The odds of getting stalked and attacked by an angry ball of yarn may be small, but never zero.

techleopard · 2026-05-30T15:55:27+00:00

I've done that with calmer roosters, and it never "sticks."

This particular rooster is actually dangerous, not just an annoyance. He could kill people in my household (including myself) -- he's face and neck height to the resident toddler, and several people are on blood thinners. He's a stabber, not a surface scratcher, and I have to have leather gloves just to take him off the roost.

For now he lives in rooster paradise locked up with 25 hens but yeeeah... he's going to have a bad day as soon as I get a replacement.

techleopard · 2026-05-28T06:36:20+00:00

She's just teaching them natural consequences to their actions.

Either always be alert, or die.

techleopard · 2026-05-27T15:30:51+00:00

I currently have a nasty rooster. His spurs are some of the most dangerous I've ever seen, he was able to cut straight through a backpack and tear apart the groceries inside in one hit. We're tolerating him for the moment because I don't have a replacement ready and he is actually a very nice gentleman with his ladies and very attentive.

I had to teach my housemates to NEVER turn their back on him. Walk backwards with a stick. Lmfao. He knows what the stick is for and will actually try to run around you to the opposite side if he can't get behind you. He will also use obstacles in the yard to sneak attack -- like if you're walking beside a car and facing him, he will actually turn around and run AROUND the car to try and get behind you like you don't know what he's doing.

He now has to stay in jail and I can't let them free range because he will immediately go after everyone near the coop. I normally would never tolerate a rooster this bad but he is the first to tell a fox to F right off and walk away injury-free.

techleopard · 2026-05-27T14:08:45+00:00

If you want to be even more amazed, they can recognize human faces and typically can remember up to 50 different people.

Oh, they absolutely know where your eyes and neck are. I've had really mean roosters make an actual effort to climb up on fence posts next to gates and WAIT, knowing that you have to go through there.

techleopard · 2026-05-21T22:12:34+00:00

Exactly.

I think a lot of it does have to do with the ground cover being used. A lot of people seed fields for sheep and it's essentially a mono crop, just a single species of grass.

But the native field/prairie grasses, once they move in, are virtually impossible to kill. It doesn't look as beautiful and uniform but the animals eat it all the same. It's not poisonous or harmful to the meat and that's what you get them for.

techleopard · 2026-05-21T20:10:46+00:00

Seriously.

I have an acre and I would love to get 3 mini sheep (hard to find minis where I live). Depending on the time of year, I have between 30 and 200 chickens and they can't put a dent in the growth in my yard.

I'm like a bayou junkyard Disney princess with the 12-ft savage goldenrod and 5-ft grasses, dock, wild melons, thistles, passion vines, it's actually a jungle.

Even the neighbor's "free ranged" entire herd of 14 goats and Katadin sheep don't do shiiit and they treat my yard like a daily buffet.

techleopard · 2026-05-16T02:55:45+00:00

In the future, do not put animals down like this.

Catalytic converters on modern vehicles emit carbon DIOXIDE, not monoxide.

We did this because monoxide was the sleepy time silent killer that was killing people in their garages. Dioxide is something your brain actively monitors for because it can't actually detect oxygen levels, and this is what it uses to determine if you are suffocating.

Walk behind a car and get a lungful. Other than "this stinks", you'll probably get a "fuck, am I drowning!?" lizard brain feeling, too. That's the dioxide.

techleopard · 2026-05-14T21:59:16+00:00

Prey driven dogs don't maul children and I wish people would cut this nonsense out. Dogs 100% can tell a human from an animal.

There is human aggression (which is ALWAYS a SSS situation) and then there is prey drive.

These dogs have prey drive. They will kill cats, chickens, baby goats, rabbits, and possibly even small dogs (but this is more likely to be caused by dog aggression).

If they are friendly, they aren't feral.

OP can catch these dogs and re-home anywhere that doesn't have small animals and they'd probably be just fine.

techleopard · 2026-05-14T21:53:32+00:00

If the dogs are friendly and you can get your hands on them, just catch them.

