What breeds have protective roosters?

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June2012

June2012

Songster
5 Years
May 23, 2015
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I know that Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds are said to be good roosters, but what other breeds are there, known for caring for their girls? I also want a larger sized rooster, such as a Jersey Giant or a Turken (I love how Turkens look, to be honest haha), but I haven't heard anything about the bigger boys being as good as their lighter counterparts. I always hear good things about flightier birds, such as Leghorns. Is there a particular reason for this?

I also ask this because I don't know how I'd be going around looking for good roosters. People say to just keep looking for roosters, but how? Do I order a bunch of different roos and see which one works? That means I'd have to eat or rehome the extras... :/
 
I don't think it is so much the breed as how you treat them. We have had chickens for 11 years and have had a lot of roosters. Right now we have five. We have never had a mean one. We do spend time with them, and sometimes act like an alpha would if we see if a fight that is getting out of hand, we will break it up. We've had a few cockerels act aggressive towards people but I have found that picking him up and just carrying him around and petting him for a while works really well. Every time a cockerel acts aggressive, that is what I do, and the aggressiveness never lasts more than a couple of times of being picked up and handled.. All of our roosters are very respectful towards people. As far as being gentle with the hens, I think the older the roosters get, the gentler they are. At least, that seems to be the case in our flock. But you can do the same thing, if a rooster is too rough with a hen, you can always shoo him away from her. They do learn.

If you're undecided, just go with your gut. Pick one that appeals to you and see how he does.
 
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chicknmania said:
I don't think it is so much the breed as how you treat them. We have had chickens for 11 years and have had a lot of roosters. Right now we have five. We have never had a mean one. We do spend time with them, and sometimes act like an alpha would if we see if a fight that is getting out of hand, we will break it up. We've had a few cockerels act aggressive towards people but I have found that picking him up and just carrying him around and petting him for a while works really well. Every time a cockerel acts aggressive, that is what I do, and the aggressiveness never lasts more than a couple of times of being picked up and handled.. All of our roosters are very respectful towards people. As far as being gentle with the hens, I think the older the roosters get, the gentler they are. At least, that seems to be the case in our flock. But you can do the same thing, if a rooster is too rough with a hen, you can always shoo him away from her. They do learn.

If you're undecided, just go with your gut. Pick one that appeals to you and see how he does.
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Well, I wasn't really asking about the roosters being aggressive and protective of their girls towards me. Teaching him to play nice isn't something I'm concerned with than it is with finding a rooster that is willing to risk his life protecting his hens.

I also don't know how I could do that since I'll be ordering my chickens off a hatchery over the Internet, which is why I was looking into good breeds. Actually, what breeds are your five roosters? What is your favorite rooster breed?
 
In my personal experience, if you're just going with one Rooster with a harem, I always suggest a game bird. Bred to be friendly towards people and will be fiercely protective of their girls. However, they may maim or kill other cockerels if fighting behavior isn't addressed very early.
 
June2012 said:
I know that Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds are said to be good roosters, but what other breeds are there, known for caring for their girls? I also want a larger sized rooster, such as a Jersey Giant or a Turken (I love how Turkens look, to be honest haha), but I haven't heard anything about the bigger boys being as good as their lighter counterparts. I always hear good things about flightier birds, such as Leghorns. Is there a particular reason for this?

I also ask this because I don't know how I'd be going around looking for good roosters. People say to just keep looking for roosters, but how? Do I order a bunch of different roos and see which one works? That means I'd have to eat or rehome the extras... :/
Click to expand...
I have one cock and numerous cockerels; a lot of the younger cockerels are pretty young and we'll be cooking some pretty soon. The breeds are Barred Rocks, RIR, and Orpington (all heritage birds), and Naked Necks, Brown Leghorns, and Dark Cornish (all hatchery birds). All the cocks over nine months old are protective of their girls but only the Orpington breaks up fights between his ladies. Like the others said though, I don't think it matters so much the breed as the individual cock.
 
GabrielBane said:
In my personal experience, if you're just going with one Rooster with a harem, I always suggest a game bird. Bred to be friendly towards people and will be fiercely protective of their girls. However, they may maim or kill other cockerels if fighting behavior isn't addressed very early.
Click to expand...

If I ever choose to process his offspring, would his chicks have any meat worth processing?

ejcrist said:
I have one cock and numerous cockerels; a lot of the younger cockerels are pretty young and we'll be cooking some pretty soon. The breeds are Barred Rocks, RIR, and Orpington (all heritage birds), and Naked Necks, Brown Leghorns, and Dark Cornish (all hatchery birds). All the cocks over nine months old are protective of their girls but only the Orpington breaks up fights between his ladies. Like the others said though, I don't think it matters so much the breed as the individual cock.
Click to expand...
How does one find this special cock though? Do I just buy a box of male chicks and find one I'm in love with, and then process the others? I have to admit, I really love Naked Necks... I just love'm to death, haha! Crossed fingers hoping for a good Turken Roo~
 
June2012 said:
If I ever choose to process his offspring, would his chicks have any meat worth processing?

How does one find this special cock though? Do I just buy a box of male chicks and find one I'm in love with, and then process the others? I have to admit, I really love Naked Necks... I just love'm to death, haha! Crossed fingers hoping for a good Turken Roo~
Click to expand...
Gosh, you really won't know until after their hormone levels stabilize and they mature a bit. While they're young they may be nasty to their ladies one week and perfect gentlemen the next. I'm starting a breeding program next month and this is my first stab at breeding to a standard. One of the qualities I'm breeding to is temperament, but it's not as high on the list as type, etc., and it's also one of the qualities I can't assess until they're more than a year old, assuming they don't get culled for something else beforehand. So what you might want to do is the similar to what I'll be doing, and that's to first determine the traits you want, and then get straight run chicks and cull as you find undesirable characteristics, which in your case sounds like it's strictly temperament. There's just no way to tell other than by observation after they've grown up a bit.
 
ejcrist said:
Gosh, you really won't know until after their hormone levels stabilize and they mature a bit. While they're young they may be nasty to their ladies one week and perfect gentlemen the next. I'm starting a breeding program next month and this is my first stab at breeding to a standard. One of the qualities I'm breeding to is temperament, but it's not as high on the list as type, etc., and it's also one of the qualities I can't assess until they're more than a year old, assuming they don't get culled for something else beforehand. So what you might want to do is the similar to what I'll be doing, and that's to first determine the traits you want, and then get straight run chicks and cull as you find undesirable characteristics, which in your case sounds like it's strictly temperament. There's just no way to tell other than by observation after they've grown up a bit.
Click to expand...
*sigh* Why oh why, hormones! Thank you for the tip. I'll just have to do that and cull and see, I suppose.
 
June2012 said:
*sigh* Why oh why, hormones! Thank you for the tip. I'll just have to do that and cull and see, I suppose.
Click to expand...
Don't sweat it - it'll be fun. Once you discover one you like you can start a breeding program with him since some of his offspring will have his same temperament. I have a Barred Rock cock that is very good to his ladies (and me) so I hatched 16 eggs from him so I can keep any cockerels that have his same disposition. He lives with the layer flock so I'm not as worried about his breed characteristics since him and his kids won't be for exhibition. I definitely want to continue his temperament though so I plan on line-breeding his offspring.
 
How long would you wait for hormones to settle down? We are currently processing our leghorn cross roos (6 months and too wild to handle). We have a RIR/Dom cross Roo (8 months old) who is usually great with the girls, but has a variable disposition when it comes to people. The main reason we aren't culling him now is because he protects the girls and keeps the laying flock together (when we've shut him up because he was attacking a contractor the hens didn't group as well).
 
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