Most docile rooster breed?

[akpeeps]

I think it has a lot to do with the individual bird and their temperment, and I don't think it hurts to handle them as much as possible. My two best roosters were a Silver Dorking, lost him to a fox last year, and currently a huge, 1 yo, 10 lb Blue Orpington. Both boys were handled as much as I possibly could from the get go because I didn't want aggressive roos. I knew the Orp would be huge and would have the potential do some serious damage. He was 6-8 wks old when I picked him up last summer and he rode the entire 3hr trip home asleep in my lap. I've babied that roo so much my husband just shakes his head and calls him a marshmallow, and he is. He's a momma's boy.

But, he lets our neighbor's 8 yo daughter carry him all over the place when she comes over and he's perfectly content to let me hold him and will go to sleep in my lap.

 

[mywifewasonherenowiamalso]

my sumatras get food for the babies and break it into peices for them and make these cluky sounds to get them to eat
game birds are bred to not be aggresive to people only other roosters

 

[Sorin]

I agree with a lot of people on here that it just depends on the individual Roo. Also, many people have told me that their sweet, loving cockerel, who they used to hold and pet turned into a nasty Roo once the hormones kicked in. So you may want to rethink cuddling and holding him when he is little. That said, I have always been partial to Cochins

I have not met a mean one yet. That doesn't mean they aren't out there, I just haven't seen one yet. My lone Roo is a Polish/Cochin mix and he is a perfect gentleman to his girls, and not aggressive to people at all. He doesn't like me near him, which is fine. One bit of advice, whatever you do get, I make sure when I bring my chickens treats that the rooster gets first dibs, and what he always does is give this to his girls. So that way, he looks at you as a source of food, not competition, and it keeps him in good with the girls

 

[cubalaya]

as far as roosters that we have had:
every barred rock turned mean
dominiques turned mean as they got older
old english game were mean and wouldnt back down
rir were agressive
cubalayas are pretty tame
black australorps are docile
delawares are nice so far.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Like many here, I think there is more variation in temperment from one roo to the next within any breed than from one breed to the next.

Though I am starting to suspect that some of these temperment traits may get passed down, have a few chicks right now a couple months old, some from a very layed back roo and some from a nutcase roo that now sleeps in the freezer. The little guys from the nutcase roo are already showing alot more aggession than the others.

 

[ccshambhala]

We have only had three roosters that I trust around my kids - one is a bantam mottled cochin - he is the kids favorite!! We have had him for 4 yrs. We even took him to my kids preschool two years in a row and he let all the kids hold him - and this year he went to my daughters kindergarten and let everyone hold him. He's an angel. We also had a bantam barred cochin that was good (altho the family we gave his brother too said they had problems with theirs going after the kids). We have a speckled sussex that is one yr old and he has not shown any aggression so far. We have a black copper marans cockerel that is still a baby that seems like he will stay sweet - he is super sweet now (but he is not yet mature).

 

[crazychicken5150]

I have a ameraucana roo and he is very sweet.

 

[Rowtag]

I think every bird is going to be different, so far I have had a number of banty roos and I don't think any of them were nice at all. I have had a few others who were okay, but my favorites by far have been two RIR boys. One was killed pretty young by a coon (sad, but it saved all the hens). My current RIR is great. He is very protective of his girls without being mean or aggressive to me or the dogs (despite my younger dog having chased him frequently as a puppy). I did socialize him pretty well, but I did not make a habit of picking him up and he still doesn't come running to be picked up, but when I need to get my hands on him I can and he loves on me once I pick him up. I think the slightly standoffish roos are better. He knows not to come at me or any other humans but will usually be the first to come beg treats so that he can share them with the hens. He tolerates other roosters very well and loves to baby sit chicks. I can raise the dinner roosters in with his flock and he never bothers them, puts them in their place sure, but he doesn't fight with much. I do realize though that he is not the norm and that I just got lucky. He is now three years old I think, and he did go through that hormonal phase when he tested me, but it only took once getting chased away from his hens for him to decide he liked me better when I was handing out treats than chasing him off. I think for sure it is trial and error with these guys and they have to hit that hormonal age before you really know if they will settle down into good protective roos or if they make it to dinner with you.

 

[MonicasGarden]

I have three Silkie roosters and 1 is an absolute love, the other two are aggressive...love attacking my feet, and both have bit me.
I also have an Ameraucana who is very tame, no aggressive behavior so far and another I'm not sure of... he is the boss though and won't let me too close, but no aggression. What do you think he is... Buff Orpington? or Plymouth Rock? or???

 

[crookedcreekranch]

I have 2 light brahma boys. They are about 1.5 years old now. They were raised together and are great roosters. They have 18 hens in with them. They will eat from my hand and have never been mean or aggressive. They do not like to be held, but they are really too big for that anyway. The only drawback is that they are HUGE and they do tear feathers out of the girls back. No blood or sores, just some bald backs. I think that is because they are so large. When I was learning about roosters someone on this website told me to not let them mount in my presence. That helps establish you as the "head" rooster. I have kept to that behavior, just bumping them off or yelling at them. They rarely mount now in my presence and have both turned out to be great roosters. They are in a large enclosed run and are not allowed out because of many predators. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. Hope that helps.