I went out and spent a few minutes trying to convince the chickens that they should go inside until this string of storms passes. The big rooster was telling them to ignore me. I finally cornered him and carried him around upside down for a couple of minutes and everyone else went inside.
The ducks and turkeys were far more cooperative.
The worst part of this is found to be trying to convince my 9 Kg (20 lb) plus cat to come out from under the stairs.
I too have had to, on multiple occasions, use the toe of my boot to fend off an angry rooster. The problem with that is it doesn’t solve the underlying problem.
Rooster Life is all about the Three Fs: Feeding, Fighting, and Mating.
When you fight the rooster they see you as a competitor. They’re in the fight so they have a change. What I do it completely dominate them. They don’t get in a single kick. I pick them up, get ahold of their legs, and carry them around upside down by the legs while I do chores. That makes it very clear to them that there is no chance at all for them in a fight. It’s not a competition. It has the added benefit of being less risky in terms of injuring the bird. Rooster’s legs are good and strong. I always make sure that I use both of their legs to carry them and I don’t carry them like that for long. It’s most often around one minute. Just long enough to make it very clear to them who is at the top of the pecking order.
At least that’s my take on it. It generally only takes one of those to solve a behavioral problem. On rare occasions it takes two. Once I’ve corrected that behavior it corrects it for my wife as well.