Roosters are not like puppies or kittens. The more you handle them, the nicer you are to them, the nicer they are too you. That is a pack society. In chicken society is based on a pecking order. Each animal is either above or below the other animals in the flock. This changes as time goes by as it is constantly being determined.
Fear is a sign of respect. If a rooster is a little bit afraid of you, he respects you. He will show that by moving away from you, by not staring at you, not flapping his wings at you, and not excessively crowing. He is very aware of where you are, and is always moving to stay about 4-6 feet at least away from you.
People love rooster chicks, as they are naturally more aware of people. And they are more brave, so they confidently approach people, who often take that as liking them, as a puppy would. They are not afraid, and when you add a dose of hormones, they do not respect you. Many times people will love these darlings and have them sit on their laps, not realizing that they are taking the submissive role. Add the hormones, and the rooster that seemed to adore you, begins attacking you to prove that you are lower in the ranks. Roosters take people on according to there size. They tend to attack children first, then women, then men. Being flogged as a child, one always worries about facial scars or their eyes. Inexperienced people tend to ignore or miss the signs that a rooster is becoming more and more aggressive until the attack. This board is full of posts of where the darling became the nightmare. That is the possibility I am hearing in your posts.
The reason I recommended culling this bird, and replacing it with another. Is more than likely, this rooster is going to be attacking your pullets soon. Some roosters can be very violent. Not all, but most cockerels do not have any skill, but because they are bigger, and there no other bigger birds, they can get away with being a bully. What I recommended, was removing this bird now, waiting until your whole flock was laying, and getting a rooster that was a year of age. By then their temperament is more established.
If you really want to keep this bird, then I recommend separating him from the flock when and if he gets aggressive toward the pullets. Leave him away from the girls until ALL of the girls are laying. Then add him back.
Roosters are a crap shoot. Some are wonderful, some are horrible no matter if you do everything right.
Mrs K
Fear is a sign of respect. If a rooster is a little bit afraid of you, he respects you. He will show that by moving away from you, by not staring at you, not flapping his wings at you, and not excessively crowing. He is very aware of where you are, and is always moving to stay about 4-6 feet at least away from you.
People love rooster chicks, as they are naturally more aware of people. And they are more brave, so they confidently approach people, who often take that as liking them, as a puppy would. They are not afraid, and when you add a dose of hormones, they do not respect you. Many times people will love these darlings and have them sit on their laps, not realizing that they are taking the submissive role. Add the hormones, and the rooster that seemed to adore you, begins attacking you to prove that you are lower in the ranks. Roosters take people on according to there size. They tend to attack children first, then women, then men. Being flogged as a child, one always worries about facial scars or their eyes. Inexperienced people tend to ignore or miss the signs that a rooster is becoming more and more aggressive until the attack. This board is full of posts of where the darling became the nightmare. That is the possibility I am hearing in your posts.
The reason I recommended culling this bird, and replacing it with another. Is more than likely, this rooster is going to be attacking your pullets soon. Some roosters can be very violent. Not all, but most cockerels do not have any skill, but because they are bigger, and there no other bigger birds, they can get away with being a bully. What I recommended, was removing this bird now, waiting until your whole flock was laying, and getting a rooster that was a year of age. By then their temperament is more established.
If you really want to keep this bird, then I recommend separating him from the flock when and if he gets aggressive toward the pullets. Leave him away from the girls until ALL of the girls are laying. Then add him back.
Roosters are a crap shoot. Some are wonderful, some are horrible no matter if you do everything right.
Mrs K
We got our chickens for eggs and for selling the overages. We didn't know how well we would enjoy the experience and since day 1, we have ALL fallen in love! 
