When Roosters Attack
The Roosters Menacing Stare
He looked up at me as I stood on the porch with a menacing eye. Okay maybe not menacing, but when I startled his hen he peered up at me with his cocked little head like "You better recognize sucka".
Our spoiled chickens pretty much have the run of the backyard. They have even taken over the back porch. Most of the time this no problem.
This time however, we had 25 new chicks in a brooder on the porch. We call them our chickle-de-dickens. It is important to keep chicken flocks separate so they don't spread disease. So no big chicken on the porch for now.
One of the hens was walking on top of the brooder so I ran over and to shooed her off the brooder. Before she leaped from the porch railing she let out an odd squawk, and then fluttered down ever so ungracefully.
When I looked down, the rooster had come running over in defense of his girl. When he looked up to see the cause of her disturbance, there I was. He looked me up and down like some punk teenager wanting to start a fight.
Being the more mature one, I ignored his taunts and went about my business as usual.
Warning: Bird Brains Can Hold a Gridge.
It's funny, as I started down the stairs 30 or so minutes later, I wondered if a chicken could hold a grudge. Nah, that's silly... Or so I thought.
At least 30 minutes had passed since the stare down with the rooster. I could see the anger in his beady little eyes, but he had time to cool off. Besides, how long can a bird brain memory be anyway.
It turns out it is at least 30-45 minutes.
I headed for the gate that leads from the backyard to the driveway. I really hadn;'t given the rooster another thought after I decided he was too stupid to remember our earlier incident. My mistake. It looks like I'm the stupid one.
As I started to unlatch the gate, with my back to the chickens I heard a flutter. I turned around just in time to see the rooster flying at me, talons ready to tear flesh from bone.
Being the calm and collected person, I am I screamed, but just a little. Okay so its was more of a prolonged shriek of terror.
When Roosters Attack: Take the Poll
What would you do if a rooster attacked you?
I Faught Back
I know you are not supposed to agitate and provoke roosters. They are just trying to protect their hens.
That's all well and good, but I was trying to protect myself.
He got me good with his cheap shot I'll admit. I was a little wobbly, but then my rooster fighting training kicked in. It was all instinct from there.
My ninja like rooster fighting skills are pretty awesome.
Not Our Rooster But You Get The Idea
Our Barred Rock Rooster is a Bully!
Quick, grab that shovel and let the chickens out.
No, seriously, grab a shovel, a stick, a rake, something. He is coming this way.
You know how a bully makes it impossible to avoid them? You know they are there. They know you know they are there. You try and find the path of least resistance. The way that doesn't cross their path.
What does the bully do? Starts to walk over to make sure they are in your way.
What does our rooster do? Makes sure he is in your way. At first we thought he was just trying to get between us and the hens. Nope. He will leave the hens and try and cut you off in the middle of the yard.
He tries to make it impossible for you to avoid him. If you have a weapon he doesn't do it. It you are unarmed, watch out.
Our rooster is nothing short of a bully. He picks on the kids and chases them out of the gate. He attacked our pit bull, who actually thought it was quite amusing and kept provoking the rooster.
A Necessary Evil
Unfortunately, this rooster is a necessary evil for the time being. Left alone without a rooster the hens are super mean to each other and squabble all day. With a rooster the pecking order is more securely established.
Soon... Very Soon...
Our daughter, who has been attacked several times, keeps asking when she can "process" the rooster. None of can wait to taste some Barred Rock Bully Stew. We are patiently waiting for the final battle.
I may have lost the first skirmish due to a surprise attack. This time there will be no surprises. We will "process" and "eviscerate", or whatever other civilized terms you want to use. Either way, that rooster is going to die.
We have three to four roosters in our new flock of birds. We will test them and see if any are better than the Barred Rock Bully. But for know the older hens scare the younger roosters. Premature processing of the bully would result in temporary chaos.
We anxiously wait for them to come of age so we can rid our selves of the mean rooster and reclaim our backyard.
Wish Us Luck!