Buff Orpington hens and ??? roo

[neophytechickenman]

Hi. First post, hope this is the right forum.

I want to start a small flock, 10 hens and 1 rooster. Grab the eggs from the hens that don't have much interest in raising youngun's and let the broody ones raise our meat chicks. I have done some research and decided that I want Buff Orpingtons. Then I started reading stories about nasty BO roosters. Since I want our grandaughter to be a part of the fun, it seemed prudent to get a rooster that would be nicer yet add positive qualities to a BO chick.

Does anyone have experience or have suggestions for suitable roosters in this situation?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

There are nasty roosters in all breeds of chicken, just as there are nice roosters in all breeds as well. Buff Orps tend to be fairly mellow, but there are always exceptions to that rule. If you raise the roo from a chick and make sure you maintain a dominant role with him throughout his life, you should be ok. But honestly, I don't think I'd ever trust a full-grown rooster with a child - just my opinion.

That being said, welcome to the forum and I look forward to getting to know you!

 

[AllChookUp]

Boy, I haven't seen any mean Orp roos before, but as hensdeliver said above, there can be exceptions in every breed. IMHO, Orps are GENERALLY a very gentle breed.

Good luck to you, and -

.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I ended up with a buff orpington rooster from my order of hatchery chicks. He's big and goofy, but I find that he is mellower than my banty rooster. He's never tired to peck me, although he did take on my father one day. (My dad won that little skirmish.)
Look at Rooster-Red's page on rooster management. As long as you keep his rooster dominance techniques in mind you should be fine. I don't know that I'd ever let a child play around a grown rooster, mainly because my rooster is not much smaller than a child and could certainly do some physical damage, not to mention emotional damage.
I think rooster personality is a rooster by rooster thing. Mine is not especially mean, but he IS a rooster and acts in roostery ways.

My banty rooster used to be a sweetie. He would sit in my lap and cuddle and chatter. Then he hit adolescence and all that changed. He is now very protective of his girls and I am constantly having to remind him that I'm the alpha roo.

 

[bheila]

My BO roo is the most calm roo that we have out of our 13. He loves for me to hold and pet him. I suppose it just all depends on breed and who has raised them.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Most anyone on here that you run into, will tell you that buff roosters are wonderful! I have heard and read nothing but wonderful things about Orpington roosters. If you're going to go with a Buff Orp. flock, then I'd stick with a buff rooster as well. Just my opinion. I would also recommend checking out hinkjc (Jody's) buffs before you go any place else for them. They are the sweetest and most beautiful buffs I ever seen! I love mine.

Oh! I had to come back to tell you, WELCOME TO BYC!!!

 

[neophytechickenman]

Thanks for all the responses. I read Rooster_Red's page and will use that to help my roo's behavior along. It certainly will make things a lot easier if I can just get one batch of chicks and narrow it down to one rooster from them.
Hopefully I can get the coop built this winter.

Thanks again,
Tim

 

[jossanne]

My sister has BO's from McMurray, and her roo is mean. They have to carry a stick into the enclosure with the chickens. He wasn't handled a lot when he was small, maybe that's the problem. They bought 25 straight run BO's so they could have some to butcher, and just kept one roo.