The Three Strikes Rule for Bad Boys

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Aggressive roosters can hurt you and your hens. When do you choose to cull?

Story and photo by Bruce Ingram

LAST SUMMER, MY WIFE, Elaine, and I had only one of our heritage Rhode Island Red hens become broody, and that hen hatched just two chicks, which we named Augie and Angie. We were especially happy about Augie’s arrival as we had a lone rooster for our two runs and were desperate for a second roo to grow our overall flock. This largely explains why I hesitated to dispatch Augie in April when he charged and tried to flog me two separate times. Both times, in self-defense, I firmly batted him away when he attacked my legs. This seemed to stop his aggressive behavior toward me for a while, though Elaine was understandably afraid to enter Augie’s run.

Rooster Modification

Meanwhile, I tried several standard rooster behavior modification methods with the rogue roo. I picked him up and held him firmly (specifically his core and both wings) against my side. At times, I also would cradle him against my body with his head held firmly and pointed downward. The objective of these two actions was to show who was the backyard’s alpha male and lawgiver. I also repeatedly visited the flock and dispensed treats, again to reinforce my role as master and food-giver. Additionally, whenever I entered the run, I walked freely about and exhibited no fear of Augie — again to show who was the alpha. For a while, the modification program seemed to work.   

However, one of the traits of some young cockerels is that they are very sexually active their first year of rooster-hood — and so it was with Augie. In fact, he was so aggressive toward the hens in his run that I had to send him to the adjacent coop to give his former ladies a break. I moved his three-year-old sire, Friday, to Augie’s former domain.   

Nevertheless, not long after the rooster exchange, I was walking outside the run when Augie aggressively approached the edge of the fence, lowered his head, and performed the rooster mating shuffle toward me — a sure sign of hostility. Augie also continued to be rather persistent in his mating efforts, which is normal with cockerels. But he also tended to harshly peck his hens when they would not submit — again a concern, but part of cockerel behavior … to a degree.   

Beyond the Pale

One morning, though, Augie went well beyond what is acceptable mating behavior even for a cockerel. One of the hens refused to submit and he chased her around the run for over a minute. Finally, the hen stopped, lowered herself into the submissive mating posture, and waited for Augie to mount her. He charged the hen and, instead of mating, began hammering her on the head with his beak. The hen collapsed in fear; and horrified, I ran to the run’s door, burst through, and picked up Augie who was still attacking the helpless hen. I immediately took him inside our woodlot where I dispatched him.   

Humane Butchering

I don’t enjoy killing any wayward rooster, but I strongly believe that the prime motivation of chicken raisers should be to maintain the health and safety of their flocks. Quite simply, Augie had violated my three-strike rule with his attacks on me, the fence incident, and, finally and frankly most importantly, the brutalizing of a hen. For the health and safety of his flock, Augie simply had to depart the scene.      

I know killing a bird is hard, and understandably so, for many backyard enthusiasts. For example, earlier this year, a reader of this website emailed me about a problem roo who was terrorizing her hens and attacking her as well. She added that her rooster was “such a good boy.” My response was that the bird’s actions were not those of a good boy and that she, at the very least, should remove that rooster from the flock before he actually killed one of his hens — and don’t think that that can’t happen.   

When and how to humanely dispatch a cockerel

The ideal time to dispatch a rooster is about a half hour before sunrise. The bird will have passed everything he ate the day before and will be quite sedate as he perches on a roost in the coop. Yet there will be enough light for you to see what you’re doing.

After taking a rooster from the roost, I bring him to our woodlot and slice his neck with a sharp butcher knife. Even cockerels possess very stout, thick necks, and this is the most merciful and quickest way to end matters.

Why we prefer to slow cook roosters.

Rooster meat can be a little tough, especially if the bird is older. This problem can be solved inside a slow cooker. Covering the bird with chicken broth, Elaine cooks our birds for 4 to 5 hours on medium.

When Elaine and I first started raising chickens, we had a very aggressive rooster who would even force hens out of their nest boxes when he wanted to mate with them. That roo had a favorite hen he often attacked multiple times every day so as to corner and mount her. One day, we found the one-year-old female dead in the henhouse, her back largely featherless from the non-stop mating. Yes, it’s true that we didn’t see the rooster kill this hen, but the circumstantial evidence was damming.   

So, by all means, before you decide to kill an overly belligerent rooster, try some behavior modification methods. But also remember the three-strike rule and our responsibilities to our flocks as a whole.   

Bruce Ingram is a freelance writer and photographer. He and wife, Elaine, are the co-authors of Living the Locavore Lifestyle, a book about living off the land. Get in touch with them at BruceIngramOutdoors@gmail.com.