We have had chickens (with roos) since our kids were 4 and 1 years old. Any rooster that showed any signs of aggression went straight in the pot - there is no way I wanted to risk having our kids attacked as the damage can be devastating on a little one! However I had two wonderful roosters that NEVER showed any aggression. One was a barred cochin who was huge and had spurs about 5 inches long, he was a fantastic roo in so many ways. He looked out for predators, took great care of his ladies (I couldn't ever get him to eat treats because he gave every last one away to his ladies) and kept them from roaming too far from the safety of the coop. Plus any time I wanted more chickens I could pop eggs under a broody or in the incubator. Our little bantam roo was also wonderful. The kids would carry him around and he never showed a moments aggresssion.
HOWEVER, I always kept an eye on the kids especially when in the big roos area as they were so small and he was SO big. I was always coaching the kids on how to behave around the chickens so that they did not provoke an attack inadvertantly. And since he was so big, his head was on a level with DS eyes when he was toddling around and so I made sure they didn't get too close as chickens find eyes fascinating and will try to peck them to see if they are something tasty to eat! Of course hens do this too - it was just that Bo was so big... Once DS was big enough to be more imposing physically I didn't worry too much about it. Bo and Little Red never loved to be caught or carried around and we never did treats for them specifically. A head roo will not let a junior/ subordinate roo get treats while he and his ladies are around. I tend to treat my roos like I am the dominant roo and they respect that. I think that if you get roos keep them in a separate area while the little ones are around until you know you have a trustworthy one and then keep a close eye on interactions until everyone is settled on their roles and how to behave around each other. IT is easy to provoke an attack if you don't speak chicken fluently
As far as breeds... I would say that large fowl cochins are great (but there are always exceptions). The worst roos for flogging that I have had were , a BO who was a complete buster - super aggressive! A polish who was totally freakishly aggressive. Some of my bantam cochins were little monsters too, some were absolute darlings. You really would do well to get a roo from someone who has nice roos. It definitely seems to be a transferable trait a lot of the time and I find that when birds grow up around calm nice birds and interact with people from a young age they tend to be a lot calmer and less aggressive - not a guarentee of course.
Good luck finding a wonderful roo for you and your family!! There are some excellent birds out there - be patient and you'll get to have some great experiences with your chickens.
HOWEVER, I always kept an eye on the kids especially when in the big roos area as they were so small and he was SO big. I was always coaching the kids on how to behave around the chickens so that they did not provoke an attack inadvertantly. And since he was so big, his head was on a level with DS eyes when he was toddling around and so I made sure they didn't get too close as chickens find eyes fascinating and will try to peck them to see if they are something tasty to eat! Of course hens do this too - it was just that Bo was so big... Once DS was big enough to be more imposing physically I didn't worry too much about it. Bo and Little Red never loved to be caught or carried around and we never did treats for them specifically. A head roo will not let a junior/ subordinate roo get treats while he and his ladies are around. I tend to treat my roos like I am the dominant roo and they respect that. I think that if you get roos keep them in a separate area while the little ones are around until you know you have a trustworthy one and then keep a close eye on interactions until everyone is settled on their roles and how to behave around each other. IT is easy to provoke an attack if you don't speak chicken fluently
As far as breeds... I would say that large fowl cochins are great (but there are always exceptions). The worst roos for flogging that I have had were , a BO who was a complete buster - super aggressive! A polish who was totally freakishly aggressive. Some of my bantam cochins were little monsters too, some were absolute darlings. You really would do well to get a roo from someone who has nice roos. It definitely seems to be a transferable trait a lot of the time and I find that when birds grow up around calm nice birds and interact with people from a young age they tend to be a lot calmer and less aggressive - not a guarentee of course.
Good luck finding a wonderful roo for you and your family!! There are some excellent birds out there - be patient and you'll get to have some great experiences with your chickens.
