How Do I Get My Rooster to Like Me?

Again, I completely understand the intricacies of chicken math. And roosters are stunning. But having more than one rooster in a backyard flock is a recipe for disaster.

Roosters are highly territorial and can become aggressive with one another as they enter puberty. That aggression can be misdirected to tiny humans and even seasoned chicken tenders resulting in the dreaded rooster run.

Even if you have a sizeable flock because you fell prey to chicken math (tell me you’ve heard the joke if I wanted 10 chickens but God wanted me to have 20, then 40 it is!) one rooster is best.

When in doubt, bring treats! Being the source of food is always a good way to gain the allegiance of the head chickens and roosters.

At the end of the day, you may do all things you can think of to help foster a friendship with your feathered protector and he may decide that he is the ultimate pecker head of the chicken world and he just doesn’t like you.

At that point you have a choice.

If you are without young children and you don’t mind a daily running partner, I would say hold onto your spunky rooster. The spunkier they are the better they will be at defending the flock and keeping predators at bay.

If you have kiddos you can try to submit your rooster (hanging them upside down, sitting on them, walking them around your yard under your arm) and manage the aggression that way.

You can clip his flight wings and confine him to the chicken run as opposed to having a free range guard chicken.

Or …

You can re-home him or send him to freezer camp.

Roosters are great in a flock but family and safety always come first, in my opinion, sometimes you can do everything right and you find yourself with a rooster that was born to defend his flock, he may be amazing at the job but unsafe in the backyard. It’s a tough choice but a necessary one. And this, my chicken enthusiasts, is a judgement-free zone, we know the drill on the farm.