Selecting Good Flock Roosters

This is a very helpful article for a newbie, excellent advice. Thank for taking the trouble to clearly describe the priorities.

Nicely detailed.

I'm SO glad I read this article, it's given me some hope for my guy, he's 9 months old. He's aggressive towards me and no-one else and I've tried several ways to change his attitude. I'm also adding another 11 pullets to his harem in July/August making a total of fifteen! He's FANTASTIC as far as looking after his girls, he eats last, tidbitting often and calls the girls immediately he finds anything he thinks they'll like. I have no idea at this point what he'd be like with chicks. He only has four girls right now, but I live in an area that has very few options to purchase pullets. So he has to wait.
Hopefully his attitude will change towards me as he matures and more girls are added. I was pleased to see your rato as I've always been told 10 to 1. I know exactly when his attitude changed towards me and why. But if I see ANY aggression towards ANYONE else... He will be dispatched. Finding another rooster with a great disposition will be a nightmare, as I'd basically be taking the seller's word for it.
Thank you again.

Not having large roosters I do understand the dangers of a mean one.
I agree there are many criteria that need to be met to be a good flock rooster.
You outlined these well.

This article is very instructive and tells the characteristics that describes a respectful rooster or a bad one. I am glad you made recommendations as well on what roosters are not satisfactory to keep by judging off of different demeanors.

Lots of good info here, including some good references to other info sources. A good article for anyone thinking about keeping a roo.

This is a very informative article about not only choosing a rooster, but what subtle cues to look for, and criteria to examine when evaluating roosters you might have when looking at the big picture of your total flock and how to achieve your goals of harmony and safety within it.

Wow! So helpful for this beginner. I don't yet have chickens, so it was very good to read about potential problems. I'm going to be an informed beginner!

This is a well written article with a good common sense approach to rooster selection. Thank you for taking the time to educate.

I loved this article. I don’t yet have roosters, but hope to have at least one some day and this will be helpful when that time comes. Easy read and nice, warm, personal tone.

I, very much, appreciate your article! I've read through the link you posted and will try to train my monster before he's culled. My first mean rooster, and he's an interesting sight .

Thank you for all of your information.

excellent article. I think I need to remove my rooster and it makes me sad. I know he has scared me a little by chasing my legs and flapping his wings and pulling out neck feathers from one of my one hens. I have a granddaughter and don't want to take a chance that he might go after her.

Great article in outlining which roosters should be "allowed" to breed. A lot of behavior is genetic, and even though handling (or mishandling) can change a rooster's behavior, going for the nice and natural behaving ones to repopulate the flock is a good way to ensure naturally behaving roosters in the future.

A lot of good information here, and apparently I have a good rooster, not sure about the chick part yet.

Enjoyed reading this. Very practical for people that have children and roosters.

Appreciate this article very much. We just went through this for the first time. We have 20 hens and two original roos, a black cochin and a buff laced Polish. We got two young roosters from a broody hatch and they turned into nightmares at about 4 months. It was beginning to change the dynamic of the flock, creating stress for all. We made the decision to cull the two wild men, and everyone is happier. Great article and very useful guidelines, thank you.

very good tips

Fantastic article!