Do Roos know their babies?

[gatorridgechics]

I was just wondering if a rooster knows its babies?
We had two hens who hatched chicks from the same rooster, we also incubated and hatched chicks from this rooster, it seems when out and about he prefers "his" chicks over others. At this point we have lost both of those hens, and the chicks are still pretty young, 3 of them are about 10weeks and 4 are about 4 weeks. The ones that are 10 weeks stay with the Roo all the time, and he herds them around the yard during the day and roosts with them at night. The 4 week old ones are in a coop, but he goes to that coop several times a day and scratches around it and almost tries to get in. There are a few other chicks that are about 14 weeks old that came from him and he has kind of adopted them as well. If anyone tries to mess with "his" he will go balistic, no matter the size of the chicken. We have other chicks the same age that he won't even look twice at.
If this isn't the norm, then I guess we are lucky, because he is a great dad. lol

 

[Happy Chooks]

A good rooster is a protector of the flock, which includes babies. Both my roosters are fantastic around babies (whether theirs biologically or not, though I don't believe they can tell the difference) and pullets. They are gentlemen and show the hens where to lay, protect them from threats and feed them treats. It is so adorable to see my broodies hatch chicks and my rooster watch over them.