How to pick the best Rooster?

[Mom4ever]

I have two Barred Rock Roosters and need to pick one. We realized the last Rooster we had was killing the hens inside our coop. So now we have two.
What behaviors should we be looking for to know which one to keep? One of the boys are timid and afraid of the mean rooster so we relocated the mean one so maybe we can see how the bullied Rooster does. The relocating is annoying because we do not have extra space for him. Ultimately we need a good protector for the girls from predators. Last year we lost 6 hens from hawks. In our other run we have a really good watcher for those girls but do want one for this Barred Rocks Run. Any help is appreciated...

 

[adstowe]

How old are these 2? If they're still cockerels their personalities will likely change as they mature. Separating them to allow them to act as they would without the companion of each other is a good plan. In general roosters are poor protection from predators, but can serve the purpose of alerting the flock of dangers. See if one of them is on the look out for aerial predators and sounds the alert. Look for the one who best interacts with the hens. The one that calls them to food and acts respectful. They have to live with him.

 

[Mom4ever]

How old are these 2? If they're still cockerels their personalities will likely change as they mature. Separating them to allow them to act as they would without the companion of each other is a good plan. In general roosters are poor protection from predators, but can serve the purpose of alerting the flock of dangers. See if one of them is on the look out for aerial predators and sounds the alert. Look for the one who best interacts with the hens. The one that calls them to food and acts respectful. They have to live with him.

They are a bit older than 7 months old. The only have the other run to put him into but that one already has a rooster in there. We did put him in that run last night before shut down. And he was so scared he jumped out. We were thinking about leaving him with that run but we are not sure how that will effected their little family.

 

[Mom4ever]

They are a bit older than 7 months old. The only have the other run to put him into but that one already has a rooster in there. We did put him in that run last night before shut down. And he was so scared he jumped out. We were thinking about leaving him with that run but we are not sure how that will effected their little family.

We also have a 5 by 5 fencing we use but we tried that with him and he crowed all night. So that is not an option as the neighbors would kill us.

 

[raingarden]

I wonder if being a good rooster is in their nature or in their nurture?

 

[adstowe]

I would say mostly nature, but probably a bit of both. I've had rosters that were treated well, but still turned into satan. Most of mine have been good though. All of them have been raised in a hands off, you do you and I'll do me type of environment.