Please help

[Kris5902]

Another thing to consider is perspective... everyone has different tolerances for behaviors. What I know to be an exploratory nip looking for food on my hand (considering there just was food in my hand) could seem like an aggressive bite to someone younger or with softer hands.

I have had one of my hens bite and make a tearing motion with her head, like she was trying to rip the flesh off... granted my current hand feeding treats to 13 chickens in a small dark box most certainly had something to do with that.

I would advise your family that not all bites are aggressive, and unless he shows other signs of aggression, it might not be time to pull out the stewpot just yet... I’d also consider getting more hens if you plan on keeping both roosters. Pairs, Trios, and Quads may work just fine, but just 2 hens and 2 roos could be problematic from everything I’ve heard.

 

[bobbi-j]

How hard did he “bite” (peck) your sister? How old is your sister? What were the circumstances? There are a lot of factors to consider before any advice here can be useful.

 

[feathermaid]

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.
It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

I agree... there are so many variables. I'm not able to keep a cock where I live currently, but I plan to when we move (eventually) though I admit I'm a bit intimidated. Is it all just luck of the draw in getting a decent "gentlemanly" roo? I always thought that's why breeders were able to keep only pairs together: because they're only breeding the best and nicest. But for backyard flocks (or small homesteads) what's the best way to get a well-behaved guy? And how do you know the actual best ratio to keep?

They are not cuddly dogs that can be trained to behave, the humans keeping them need to be 'trained'(well, dog keepers often need to be trained too).

Haha Yes! Training yourself to be a good trainer (or keeper) seems to be the hardest part!

 

[PirateGirl]

Here are a few articles on roosters from the learning center. I would take a look through as others have shared their experiences with raising roosters as well as various techniques of dealing with aggression in roosters. Hopefully this will give you some ideas of things you can try with your rooster and hopefully things mellow out for you and you do not have a repeat performance with an attack and things do not escalate.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/dealing-with-roosters-roo-behavior.48152/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/keeping-a-rooster.65700/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/rooster-flocks.72998/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-ever-misunderstood-rooster.72932/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/dealing-with-and-taming-aggressive-roosters.74600/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/rooster-attacks-you-or-your-kids-5-tips.74540/

 

[aart]

But for backyard flocks (or small homesteads) what's the best way to get a well-behaved guy? And how do you know the actual best ratio to keep?

IMO the keepers behavior has the greatest affect, tho there are birds that are just 'evil incarnate'.

There are no hard numbers for ratio...like many other things chicken, you have to understand their behaviors and manage accordingly.