Calmest large breed rooster?

[Iain Utah]

My cochin/salmon fav rooster recently sadly passed away. He was gentle, chill, and friendly (the complete opposite of his overly aggressive purebred cochin father). So now I'm searching for the next great chill rooster to watch over my ladies. While I surf the local classifieds, I figured I'd start a thread because personality is very important, and I'm only familiar with a handful of breeds.

I'm curious to get opinions about disposition of different large breeds of roosters.

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

My cochin/salmon fav rooster recently sadly passed away. He was gentle, chill, and friendly (the complete opposite of his overly aggressive purebred cochin father). So now I'm searching for the next great chill rooster to watch over my ladies. While I surf the local classifieds, I figured I'd start a thread because personality is very important, and I'm only familiar with a handful of breeds.

I'm curious to get opinions about disposition of different large breeds of roosters.

All chickens have their own personalities. I find the Orpingtons are probably the calmest but EVERY chicken is it's own chicken.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We had an Ameraucana that was amazing and made an amazing son, but his brother was awful (attacked a sheriff that was out. Thankfully the sheriff was a good shot)

 

[BleuSaphir]

I’ve had good experiences with RIR roosters. I found them so sweet and gentle around me!
Until I told my dad they need to be butchered since no one offered to take them from ads, plus having 3 roosters and one hen wasn’t pretty.

 

[Talithahorse]

Each Rooster is their own and I have had some brothers with very different personalities but I have found over the years that it is their raising as much as breed that can affect their overall personality. Now when looking for a Rooster, I try to find one that has been hen raised and/or lived with another rooster (and low man on the totempole). If human raised (which two of my best roosters were), I try to pair the young rooster with an old established hen that will teach him the ropes. That being said, I have had great luck with the Rock breeds (Barred Rock, Silver Pencil Rock, etc), not so much with the Maran roosters. We ended up with a cute little bantam. He does a great job of looking for danger but is flighty with me (which means he isn't going to attack).

 

[MarkJr]

So far my favorite roosters have been my Dominique (current) then my speckled Sussex. I'd still have the speckled Sussex but he was aggressive toward my one broody hen, while being a gent to the other 8.

 

[Iain Utah]

Thanks for the input and the great tip to check on the rooster's upbringing. My girls are getting old (ages 4-7yo), so it is important the rooster is nice to them as well.

There is an ad for a lavender orp that I am leaning towards, but owner wants $25 obo (that seems like a lot for a rooster) and is located over 60 miles away.

Of course, with the local feed stores already selling chicks, I expect there will be lots of ads popping up in the next few weeks, as people dump their older stock for new babies. While I don't want to spend weeks shopping, I do want to make sure that I purchase the right bird for our situation.

 

[black_cat]

There is an ad for a lavender orp that I am leaning towards, but owner wants $25 obo (that seems like a lot for a rooster) and is located over 60 miles away.

Depends on the age of the rooster and how well bred he is.....if this is a breeder, then that is probably a good price. If it is a hatchery bird, it is overpriced.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

I have had good luck with my Silverudd’s blue rooster. He’s had a tough life two brushes with death but he’s a survivor with a hens first attitude.

 

[varidgerunner]

Oriental game are the calmest by far. Kids can dress them in clothes. You can ride around and run errands with them in your vehicle. Grab a rooster at random and take it to a festival and let screaming schoolchildren charge up to pet it and it will perch calmly.