I've read in a couple of places that having a male chick grow up among adult hens is good, because they don't allow him to run roughshod over them, and indeed, the one hen I had from the previous year was the only girl who my awful Dominique didn't wear the feathers off of. My bright idea for next year is to get a half-dozen male chicks and keep only one to two who are well-behaved.
I raise about 40 to 45 chicks with the flock every year. Sometimes most are cockerels, sometimes most are pullets, but I always have several of each. Most years I have a mature rooster in with them but not every year. One of my goals is to play with genetics so I keep a cockerel to be my next flock master almost every year.
When I do not have a mature rooster in the flock but I do have mature hens I find that different things might happen.
The cockerel takes over as flock master without any drama at all. I had one as young as five months be able to do that but for most of them it's closer to seven months of age. No fighting, no abusing, no violence. A really smooth transition.
When he reaches a certain level of maturity the cockerel starts trying to mate with the girls. Usually he starts with pullets his age but eventually includes the hens. Many mature hens want a potential father to their chicks to be worthy. Many immature cockerels don't measure up, they have to mature before they act like they should. Often the hens will run away and he will chase them, forcing them to mate. They don't fight him, they try to run away. This can get pretty violent and can be hard to watch since he does force them.
Some hens will mate with practically anything in spurs or that will eventually grow spurs. But many won't. Some of these may fight back instead of running away. I've seen where a dominant hen would knock a cockerel off of a hen that was willing to mate with him just to show she was boss. It's her flock and he can't take over. Eventually he matures enough to stand up to her and take over the flock. That can be violent for a day or two, not pleasant to watch.
I've never seen this but plenty of people on here I trust say they have. You can get a mature hen or some mature hens that hunt down a cockerel and beat him up. It's as if they know he will eventually take over and want to keep him down for as long as they can.
To me the personality of the hens, especially the dominant hen, has a lot to do with how this works out. Some hens are OK with a male taking over, this makes for a smooth transition. Some hens are the boss, are determined to stay the boss, and will fight really hard to keep any other chicken, male or female, from taking over. This can get violent. Some cockerels have a strong drive to tale over, some don't. How the personalities of your cockerels and hens mesh has a big say in this.
I also think how much room you have plays a part in this. If they have enough room to get away and stay away this can go a lot easier. If they are tightly packed any behavioral problem is usually magnified.
First, do you think the girls that grew up with that nasty rooster will be tough enough with new cockerels? They certainly boss the new hens around for the most part, but they weren't keeping this year's cockerel in check.
I don't think that nasty rooster makes a difference. It depends on their personalities, not their past experiences.
Second, any breed recommendations for a clean-footed, ideally nonwhite and non-crested rooster with a reputation for not being a terror?
If you read enough posts on here you will find where a rooster of any breed is a terror. You will find where a rooster of that same breed is a sweetheart. Silkies, Orpington, Sussex, RIR, Australorp doesn't matter. Any chicken of any breed, male or female, has it's own personality. I think there is a lot of luck involved with this. We all have our preferences based on our experiences. My suggestion is to choose one with the other traits you like and try it.
I think your best bet is to find someone trying to rehome a mature rooster that’s good with the ladies and not human aggressive.
This isn't a bad suggestion if you are OK with the biosecurity issues. Usually the easiest integration is to introduce a mature rooster to a flock of mature hens. He swaggers in and wows them with his maturity and magnificence. He mates a couple to show he is boss and the flock is his, usually with little or no drama. This does depend on him actually being mature enough to have the self-confidence to wow them. And the personality of the hens, especially the dominant hen, can derail this. But this works so well so often it is a great idea if you aren't worried about biosecurity.
Let me know if you're doing any chick purchasing for next year too!
.. oddly enough even my heeler sits and lays by him..but will try to herd others...maybe cause they are both red?
amd the roo doesnt bother him either..he does ha e his favorite hens but the occasional hen jacket takes care of that...even new girls take to him, but as i said hes super chill..only mating after they approach him..mayne hes an anomaly but i do handle him more frequenly than the hens. Hes had one bout of scaly mites brought in by another "drop off" but it cleared quickly with treatment..i use the deep litter method, no heat, no auxiliary lightin. Last year we had consistent -25 F and they all fared well...
