Is my rooster protecting babies? Should I be concerned?

[Bestofsmall]

My coop atm is our back porch with a run attached and I have the babies cage next to the roost area where the big chicks sleep. During the day I have started putting big chicks outside & letting babies roam inside. They use the water & feeder fine 2 are 5 wks & 4 are 2 wks. The last 2 nights instead of roosting with the big girls Alfie has been sleeping on top of the baby cage. Before I started letting babies out the big ones looked at them but lost interes pretty quick.I haven't seen him peck at them but he & the girls all come to the cage to look at them. Is he just protecting the babies through the night or should I be worried & separate them?
Thanx in advance

 

[3KillerBs]

Without actually seeing him it's hard to tell but some roosters are really good with chicks.

Before he was even mature enough to mate my Ludwig liked chicks. Here he is, only 7 months all settled down next to the integration pen on the chicks' first day.

I didn't see it, but later those same chicks took their first foray outside under their "big brother's" watchful eye.

I've also seen chicks using the roosters as a safety zone -- zipping under then to escape from an hen who didn't want them in her space.

 

[Bestofsmall]

Without actually seeing him it's hard to tell but some roosters are really good with chicks.

Before he was even mature enough to mate my Ludwig liked chicks. Here he is, only 7 months all settled down next to the integration pen on the chicks' first day.

View attachment 3196641

I didn't see it, but later those same chicks took their first foray outside under their "big brother's" watchful eye.

I've also seen chicks using the roosters as a safety zone -- zipping under then to escape from an hen who didn't want them in her space.

Thank you that makes me feel better. He was a rescue & there were babies there too but we didn't see him interact with them or any of the other chickens they had. He stayed in a corner of the pen or was running away from their big rooster. He is comfortable here I think as he has laid right beside where I'm sitting & taken a nap! I think he's happy, I sure hope so.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

That's adorable! He seems very interested in them. I've had roosters who were either just tolerable or excellent with chicks, never had a problem with having broodies raise chicks in the floxk with roosters.
I love this photo of my rooster (RIP Kiwi) with his girlfriend's adopted chicks. He loved to roost with them.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I've had roosters baby sit youngsters, which is handy. They'd protect, & feed them.

My boy Maran babysitting my Malays.

 

[My Bagurks]

The behavior I’ve seen from my roosters made me nervous the first time I let a new mama and her chicks out among the rest of the flock. I was pleasantly surprised as time went on with what happened when the chicks got scared of something. They would immediately run to mama for protection obviously, but as they got braver and went a little further away from her, I saw them run under the roosters at times. One in particular actually. And when I’d bring kitchen scraps, I’d often see a chick or two underneath a rooster pecking at food at his feet. He just stood there upright like he was saying to the rest of them, “they’re with me.” Some roosters are mean and don’t care for chicks or be oblivious to their existence. But some are down right sweet. Looks like you’ve got a softy.