Best rooster breed with small children

[Viking84]

Anyone got any advice on which breed of rooster is the best one around toddler age children. A mean rooster could hurt an 18 month old child. Any ideas on which breed would be least likely to get violent with children?

 

[centrarchid]

I grew up around many roosters and my kids suffered the same. The most important concern will not be breed of rooster, rather your vigilance as a parent. Direct supervision has been the rule here even with the most child friendly roosters. A big part of your job will be training the child proper behaviors around chickens in general.

 

[Table4Six]

Brahma

Agreed. Brahma or LF Cochin.

 

[CindyinSD]

I’m worried about the little guy... I don’t think I’d want him in with the gentlest rooster unless I was carrying him or holding his hand the whole time.

 

[varidgerunner]

Oriental game roosters have been handled by children for a very long time in their homeleands. When used for their traditional purpose there is much conditioning involved, and this is often a task given to children, some quite small. Exercising a bird daily, bathing and feeding, birds often kept in a small cage, and only let out under the control of an assigned handler. Over the thousands of years this has gone on a lot of human aggression tendencies have been bred out. This leaves us with a bird that is very prone to be extremely calm and easy to handle. Even a bird that is quite large, handled by a very small child. I have had people that knew this buy birds as children's pets. As they knew they had a very small chance of having a bird turn mean forcing them to turn a pet into stew. That they are longer lived than most other chickens makes them a good choice as a pet as well. But these are chicken savvy people that know how to teach good chicken handling skills to their children, and know what to watch out for. And they know better than to put one of these birds into a flock with other males.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I grew up around many roosters and my kids suffered the same. The most important concern will not be breed of rooster, rather your vigilance as a parent. Direct supervision has been the rule here even with the most child friendly roosters. A big part of your job will be training the child proper behaviors around chickens in general.

And culling any roosters that show human aggression to adults is definitely a good place to start.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Although I wonder if a huge Bramah rooster would damage my leghorn hens because of the size difference

He would. Been there, done that.

My LF Cochin does fine with my one leghorn. However she REALLY likes him.

I've had no issues with any Cochins being human aggressive unless handled, then a few of them bit. I culled all of them that showed any human aggression.

 

[centrarchid]

And culling any roosters that show human aggression to adults is definitely a good place to start.

You have to be vigilant enough to detect such roosters before harm is done.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

And completely agree with @centrarchid and @Redhead Rae

Even a calm breed can be mean, especially if they're being antagonized. When we got our rooster, I watched him closely to make sure he wasn't going to have a problem with my daughter's cuddles with the hens. We'd had the hens and she'd been doing it for a year before we got him.

 

[Cyprus]

I should have been more specific and stated "full size" rooster

Brahma