This flock of birds I have is 20 weeks old. 16 hens and a rooster. I love a rooster. But this one has taken to attacking my wife and me when we go into the coop. It started out slow, but today he bit my leg and drew blood. Before I put him in a pot, does anybody have any solutions for taming him?? Never had a problem with any rooster...They have always been like the family dog more than anything else. Otherwise, My wife would be delighted to make stuffed capon. She's a great cook. Thanks.

My son had an issue with a black rooster with a red head.
He tried everything he could think of;
(buying hens)
(Separate coop)
(Feeding him constantly)

So, end result was burial in a small, shallow, unmarked grave in the backyard.
The bird was not even worth cooking apparently-

I think there are some roosters that simply can't be tamed.  We got some year-old chickens last year from an acquaintance, 5 hens and a Brown Leghorn rooster.  He was a beautiful as most leghorns are, and he tended to the hens.  But you could not turn your back on him.  He hit me with his wing so hard on my ankle I turned around to see who kicked me!  I had to kick him in the head on several occasions and no amount of showing dominance worked with him.  He attacked my wife any chance he got.  The violent behavior escalated and we ended up trading him back for a Columbian Wyandotte rooster he has worked out perfectly.  My son didn't want us to kill it.  As I'm sure you know, a rooster's temperament is often a product of the breed.  What breed do you have?

This year we got 21 chicks in mid-May.  One is a Buff Orpington rooster, and 10 others are Buff hens.  He's pretty chilled out for a rooster.  The rest were supposed to be Silver-Laced Wyandotte hens but one of the 10  ended up being a rooster.  He can be a real bastard and he's not fitting in.  He has a rendezvous with my stew pot.

ETA:  I never gave you my advice:  I would kill it and find a tamer rooster.  People will give those away for free.

This rooster is a Rhode Island Red, which is why I'm so surprised. The last RIR rooster I had was gentle and very friendly. I should have gotten a Buff rooster, perhaps? My Buff hens are certainly a docile bunch! Thanks.

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Kill it.  Ours started attacking my wife and it only got worse as time went on.  We tried everything we could to correct its behavior but once it got it in its head I think it was to late.

Why?

That is surprising.  This is the first Buff rooster I've had.  He's 15 weeks old and has been handled a lot by my 7 y/o son.  He's able to pick up the rooster and bring him inside the house for a visit.  He definitely has started taking charge over the hens though so he's acting like a proper rooster.  I would definitely try out a Buff rooster if you can find one.  I don't know about places like Craig's list everyone mentions or a farmer's market.  There are always people wanting to give away roosters so it should be pretty easy.  We went with Buffs because of their temperament around kids.  We had also ordered 10 Colombian Wyandottes but my wife just asked for "Wyandottes" and the Silver-Laced Wyandottes were what Agway had ordered.  They offered to refund us but I kept them anyway.  They're not as docile as the Buffs but I am glad we kept them.  Hopefully this all translates into lots of eggs.

Closet rod or tee ball bat. Let your wife beat the living crap out of the chicken for a week or two. You do the same. After the beating, feed the rooster bread or seed scratch, but keep your distance. After a few weeks of this, they'll calm down. This has worked for a few of our roosters. Those that it didn't work with, went in the crock pot.

Happy hunting.

Roosters are a dime a dozen - cheap to replace, heck often given away as young cockerels even for rare/expensive breeds.

Put yours in the pot and replace it already.

Check BYC or craigs list for animal swaps or free cockerels.

If you were closer I could give you one of my Black Copper Marans... I had a recent hatch of 6 and five were roos.  

we had one like this he was ok around the boys and me after knocking him silly a few times with various sticks etc but would never leave my wife alone so he was mistakenly left out one night with the dogs and that didn't work out so well for him.

