Are two roosters better than one - as per aggression?

[autumnmfisher]

We had a rooster before - hand raised, hand fed, handled and super friendly. one day it turned, we dealt with him for a while till he attacked our daughter - the one that hand raised him. blood was squirting from her legs, it was horrible. he died from lead poisoning that night. and we vowed to never have another rooster.
Well, we got new birds, 6, and one has turned out to be another rooster we were going to get rid of him, but a friend says if we get another rooster we'll be fine. they'll basically worry about each other not us.

first is this true?
2nd will it work with only 5 hens or should we get more to keep them busy?
Thank you,

 

[Johnn]

Honestly it just depends on the rooster individually. I hatched one out and I already had another boy who was the boss and the one I hatched out started being really aggressive, so I got rid. What might have been your problem is making him so friendly, you showed him not to be scared around you. You need to remember that you are the boss, don't let your new cockerel mate right infront of you or at least pretend you didn't see. Don't let him feel to comfortable around you. If I was you, I would give this cockerel a chance as he might be a good one. Also if the cockerel that you hatched out had an aggressive dad, the aggression could have been passed through the genes. I doubt getting another will make a difference. It might make it worse because which ever is the lower one will want to take any oppotunity to get higher (attack people when it gets a chance).

 

[Folly's place]

Two roosters with five hens is almost always too much for the hens to tolerate. The extra roosters won't help their attitudes towards humans. Generally making a pet out of a cockrel backfires on the child; he needs to respect humans, not consider them another flock member. Genetic tendencies are a major factor in human aggression issues, something not addressed insome breeding programs at all. (Think hatcheries, where young birds are used for maximum egg production only.) You may want to raise several males and keep the nicest. Mary

 

[donrae]

We had a rooster before - hand raised, hand fed, handled and super friendly. one day it turned, we dealt with him for a while till he attacked our daughter - the one that hand raised him. blood was squirting from her legs, it was horrible. he died from lead poisoning that night. and we vowed to never have another rooster.
Well, we got new birds, 6, and one has turned out to be another rooster we were going to get rid of him, but a friend says if we get another rooster we'll be fine. they'll basically worry about each other not us.

first is this true?
2nd will it work with only 5 hens or should we get more to keep them busy?
Thank you,

In my opinion, this is where you went wrong. Roosters are not pets and should not be treated as such. They are intact male livestock and have the same instincts as bulls or stallions, just not the mass. They need to treated with respect and taught to respect you. This means they yield to you when you walk through the flock. They don't approach you without your permission. You can chase them away from food or a hen, if you choose to do so. You are the boss. If you can have the bird and not make him a pet, it might work. 2 roosters is just asking for more problems to me. Plus, 2 roosters and 5 hens is just asking for problems with the hens.