Roosters: How to Tame them

By Elena Johnson CVC AC

Some breeds of roosters are naturally more aggressive, Rhode Island Reds are notoriously difficult.

You must first understand why roosters attack. It’s just a fact of chickens that there is a pecking order,  if you don’t have a rooster, you will also see this in your hens. One will take on the role as top boss and watch over the flock.

If you have more than one rooster, they will establish who is boss and these challenges to establish dominance can escalate even to death if there is no intervention. Even if they were raised together, when they hit sexual maturity dominance will be established.

With pecking order established, you become the trespasser when you enter the flock. It doesn’t matter that you raised them, he feels he is boss and will challenge you to establish that fact.

In rooster behavior, he who walks or runs away or hides is the loser. Never introduce a new rooster to an established flock, they will almost always fight to the death if you aren’t there to intervene.

So, you must teach your rooster you don’t want his job. Do you notice when you walk by your hens they squat? They do this because, to them, you are the rooster, not because they love you.

You need to teach your rooster you are the boss of him but it’s still his flock to watch over. 

The first thing is to not run away, when he charges you – raise your arms and move them around, flap them up and down. This makes you look larger and fierce. Take a few steps or even run towards him, never go away, backwards or turn your back on him, that is you surrendering. Do the flapping and going towards him until he surrenders to you by walking away, this may take awhile so be prepared to be patient and stare at him, but don’t walk away until he is avoiding eye contact, pecking the ground or walks away. You may even have to chase him again but stand your ground until he gives up, only then can you walk away and go about your business.

Depending on his breed, age, level of aggression – you may have to repeat this several times until he stops challenging you.

To help protect yourself wear high rubber boots, always be confident. You can also carry a broom handle to push him away.

Once you have established dominance, he’ll respect you. Every once in awhile he may challenge you again but he’ll be easily reminded you are still his boss by a stomp of your feet and stare. It’s only natural that he wants you to know that the girls he takes care of all day are his but he’ll learn you’re not after his job and quit bothering you. 

I had one Bared Rock rooster that would come ready for a fight if he heard one of his hens squawking but as soon as he saw it was me handling them, he would relax and walk away.

You don’t have to use violence to fix your aggressive rooster behavior, you need to understand why they do it and become the boss.

Chicken Vet Corner DOES NOT condone agressively beating a Rooster with a PVC pipe, kicking them in the head, holding them upside down… overall, no cruel treatment of any animal. Yes, even a mean Rooster.