See the bird on the left with the black striations through his wattle? That’s Adolph. One of two evil roosters in our flock of 29 (we have four roosters total, two of which are quite passive). Adolph attacked me the other night with a viciousness I’d not encountered before.
I was exiting the coop, having collected that day’s clutch of eggs, when he flung himself at my legs with such ferocity that his claws actually punctured a tiny hole in the thick rubber muck boots I was wearing. It felt like I’d been bit by a dog. Startled, I kicked at him. This didn’t deter him in the slightest because he lunged at me again, striking my legs with his long, sharp claws. So I kicked harder. On it went like this for three more highly tensed charges, and I found myself kicking at him as hard as I could — similar to the intensity of punting a football — because I honestly thought he was going to hurt me. I finally caught him good in the chest, which lifted him way off the ground and sent his body crashing into the feeder. It was quite dramatic. I never thought I’d do bodily harm to a chicken before. I never thought I’d have to do bodily harm to a chicken before. Adolph seemed dazed for a moment, which gave me just enough time to rush out of the coop and lock the door behind me.
I found myself shaking on the way back up to the house.
That was two days ago. I was too afraid to perform my chicken duties yesterday so Jake did them for me. Today, I notice a bruise on the inside of my right ankle. If I hadn’t been wearing those muck boots, Adolph would have seriously messed up my legs. (I can’t imagine what this is going to be like in the warmer months.)
So….we’ve decided that if he attacks me one more time Adolph needs to go. I’m five months pregnant. I can’t be battling a savage rooster on a daily basis. Right? I’m sure some doctor somewhere would probably RECOMMEND AGAINST THAT. And Adolph isn’t even a year old yet. Which means he’s probably going to become increasingly aggressive as he ages. This does not bode well for my legs.
In the meantime, Jake has requested that I arm myself with a pitchfork before going down to the coop each morning.
All original content © 2012 by Jessie Knadler
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
We had a rooster named Duke who got mean. He wouldn’t bother me too much but everyone else. When he went after my son when he was feeding calves he would almost make it to his face to get him and left marks on his arms so he had to go. I would get the shovel to keep him away from other people I never had to hit him with it because when he saw me coming he would just take off before I got to him. He would even go after our milk truck driver.
I’ve heard this story before. The rooster version of Old Yeller? Sad, but you’ve got to protect yourself!
That’s f’ed up, man. Bird’s gotta go. No respect for a preggn’t lady. By the way, do you think he would make some good fried chicken?
N: Hells yes.
Same problem here with ‘Big Red’.
Our chooks are free-ranging in the big yard during the day now… two days ago I had to run back to the house with Red in pursuit. He’s getting more and more brazen. When my fella first suggested that Red needed to be necked, I felt sorry for the bloody rooster, didn’t condone it. But come on, there’s a food chain here and I know Red might want to contest the hierarchy, but I just don’t think it should be stood for.
I just read something about a “rooster whisperer” in….Grit or Backwoods Home…one of those magazines. The trick is to throw something at the bird before he starts his attack. This guy used a pail full of small toss toys. He’d take it out and start tossing things to keep a distance between himself and the bird. After a time or two, the bird didn’t even try and close in. He stated that kicking only incites the attack.
It worked for his wife and kids too. On the other hand, fried chicken sure is good.
Do you follow Jenna’s adventures at Cold Antler Farm? She had a nasty rooster (named Chuck Closterman) she had to deal with. To make a long story short, said bird is now bundled up in her freezer awaiting the stewpot. Read her at http://www.coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com . Go into the archives – October 25 2009 was the day of Chuck’s demise.
I have enjoyed my visit to your blog!