Rooster Attack

We’ve had chickens for at least 6 years now. When we lived in the city we never kept our roosters very long. I was excited to keep a couple after the move to the farm to protect the flock. We picked 4 roosters up from another farm in the fall and a few months later one of them felt threatened and started his attempt to attack me. It was never a big deal, it’s really just a part of owning chickens.

But yesterday I was ambushed. I had opened the coop to let the birds out. After waiting for them to mostly stream out into the sunshine, I went in to collect the eggs. I don’t know why I didn’t notice my rooster enemy this time, but it wasn’t until I felt a piercing pain in my leg that I realized I had been attacked.

I had my tall insulated Muck boots on, the heavy duty ones with the steel toes. I initially thought somehow the bird had bruised my leg through my boot. It wasn’t until later that I realized that 6 pound bird had pierced through my boot and my sweat pants! I went to change clothes and could not initially figure out why I had dried blood on my leg.

While I was initially dreaming of chicken soup, I was reminded by a good friend that this bird was only protecting his flock and he would do the same against real predators. So the rooster stays, I’ll just have to remind him who’s boss when I see him next!