friendly rooster?

[IanC1982]

I am new to Raising chickens and I would like to add a rooster to my small flock. I live in an urban setting and have small children that love to hang out with the hens, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion on breeds that are least aggressive and good with people?

 

[0wen]

I have 2 roosters in my current flock - a Svart Hona from Cedar Crest Farm & Feed and one of Dick Horstman's Bantam Barred Rocks. I have a walk in coop/run that I go into without worry of a rooster attack and regularly send my 9 year old in to gather eggs, feed, interact with the birds and he can pick either of them up. Both are incredibly friendly but if I had to choose just one, I'd take Dick's line of bantam rock because of the better genetics and such.

Dick Horstman is a member of these forums, or you can find him via google Horstman poultry.

Now, being less specific than those 2 resources, I'd still recommend getting your cockerel young and from a breeder rather than a hatchery for disposition. Being in an urban setting - have you checked local ordinances to see if roosters will be welcome or not?

 

[IanC1982]

Thank you for your advice, I guess I should check with my cities ordinances to start with

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, IanC1982, and

! Great to have you in our community! It seems like every rooster has it's own personality. I have had good luck and bad luck with rooster of the same breed. Here is a link to some old threads where folks have asked advice on friendly roosters. Hope they yield some positive results: https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=friendly+rooster
Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[dekel18042]

I am new to Raising chickens and I would like to add a rooster to my small flock. I live in an urban setting and have small children that love to hang out with the hens, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion on breeds that are least aggressive and good with people?

Welcome. I have had chickens most of my life and I have never had an aggressive bantam rooster although others have said they have. Mine were/are all pets too. They have huge personalities, are very cocky but have always been people friendly and even kids can carry them around.
I think it is more the individual than the breed. If you find you can have a rooster I suggest getting a young one where the owner knows the personality and just has too many cockerels. If you get one who is initially dominated by the hens and has to come up through the ranks so to speak he will probably have a better personality than one raised only with others his age and has always been at the top of the pecking order.
Once you have him, don't make a pet or coddle him. You want him to think you are outside the pecking order, not that the people are another chicken to be dominated.
Or you may want to get an adult rooster with a nice temperament. Perhaps he is several years old, someone may have been using him for breeding and wants to bring in some new bloodlines. In that case his temperament and personality should be set.
How big is your flock? Unless you want to breed you really don't need a rooster and may find out one is more trouble than what he is worth.
FWIW, I do like my roosters very much and all of them are sweet (or they wouldn't stay.)

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under IanC1982

Welcome!

Sorry that I am not able to provide further comments on your rooster question; I only have girls due to living in a residential, no rooster zone. However, I wish you all the best.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[drumstick diva]

Roosters really aren't necessary unless you want 'fertile' eggs to hatch or sell.

 

[drumstick diva]

PS hens should have good temperaments also, males aren't the only ones that can cause injury.

 

[IanC1982]

well its nice to see a lot of responses to my questions and I would like to thank all of you, so I have decided not to get a roo at the moment there really is no need for the fertile eggs, so for now no roo. But things can always change as Me and my family get deeper into raising chickens.