Attacked!

Today started out as any other day...at 7am the kids wake me up and I get up out of bed, fix them some breakfast then go out and feed the animals. I'm checking on the chickens and looks like I need to clean out their water. We've been letting them out lately before sunset, and they really enjoy it and it's fun to watch them roam around. The cat and the dog completely leave them alone so it is working out really well. So I decided to let them out all day today. I open the door and out they go. I finish up feeding the other animals and then come back to get the dirty chicken water. As I'm reaching down I notice the rooster is following me...again. He did this last time he was out--I was telling my husband how he even followed me kind of far. My husband thought it was great--kind of like a puppy dog, right? I wasn't so sure...I express to him my fear that he might actually be stalking me to hurt me and my husband looks at me like I'm a nut and says, "What is he...a ninja?" That makes me laugh. Ok, so I'm silly--he is a bird afterall--not a lion. So story continues--here's the rooster coming up behind me--I'm still kind of afraid of the rooster...not too sure what he's capable of but I know he's capable of killing other chickens and roosters (they can draw blood with their pecks and they have dagger like things that grow off their feet called "spurs") and I have seen him fly up and dive down with his spurs and I do not want to experience that...so I stand up and say, "Hey there..." and I take a few steps back...he takes a few menacing steps forward! I step backwards quite and bit more and he starts running at me! He flaps his wings and flies into the air! At this point the fight or flight mechanism is DEFINITELY kicking in and I turn and start RUNNING the other direction and he IS RUNNING AFTER ME!!! I'm screaming and running as fast as I can--and then I trip in the rocks and skin up my knees, get up and keep running, onto the concrete slab and into the shed. Sarah, our dog, has joined me at this point and I don't know if it was her or the concrete slab that stopped the rooster but he stopped right at the concrete slab. I'm in the shed and grab the shovel--and run towards the house out of breath and freaked out!

So then I go online to see what I should do--or did wrong--turns out this is fairly common with some roosters--they can be very aggressive. The worst thing you can do is run away (of course!) You have to show them you are higher on the pecking order and they are below you. Come at them with a broom (sounds easy enough) or grab them and hold them and show them you mean no harm (not going to do this one!) So later that day I tell my husband that I am going to go out there and show that rooster who is boss. He's been hanging out infront of the door all morning--just waiting for me I'm sure :) So I grab the broom and tell my husband to stay in the doorway so the rooster thinks it is just me and him. I march down the stairs saying, "Hey rooster, I am higher on the pecking order!" The rooster takes one look at me and CHARGES! He starts running after me again! He is like a velociraptor with wings! Immediately I turn high tail and run! This must be where the term "playing chicken comes from"! And he is not the chicken--I am! I'm up the stairs, in the house, broom in hand, standing behind my husband in safety. My husband looks at me like I am ridiculous--"Give me the broom!" And he walks down the steps (I am relieved--he is so brave!) He immediately starts swooshing the rooster with the broom--the rooster begins ATTACKING the broom--were talking flying up in the air and diving down with the dagger like spurs. And he is NOT backing down. This went on for a few minutes and it never really seemed like my husband won...Well this was a problem for the rest of our day because we all planned on going outside and there was no way I was going to let the toddlers walk around with that crazy rooster (I have decided now, that yes, he IS a ninja and that movie "Kung Fu Panda" really should have been about a rooster and called "Kung Fu Rooster"). So my husband tried to catch him--was not working. The hen is no trouble at all--she is very well behaved--she went right back in to the coop--but the rooster--not so--he was running through the cactus and all over the place. My husband said he walked by him and the rooster started charging him and flying at him! He said he had to kick the rooster in defense! He also later admitted that he had underestimated the rooster (that felt good to hear--that my fear of the bird wasn't entirely ridiculous!) Somehow the rooster was finally put back in the coop--he was visibly worn out and one of his dagger things was even bleeding a little (poor guy). Once we got him in there we both were like, "Hey you rooster--not so tuff now huh?" It was pretty funny. Then we fed him some watermelon to make up. :) Not sure what to do with that guy. We did design the coop to be moveable so it is still free-range. Once they have chicks I have now definitely decided to only keep the hens and I'll let them wander about. The girls are a lot less trouble then the roosters.

I found this on Amazon tonight--I couldn't believe it! This needs to go on his cage: