Over cocky cockerel

[RichmondHens]

All my Welsummers through the years have been mild mannered, but we had a bolshy old Buff Sussex cock a few years back who attacked everyone. We lived with it for quite a while and then one day he just dropped down dead in the run. I have a large Light Sussex cock reaching maturity at the moment; I have yet to give him his own harem (he's currently second in command to an older bird) but he will have his own hens quite soon and I will be interested to see if he gets a bit more feisty then. He is a BIG lad!

[Gorsty]

Hello again folks

Joe is a Barnevelder and just 7 months old so full of himself.

He doesn't know it but he's on VERY dodgy ground - he attacked my other half this morning! Phil was trying to get them all back in their pen (out of the rain) and he had a real go and wouldn't back down. Phil turned his back on him at one point and he had another go so then Joe got chased around the garden AGAIN!

Will try the water pistol trick - like the idea of using red wine but will have to practice first as I don't want to waste any with mis-fires:

He's a big lad - not so sure about handling him anymore. I realise I have to dominate - won't just chasing him off every time I see him work? Of course, making sure that I'm wearing cricket pads for protection & carrying my water pistol

[Hilary B]

I would agree that maybe it's a breed thing.Boo was hatched at home,spent his first couple of days on his own,with just human company & thrived on it & WAS really tame for the first few weeks.However,he started to show his true colours at about 6-8 weeks old.He's still never gone for me but has Andi & no longer likes being handled.
You couldn't handle a chick more than Boo got handled yet sadly his genes seem to be stronger than our "taming" methods.He's a Maran/Norfolk Grey cross & from what I've read about both breeds they can have the tendency to be "cocky".

Handling tends to make animals tame in the sense of unafraid. In something truly bolshie (as some cockerels are) they need to be a bit afraid of humans, or they try to make YOU afraid of THEM.
You can't ALWAYS get the better of something by pure friendliness, not if it has the wrong temperament. Mostly animals that fight are 'defensive', but sometimes they are just plain 'dominant' (usually males) and the only answer is to out dominate it.
Ultimately, this will only result in it being afraid to argue with YOU. If an over-dominant attitude is the problem, you can NEVER be sure that he will be safe around other people in your absence (or if you are too busy to notice).

[Eco-Chic]

No wonder he's so arrogant. He is soooo handsome.

Hope you can tame him and don't have to roast him.

[its hilly]

My OH calls my banty orp. cockeral "trouser ornament" cos every time he sees Al he leaps up and grabs a beakful of trouser then kicks like hell. But he never does it to me..he started to, but one day as he went for me I grabbed him, fluffed the catch and he ended up upside down being shaken firmly
It worked..and when one of my hybrids though he'd get a bit stroppy I tried it on him, he's been a well behaved boy ever since.
And I second the breed thing.. my banty Maran is a little hitler (though good with me) and my Silver Sussex is huge, but very nice, as is my young but rather large and still growing Brahma x.
Good tip Gorsty, if you need to catch anything thats a bit dodgy use a fishermans landing net, nice long handle and you can get a hand under to grab legs and wings without the sharp end getting loose. Also works with banty Marans who are in training to replace roadrunner.

[Eco-Chic]

Lol, That takes me back to catching my canaries with a sieve and a tea plate.

Dunno why I ever let them fly out of the cage anyway. Dumb birds used to knock themselves out cold flying into the walls (I'd already shut the curtains to stop the beak splatting on the windows)

[RichmondHens]

Ha ha Eco - I used to have budgies as a child and we used to let them fly round the kitchen. Unfortunately one day we had forgotten to put the lid down on the Rayburn and one landed on the hotplate and burned his feet. Not too badly though, fortunately.

[its hilly]

we've got zebra finches, one day while cage cleaning they escaped the box we'd shoved them in. Grabbed cat and shut it out. Quick zoom round collected all bar one female. We pulled the place apart, no sign, OH decided she must have got up the chimney or flown out when we threw moggie out
Then on our last search through he stood on a chair to check the top of the bookcase (again) and burst out laughing. There was the xmas ivy wreath all coiled up and in the middle fast asleep..one little finch!
Net for chooks because free range fit chook versus clapped out asthmatic owner only ever came out in chooks favour!!

[petal]

Can roosters be castrated?

[Eco-Chic]

Have you been got at again Petal?

I'm not sure if it is actually illegal to castrate one, but I think it is very much frowned upon.

[Hilary B]

There are ways, but I don't think they are legal any more. A rooster keeps his 'bits' internally (not deep, but inside). For years they were 'caponised' chemically (implants, hormones I believe), then people realised what that was, and it got banned. Rather longer ago the operation was standard practice when chickens were being reared for meat on a 'top grade' commercial basis (goes back at least to Shakespeare's day, in the "seven ages of man" there is a reference to capon as a luxury meat).

[moola]

You cannot legally castrate cockerels anymore - I did some investigating when I started rearing chickens for the table. However I did notice once someone on line that sold caponed chickens for Xmas - maybe they brought them in from overseas....

[CoraxAurata]

I had a roo who wouldn't take a telling, water pistols, hose, rubber skippingout bucket riot sheild, chasing, picking up and carrying, prison nothing worked, we were past getting him to accept me as boss onto taking the dog with me to hang out the washing for protection! - He tasted good though!

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

Thought I'd let you know how we've been going on with over-cocky Joe - so far so good - the OH takes a water squirter with him when he goes into the garden and if Joe looks like he's taking an interest he gets wet.

I just growl at Joe every time I get within growling distance and FINGERS CROSSED it does APPEAR to be doing the trick!!! The one drawback is that when I want go get him back in his pen at dusk it takes me much longer - it's now up to 5 times around the pen before he dare go in. Sad I know but better than Gas Mark 6.

Thanks again

[mr darcy]

Have to reply to this because of what happened two days ago! Mr Darcy is very agressive, he'll have a go at me if I get in between him and Scarlet (accidently) but normally he ignors me if I ignor him, and I can herd him if I'm carrying a horse saddle cloth to flap at him. BUT the other day he had a go at my daughter, who's twelve, and actually chased her out of the garden and all the way down the road, screaming I had to go and rescue her, as when he saw me and the numnah he headed home, the ponies gave him quite a frown as he passed. My sister told me to kill him as that's very dangerous. I think he'll just have to be free range only when it's just me home, even if we wanted to catch him, to pet or to break his neck we couldn't, he's massive, he's bigger than the dog!!! I'd have to shoot him from a distance, if he ever needed a vet we'd have to dart him...