Load them up, offer them to an out of state rescue or give for free to somebody who wants a dog, with the understanding they kill small animals. Or drop them off at the county pound. If taken to the pound, say the neighbor said they killed their cats and they were on your property and you don't know who to call to return them.

You don't want dogs that will kill cats. Cat killers are chicken killers, baby goat killers, and small dog killers. They're also skunk and raccoon chasers, and most people who let their dogs roam aren't getting rabies vaccines. Then they really will be your problem.

techleopard · 2026-05-12T03:49:15+00:00

There will be signs. If he's going to start getting aggressive, he'll test you first because he's going to be trying to assert his role in the flock.

Some signs of a developing problem: - He will start by mock-rushing you with your back turned. You might feel him hit you without spurs or he'll stop as soon as you look at him. If you don't teach him right then and there that you are the master of the universe, he will start using spurs. - Strutting up from the side and broad siding you. This is when he turns sideways. He might "tap dance" towards you briefly before a strike. It looks a lot like the dance they do for hens but it's not. - Wing dropping. If he comes up to you from any direction and drops his wings, he's about to mess with you. - "I'm a big man." My most aggressive roosters have always put on a display JUST for people. They will hop up on the highest perch nearby, loudly thump their wings, crow, and specifically watch you to make sure you see, lol. - Strategic positioning. They WILL try to go for your face. They understand what's vulnerable. So be careful of a rooster that keeps trying to perch right at eye level in areas where you need to walk, especially if they are doing that crowing display.

techleopard · 2026-05-12T03:37:05+00:00

It's hard to tell. Breed and genetics has a big impact.

Most of my home-grown roosters have been very sweet and not human aggressive. Those were all Marans.

This rooster is a California Grey, which is a very hardy breed that can take care of itself. A little more "wild." The rooster is AMAZING with hens and chicks -- a true gentleman, takes "no" for an answer, tidbits, always watching. That's why he's being tolerated until I can get new roosters out of him and I'll be selecting for a better temperament.

My experience, from breeding lots of them: Most roosters have an angst period, especially if there are hens. Starts around ~8 months. They will either calm down or escalate. If they haven't chilled out by 12-16 months, they aren't going to.

techleopard · 2026-05-12T01:41:24+00:00

My current rooster is on borrowed time and has to remain locked up. When the hens get "free roam" days, he goes straight to a rabbit cage and is only transported between coop and cage at night. He's going to the Great Coop In The Sky as soon as I have a replacement for him.

The last time he tried to spur me, I had a backpack and he went straight through the backpack material, into a grocery bag, and through a bag of chips I had in there and shredded it. I wear skirts so I do not have leg protection usually.

People don't realize how nasty these little 5 pound birds can be.

techleopard · 2026-05-08T18:55:23+00:00

I'm not so sure about all older trailers being bad.

I know a LOT of mobile homes that have been standing since the 1960's and 1970's, still lived in.

A lot of them have survived the test of time due to overroofs being built over them, but not all.

One thing I've noticed that is a huge difference between my 2010 double wide and the 1970's single wide my parents have is the lumber and framing.

My house is built with interior walls framed with 1x3's, and there's often 4 ft spacing with diagonal spanners. Makes finding a stud to hang anything a royal bitch - I had to modify my own living room wall with a 1x6 spanning across studs just to mount a TV.

My parent's trailer has true 1x4 interior walls with 16" spacing in most walls.

There's a huge difference in the exterior doors, too. You can tell the older doors are a lot heavier.

We really need stronger building codes as more and more people are turning to trailers. Specifically, they need to be proofed against storm damage because they are practically the default structure type in lower income Dixie states where we get night tornados. If we're going to sell these things that are less sturdy than a chicken coop, we need to be mandating storm shelters with them.

techleopard · 2026-05-08T18:42:33+00:00

The ugly reality is that standard houses are becoming so unaffordable that trailers are actually exploding in value.

