing the brooding of. Ugly has only been laying for a couple of weeks bless her. There are two nest boxes in the chicken pen she could sit on but she prefers the goose nest. Homer our male goose is also very protective/aggressive at the moment and chases everything that goes near him or his girls (he got my leg last week as well - I'm going in armed with a stick these days!) so you frequently hear Ugly clucking loudly when he chases her off the nest (she goes straight back in afterwards though).
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Thanks for the advice once again. I would love to pick him up as you did Doganjo and give him a talking to but I feel a bit wary of him at the moment. If I pluck up the courage, I'll do this and let you know how he responds. I don't want to put him in a pot but would be prepared to do so if necessary. I had hoped to breed some Rhode Island Reds from him but I haven't got a sitter yet. Very funny stories about rather intimate bites -great story Sandy about how high your ex and his twin brother could wee over the chicken hutch. It looks as though they deserved a good pecking.
As well as Bertie and his women, I've got a variety of other hens in an adjacent pen with a cockerel of their own. I've changed the feed for all of them. I now give them wheat, cracked corn and rolled barley with cod liver oil from time to time. This is as a result of reading about hormones being in some layers pellets. Problem is they are laying very little at the moment. I think it could be for a number of reasons - one being the change of feed, another the snow (it has now gone) and another could be that a few of them seem to be moulting. Does anyone have any experience of this? I'll keep going with the new feed for a while to see how it goes. I hope it's not the hormones in the layers pellets making them lay more.
Cheers once again
Brenda
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Hi Brenda
If you have changed the food, and it's lower protein, that could be affecting laying. I know that the output of eggs is linked to the protein content of the food and remember reading about an experiment that was done to get hens to lay through the winter without light (I think during wwII) and they found that hens would lay through the winter if their food was 25% protein.
Dave
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My granny (the one responsible for the goat in the cardy episode) used to have a bantam rooster who was so bad that she had to trap him under a big bucket and put a brick on top to stop him tearing her legs to bits ! Daily collecting of the eggs became a millitary operation, with at least 3 people needed to catch the little bu***r and restrain him - lol!
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Thanks for the advice once again. I would love to pick him up as you did Doganjo and give him a talking to but I feel a bit wary of him at the moment. If I pluck up the courage, I'll do this and let you know how he responds. I don't want to put him in a pot but would be prepared to do so if necessary. I had hoped to breed some Rhode Island Reds from him but I haven't got a sitter yet. Very funny stories about rather intimate bites -great story Sandy about how high your ex and his twin brother could wee over the chicken hutch. It looks as though they deserved a good pecking.
As well as Bertie and his women, I've got a variety of other hens in an adjacent pen with a cockerel of their own. I've changed the feed for all of them. I now give them wheat, cracked corn and rolled barley with cod liver oil from time to time. This is as a result of reading about hormones being in some layers pellets. Problem is they are laying very little at the moment. I think it could be for a number of reasons - one being the change of feed, another the snow (it has now gone) and another could be that a few of them seem to be moulting. Does anyone have any experience of this? I'll keep going with the new feed for a while to see how it goes. I hope it's not the hormones in the layers pellets making them lay more.
Cheers once again
Brenda
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Only 1 thing for him for both your own safety and others - Stew pot :D
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Once again everyone thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately we have had to get rid of Bertie because although I thought he had calmed down, he attacked me again yesterday morning. I was wondering about the eggs his hens lay and if I can breed a Rhode Island Red cockerel from them. I haven't got a sitter yet but a friend has an incubator. How long can I keep the eggs in the hope of getting a sitter before putting them in the incubator? Again I would be grateful for any advice. By the way, my hens are laying well again after a spell of laying very few eggs.
