I have read in several posts of roosters attacking people. I have 2 and two hens. They are around a year old. Is this something that I will be experiencing soon, or should it have already happened by now?

I just had to part ways with my beautiful rooster at 7 months old. He was showing mild signs of aggressiveness -- more like a case of protectiveness over his flock of hens. He started showing this behavior at around 5 1/2 to 6 months and it got progressively worse. He never actually attacked anyone but he would trip them up from behind and get in front of their path. He displayed this behavior toward strangers mostly but a couple of times towards me when I was walking fast toward a hen. I have a 6 month old child who will soon be running around and I don't want to have any traumatic incidents. I believe that I could have done better to handle the rooster more frequently. After he got to a certain age, he didn't like to be touched and I just left him alone. Now I wish I would have worked with him so that he could be around to help watch over the hens (he definitely did so). I guess it's all up to me know.

I made a bad mistake with a Black Langshang roo I had years ago. When he was young, I thought it was cute that he'd fight with my shoes. I would wear these white Keds and he really hated them. I could waggle a foot at him and he'd go to town on my toes. I'd laugh myself silly.

I quit laughing when he got older and didn't settle for just the shoes. He'd come running at you as soon as you turned your back on him, and launch himself at your back. Wasn't so cute then. My own fault though, I pretty much taught it to him.

I think (and this is just my own opinion) that a lot of roos get a bad rap for being overly aggressive because they've been either taught to act like that (by idiots like me who thought it was cute when they were little) or by not being socialized enough.

Some breeds of chickens are notorious for being overly aggressive. Plymouth rocks for example. I raised one from an egg (actually he's a barred rock bantam)--Randy. he was the tamest thing and was handled constantly. Randy and his sister Robbie would sit on your laps as chicks and watch television with you. When they got older, they both would follow you around where ever you went. Then all of a sudden, Randy started to attack people. At first, He would just throw his wing down and circle your leg when you went to feed him. Then he started to charge and chase. Don't run away from them when they do this. They are very fast and don't give up. We had no other roosters and Randy seemed quite content with his four hens.

On the other hand, we had this walk on cornish cross (Fuzzy). he was never paid much attention to. But grew up and became very gentle and friendly. He didn't have any hens and didn't pay any attention to my Randy's. We ended up selling him to a guy that needed a rooster for his flock of 200 egg-laying leghorn hens so he could expand upon his business.

Watch for signs of dominence over the flock. They may think of you as another one of their hens or a threat. Randy has no problem with me, but will attack my mother and sister whenever he gets the chance.

I had a Cochin Bantam that was very friendly to my familly, even my dog. Then one day he started attacking people he didn't know, but he was still friendly to us.

I had a rooster once that I handled a lot and paid a lot of attention to, he was a real pet. But somewhere along the line, he started attacking strangers and then he started attacking everybody, including me. So if you think you didn't socialize them enough, I don't think that is the answer to keep this from happening. I think it is just the nature of some roosters as they mature.

Hi Will, just got my first hens last year and got a rooster from the feed store that was supposed to be an araucana. I was concerned about his behavior since I had heard most roos are mean. He had leg mites when I got him so I had to handle him to get rid of them. He didn't like it but he let me. Other wise I leave him alone. He has always been a perfect gentleman and he will go hungry for treats while showing them to the girls. He will eat out of my hand occasionally and come near me if I'm sitting out in the yard. I never tease him or let anyone else tease him. His spurs are about two inches long now, so I know he could really do some damage. I keep a hands off policy, no harasment of any kind and he's great. You can get a nice roo if you're lucky. Good luck!