The rooster is the alpha male of the pack
So, if you are not the alpha male, he is.

roosters are not pets, they can be gentle and such, but YOU have to be the alpha.

smack the crap out of him a couple times if he gets aggressive and make yourself the alpha male.
it may or may not work.  Do not let him do the nasty with you around, kick him off, prove that you are the alpha male.  (alphas do not let others breed in their presence)

and if not, well, roosters are free on CL

It sounds like animal abuse to some, but kicking the rooster usually works. Not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to teach him you are not going to be subservient.

I have really been enjoying all of your responses and I appreciate it. This afternoon I entered the coop with a short bamboo stick at my side, ready to do business if needed. Jerry the rooster was excited as usual to get the scratch handout, but was not aggressive. Maybe he was too busy figuring out what the stick was for, but so far, so good. My wife will carry it in the morning when she opens the door at sunrise, and I told her to use it if needed. I told her to stay away from his head with it. We'll see what happens. I don't like killing anything if I don't have to. We'll show him who's boss.

Why? That's where you aim. I very much doubt your wife could hurt it.

I say punt the bastard. if he comes back, punt him again. Eventually he will either get the message, or end up in the pot.

Lop it's head off with pruning sheers and make a nice chicken stock for chicken soup

We HAD a Dom Rooster like that earlier this year, after kicking the crap out him, swatting him in the head with a 2x2 a few times hard enough to knock him goofy for several hours, I finally wrung his damn neck.

When he went after my grand daughter that was enough.  He had spurs about 2 1/2" long and as big around as a huskey pencil and knew how to use them.

People that have not been around chickens don't know. A big rooster can put a hurting on you. No doubt in my mind that they could blind a kid.

I AM THE BOSS in the chicken pen, always remember that

Choke him till he passes out. That's what dad did to a RIR, Ole' ROO always gave dad a wide berth after that episode.

You have to show dominance when he attacks boot his ass. If you are past that wack the little bastard

My neighbor did this a few months back! I come driving up the road past his place, and he's got that rooster by the throat in a death grip. I was thinking, "The hell is he doing now?" It stops flapping (lights out) and he tosses the chicken like a limp bowling ball against the side of a shed and stormed off. My 4 year old boy witnessed the whole thing. My boy said "The shicken flew up and "bit" Mr. Rich on the arm. Then Mr. Rich grabbed the shicken by the neck and choked it till it dead!" About 20 minutes later my boy still watching the neighbors barnyard came running in the house saying the rooster was alive. Sucker jumped up like nothing was wrong and ran off.

I have never let the jokes about Rich choking the chicken, tossing the cock, and strangling the rooster have been continuous since then. As far as I know, the rooster stays on the back half of my neighbor property and isn't seen much.

I've had that problem with a turkey before, but never with a RiR rooster. Our favorite roo, Elvis died from old age a few weeks ago. He was the first chicken we got when we bought this place - 4 years ago. Was a great rooster and never gave us any problems. His offspring is a different matter though. He got to do the nasty with a White Leghorn (next to goats, a farmers reminder that god has a sense of humor) - that little bastard was mean as hell - gave him to my neighbor - still hear cussing every now and then.

When I was in my teens my grandfather bought a whole bunch of sex link chickens that were all supposed to be hens, it turned out 13 of the 25 were roosters. After a while they all got pretty aggressive and they had to be thinned out. He butchered all but one.

That one became the bane of my existence that summer. Everyday I would bike the 1.5 miles to their house to feed and water their chickens and hogs. Everyday when I entered that pen he'd attacked me. One time, even putting a spur through a coffee can I used to feed. My solution was a shovel handle upside his head. After about three weeks he would only attack me when I turned my back. By the end of the summer I had beaten that bird so many times, when I came in the pen he would run to the back fence and try to fly through/ up and over it.

I would try using a shovel handle and not taking any crap from that bird. Eventually he'll get the message. Or you could just put him in the pot and get a new one.

ETA: the rooster was a Dominecker, stupid bird.

You can also remove their spurs.... its not very hard.