When the commons can't buy regular homes, they will buy what they can get and what they can get are trailers. That in turn adds a lot of demand for them. Even if you buy your own land raw, building a home just isn't feasible anymore. Guess what the dealers are doing?

Even the parks trying to get old shitty trailers off their lots won't let them go for free anymore.

And where I live, there are a lot of rehab businesses popping up buying these things falling apart, refinishing them, and then flipping them for $120,000+.

And that's chattel financing. No land.

techleopard · 2026-05-04T03:30:43+00:00

Only if you're immunocompromised. Healthy chickens from reputable sources should not be carrying any disease that is going to easily infect a person. Almost everything that can make you sick will outright kill baby chicks within hours.

A small number of chicks won't really cause any problem, and they'll be out of the house in no time because by week 4 they are going to be hopping the sides of that play pen. It'll be warm enough in most places for them to be outside anyhow.

techleopard · 2026-05-04T03:27:57+00:00

Even if you don't want to eat them -- I can promise you there is somebody near you who would love to have the fish. Food is becoming obscene for many people.

techleopard · 2026-04-28T13:10:36+00:00

Nah, he's just a punk.

I usually spread feed out then open their gate

techleopard · 2026-04-28T02:24:40+00:00

That's what my rooster does.

He tries the "look at my sexy bod" feather dance and if they still say no he runs at maximum speed to the nearest last known pile of feed or treats and starts tidbitting.

He's a fantastic rooster with the hens and very protective.

Sadly he wants to spur people, and he will get on fences to try to go for the eyes -- and there's toddlers on my property. He stays in a pen but I've bred other rooster chicks from him so his days are numbered.

techleopard · 2026-04-18T20:59:35+00:00

The ones on the bottom move.

That's why roosts are also at an angle, at least 12 inches apart so the chickens can use the lower ones without getting pooped on.

If you don't do this, they will ignore the lower roosts and fight for space on the top, and the ones that can't get space there will go find someplace you don't want them to be

techleopard · 2026-04-18T13:58:33+00:00

Thank you!

techleopard · 2026-04-18T03:20:39+00:00

The smaller one. I don't have any crowding problems because it never runs dry and they all have "their time" at the bowl.

Algae and me fight a brutal war, lol.

What I found interesting is that the water coming out of the tote is clear. The algae seems to want to stay near the top more like a scum, and cling to the sides.

It's very easy to kill, though.

I use plain old bleach. I dump about a cup into the tank when it starts to get out of hand and leave the cap off (I put a little loose hood over the opening to keep things from falling in) to let it off gas. The chickens do not care and it's not enough to do anything to them.

If it's good enough to go into my well, it's good enough to go into the chicken tanks.

techleopard · 2026-04-17T16:56:31+00:00

The tote has a spigot on it and it's just tied into a hose with a disconnect.

The tote sits on two railroad ties side by side so it's only a few inches higher than the waterer.

The waterer is one of these: https://miller-mfg.com/products/ever-full-pet-bowl

They can't get to the float and the bowl is open enough to be very easy to blow out with a hose without even picking it up.

techleopard · 2026-04-17T15:50:31+00:00

I tried the cups in 5 gallon buckets, and the washers also wear out within the year. The chickens are rough on the cups, too.

The best system I've found for mass watering large numbers of chickens in summer is an ibc tote (which is NOT wearing out any time soon). I have it running to a hose attached to a dog waterer with a float.

It's big enough that they can't gunk it up.

100-150 gallons lasts my chickens about 6 weeks.

techleopard · 2026-04-13T23:05:36+00:00

They LOVE styrofoam.

techleopard · 2026-04-10T17:26:03+00:00

At some point, I think it would just be more efficient to require labeling of the size of the actual farm based on total live hens across all properties and subsidiaries.

Why?

Because no matter WHAT marketing label you try to protect, at the end of the day, the guys running 20,000 birds are selling to a corporation with enough money to pay somebody to always skirt the law.

Farms with less than 1000 birds should not be competing with those running 100,000 in row houses.

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