Tiny crackhead- Cull or Tame

WELP I had the friendliest, cuddliest sweetest house rooster. Then hormones hit. Now I literally want to snap his neck. Unfortunately I’m a wussy and he’s a beautiful cockerel.
I’ll let you guys decide (encouragement)



I’m not sure if it’s a thing he’ll grow out of. I had a Jersey Giant Roo that beat me hens and even went after me once—- and he grew out of it. Now Deebs is calm, sweet, and will let me pet him while he’s roosting.

Crackhead on the other hand… if my pullets get excited or simply walk past him he grabs, bites, and clamps down on them. They scream in terror- I’ve even picked him up and he never let go of the poor pullet. I don’t know if he’s trying to breed them but he’s too young to get it yet? He seems like he’s got some neuro issues anyways… idk what his intentions are there.
Yesterday he started to attack me too- tonight he got me really bad on the foot. I’m not sure if I should separate him and see if he grows out of it or just give him away to cull!
My mom loves him and wants him in the house- tried that, and he attacked my dog.
he’s in my bathroom right now.

He was such a sweet little baby… I can’t believe he’s such a demon now. I don’t know if I should rehome him either… I’d feel really bad if he doesn’t stop this behavior.

Helanaii said:

WELP I had the friendliest, cuddliest sweetest house rooster. Then hormones hit. Now I literally want to snap his neck. Unfortunately I’m a wussy and he’s a beautiful cockerel.
I’ll let you guys decide (encouragement)

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I’m not sure if it’s a thing he’ll grow out of. I had a Jersey Giant Roo that beat me hens and even went after me once—- and he grew out of it. Now Deebs is calm, sweet, and will let me pet him while he’s roosting.

Crackhead on the other hand… if my pullets get excited or simply walk past him he grabs, bites, and clamps down on them. They scream in terror- I’ve even picked him up and he never let go of the poor pullet. I don’t know if he’s trying to breed them but he’s too young to get it yet? He seems like he’s got some neuro issues anyways… idk what his intentions are there.
Yesterday he started to attack me too- tonight he got me really bad on the foot. I’m not sure if I should separate him and see if he grows out of it or just give him away to cull!
My mom loves him and wants him in the house- tried that, and he attacked my dog.
he’s in my bathroom right now.

He was such a sweet little baby… I can’t believe he’s such a demon now. I don’t know if I should rehome him either… I’d feel really bad if he doesn’t stop this behavior.

Click to expand...

Whooo... He is BEAUTIFUL.

Let me start by saying I would never rehome an aggressive rooster. He might hurt someone or someone's child. No way, Jose.

Let me continue by saying that I should have rehomed my rooster, Picotee. Picotee was also very cute and cuddly. I also thought he was a pullet for the longest time. Then hormones hit, and he turned into a jerk.

There are 4 reasons I didn't cull him:

1) I have been through *it* with Picotee. He was also my house rooster for a while due to county laws at my mom's house where I lived for about 5 months while COVID made the purchase of my new house drag on and on and on and on....

2) He's very good to my ladies.

3) He's too tiny to actually hurt me (he weighs 1 lb).

4) I, too, am a wussy.

Picotee DID calm down during the time he was in the house and his girls were outside. He was sweet as can be again.

But I know, deep down in my heart of hearts, that I should have dispatched him years ago.

I agree that he is stunning.

Personally, you should process/rosebush him, but I know that I would probably try to seperate him and get him to calm down because of his looks.

Unfortunately since it sounds like he was babied, he sees you as something to dominate. The pullets.... he may just be clumsy and overeager. I've had a few boys that it just takes a few months of cringing at the sight before they seem to click something right

What is he? Very handsome! I believe most of the cockerels that got babied and cuddled here are complete and total jerks unfortunately. I'd have a hard time doing it too. I did have a bantam Cochin cockerel that I posted about here on BYC and actually called him Satan's spawn. He just needed more space. I got that flock moved outdoors and allowed him to free range during the day and that bird quickly became my absolute favorite. Not having enough space and being indoors made him grumpy and a biter. We still have scars from his bites. Once outside anyone that visited here fell in love with him and he enjoyed being the star of the show. I also have 2 roosters that turned into jerks as they grew and they're still jerks, no matter what and I've tried everything. It really depends on the bird. I hope your handsome cockerel calms down with the aggression but if not, I wouldn't let him take the enjoyment out of keeping poultry.

Seperate him still in sight of other birds and see if he calms down. Give him plenty of space. It isn't uncommon for a cockerel to go through a stage like this and exept for the occasional bird, do calm down later on in life. Be very careful for your saftey when tending to him. Best of luck.

Thank you guys for the help!!
I’m incredibly overwhelmed at the moment thanks to my work running me down to my grave- but hopefully tonight we can figure it out! I brought him inside the house last night to see what was up.

He was super ornery last night but this morning he had his space, still followed me everywhere, crowed like a nut job but didn’t attack anyone. Hopefully by getting him his own separate area he’ll simmer down!

I consider culling him when he’s being a friggin ornery jerk… but then I find videos like this, I could Never.