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i think a week or two is the most time to wait for a sitter, but I could be wrong as sometimes you hear stories of eggs being bought from supermarkets and then being successfully hatched. i am having a cockerel problem at the moment. i let one of my boys wander off and live with next doors hens, he was very gentle at our place. He now has 12 girls and another cockerel with him, and has gone all testosterone fueled. he attacks the neighbours when they go in the hut for eggs and to feed them and let them in and out. they have asked me to come and ring his neck as they are scared of him, he is a light Sussex and a great specimen at that. I think I will just bring him home and stick him in a breeding arc with a couple of girls to see how he gets on. If that fails he can go in the pot, but at least I might get some chicks from him.
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How long can I keep the eggs in the hope of getting a sitter before putting them in the incubator? Again I would be grateful for any advice. By the way, my hens are laying well again after a spell of laying very few eggs.
Eggs are viable for almost 3 weeks but the longer you leave them the less chance you have of hatching them.
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Must be the time of year. Our Copper Black Maran, Hector, had a run at me the other day. Assisted by the toe of my boot, he had a wee flying lesson and had decided not to mess with me. Must be the sap rising, so to speak.
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;D ;D ;D
Images of horney cockrels asserting their authority had me laughing so much I almost wet myself (sorry, too much info !)
It happens with geese too (although maybe all year round in their case) ours seemed to attack things far more in the spring - and the sight of my dad 'goose stepping' across the yard in thigh high waders, hotly persued by the gander - well, I'd better not think about it too much or there WILL be an accident ! :-\
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I was attacked by a goose when I was four. My Grandpa and I were delivering ice cream to a hotel in Grantown on Spey (he owned and ice cream factory) and I went out to play in the yard, next thing this big bird came running at me, I screamed, she hissed - yes, it was a goose NOT gander! never liked them since except in the pot!
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When my father was young, his mother kept a pair of Chinese geese which terrorised the postie when he came down the lane to deliver the post. He used to have to shout for assistance and someone one would come to his rescue.
I've had problems with Silver Pheasant cocks in the past........they can be particularly aggressive in the breeding season.
As a keeper of gamefowl, I have to be careful as I have young children......... although the cocks are very eager to fight each other, it's the hens which are most dangerous when they've chicks at foot. They will have a go at anything which they perceive to be a threat to their chicks, and are prone to fly up into the face of child or adult who gets too close. Some of the cocks are 'man-fighters' all of the time, whilst others are only dangerous at breeding time........most are trustworthy and move away if faced up to.
In my experience, some of the utility breed cocks are more of a problem than game cocks.
I find that aggressive cocks respond well to being enthusiastically 'roughed up' (turned over and lightly shaken) in hand, then held down with one hand and 'pecked' with other, then left on the ground when you walk away. They seem to think they've had a doing from a rival, and seldom try again. ;)
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Our brahma is too fat to fly at me, and have you seen a brahma run? Ministry of silly walks etc. So far no problems with him. Would love to pick him up, dont think my back would take the weight though.
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LOL! ;D
Who ever said poultry keeping was a nice, relaxing past-time ???
All fuzzy images of free range chickens roaming free have been replaced by those of a feathered army planning their next attack ! :D
I can't wait to get mine !
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A family friend used to keep geese and had one that always attacked her so she decided to dispatch it for the pot and set after it with an axe, she mananged to swipe it and it's head nearly fell off but it went running around the field spurting blood everywhere, she looked up only to find the people on the top of the double decker bus in a state of shock!!!!
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Very intelligent as well, we had one which was attacking my 4 yr old daughter although we heard her screams we never saw him do it, until one day she got out of the car and he ran straight at her at face height. instinct kicked in and I kicked him high into the air! Hes dead I thought but oh no he wasnt giving up that easily, he got up and came at me, I picked katie up and we ran around the car for our lives!! obly problem was he was running around the other way, we literally had stand off with him sizing up which way we were going to go next. Only one thing for it, when he calmed down we caught him and took him to farmer behind us who rung his neck, I am afraid he didnt live to see another day. Not all roosters are vicious and to me its no fun keeping a vicious one! :)
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oh Sandy - hilarious - have had to go in search of an inhaler - laughed so much have tears running down my face and cant breathe !!!!!
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LOL Sandy excellent