Explain to the husband that the rooster is always going to mate the hens and not all roosters will be rough. I can tell you from having about 50 roosters over the past few years, roosters aren't usually as aggressive as people make it out and actually can be nicer than some hens. Out of all 50, I haven't had but a handful of mean roosters, and they were culled. The only ones with attitude are my 2 sebright roosters I have now, but they aren't mean and do not rip feathers, just like to act big and bad.
Now if he is related to the last roo, he may pick up his dad's traits, but that isn't always true.
If you want fertile eggs, you need a rooster.
How many hens do you have in total with the one rooster? If you don't have enough hens, add more to prevent the feather loss and over breeding. If this rooster is more docile, it shouldn't be an issue and your husband should just get over it.
Edited to say: I agree with you on the whole wanting to raise chickens to have meat if crap hit the fan, so I can see why you'd want to keep a rooster and not just have to go buy fertile eggs.
and others that really stood out 
maybe you could hatch out some more and keep one of his sons instead?
