KowTippin,
I agree with a lot of what the other posters said, that breed matters and how you raise your chickens and rooster matters a great deal too. Clearly, your children are used to farm animals and if they're not, I imagine from what you wrote that part of the experience is so they can also learn to respect and work with the animals as well. Good for you! Lucky children you have, getting exposed to this lifestyle and learning so much.
I'd would recommend a Barred Rock for your rooster. This is based on my experience. My rooster is a BR and he is AWESOME in every way. I raised him with the other chicks from a week old and picked him from a group of 8 cockerals. I made the right choice. When he was a juvenile, he went through that stage where he didn't have much in the way of manners towards the mature hens. He'd pretty much chase them down and well... you know, take them. They didn't want to be dominated and he didn't know how to court them. But as he grew and they grew, he now tidbits for them, they flock around him always.
As he hit that juvenile stage, he also challenged his authority with me. He tried that Matrix-like fly through the air kicking my boots with both feet at the same time trick. Funny to watch, he was so full of himself doing it. I of course, made sure he knew that was not acceptable. I didn't do anything harsh, just caught him by the tail feathers, picked him up and sat with him petting him in front of the rest of the flock. I put him down when I was good and ready and on my timing, not his. This happened once or twice as he was trying to figure out if I was higher or lower in the pecking order than he is and now he knows. Now, I walk up to him and all he does is tidbit for me. Usually, it's some stick or piece of straw but he's trying to win me over, silly boy. Not one sign of aggression from him towards me, my husband or any of our many visitors. Perfect gentleman towards humans.
One thing that's been especially interesting to watch as he grows and the hens maturate is that he knows when each hen is about to reach the point of lay. He starts mating with them, of course. But then, he spends time with each of them showing them the proper place to lay their egg, which is in the hen house. I free range so him showing them THE ONE CORRECT PLACE to lay the egg is VERY important to me so I don't have to hunt all over the woods for the eggs! He's funny to watch, clucking around and laying on the straw right next to the nest box to demonstrate where to lay the egg and the hen just watching him intently. Then... here comes the best part, he stayed with the hen the entire time she laid her first egg. I saw him do this twice with 2 separate hens. One time, he stayed with her for an hour and 45 minutes while she messed around in the hen house picking a nest box and just doing I don't know what until she could lay her very first egg. He stayed there with her the entire time, clucking to show her where to lay the egg and keeping her company. Now, she sticks to him like glue. Where he goes, she goes.
And predator protection is way better with a good rooster. He alerts for overhead predators (hawks) and the flock runs for cover. He's constantly looking for anything or anyone entering the area and he has a special warning squawk that says "I see something, Everyone. I don't know if it's a threat yet but I'm just putting you on notice." They'll be up in the woods and he'll perch up on something high. He'll survey the area while all the other chickens are foraging. He comes RUNNING to see what any noise is, checking it out, making sure everything is OK. I don't know when he eats because he's always so busy all day. I think it must be in the morning when they first get up.
After a hen lays an egg in the hen house, if he hears her singing the egg song, he'll go get her and escort her back to wherever the rest of the flock is hanging out. He can be way up in the woods pretty far away with the rest of the flock and he'll hear her. He'll come running down from the woods, find her, sometimes take a second to mate with her (!), then they both go back to re-join the rest of the flock together. I can tell that the hens really do appreciate this because when they sing their egg song and he is too far away and can't hear her, the hen seems lost and lonely for a bit and seems at a loss for what to do or where to go look for the flock. Sometimes, I'll help the hen find the flock but it sure is nice when the rooster takes care of this and helps the hen.
Then... I got a new dog, my 3rd. That's when I knew this rooster was the bomb. Whenever the rooster spotted the dog, he'd sound a more urgent predator alarm. For the first many days, the rooster planted himself between the flock and the new dog. After he seemed somewhat sure the dog was not a huge threat, the rooster would semi-charge the dog to show the dog he meant business and was not to be messed with and that he was not going to put up with that dog getting near his flock. I'm not saying it was smart of the rooster to do this but it does show that he's taking his protector of the flock part of his job very, very seriously. Dead serious, I'd say! I do believe the rooster would have tried to fight the dog if it came to that. Of course, I was very careful with every interaction the dog had with the flock to ensure everyone's safety and to ensure the dog learned well that the chickens were ours to protect (not kill or eat) but that's another story. The point is, the rooster did a great job helping the dog understand the chickens were not toys or food or to be otherwise messed with.
I know many have chickens with no rooster for various reasons (don't want one, don't need one, can't have one due to regulations). Some say that a hen will take over many of these functions when there is no rooster present and I'm sure that's 100% true. It is hard for me to imagine a hen doing all these functions (Going and getting a hen that just laid an egg to help her back to the flock? Sitting with her while she lays her first egg? Taking on a dog?) Finally, I also want a broody hen to raise some chicks for me some day and I can't do that without a rooster.
And just for sheer personality alone, a rooster is loads of fun. For me, a rooster makes the flock immensely more interesting and entertaining. And anyone who says that all roosters are mean are wrong. Some roosters are mean by nature. I had 2 of these, Rhode Island Reds, raised them the same as the others and they were just ornery. But when you get the right rooster and raise them well, you get a great addition to your flock. And... if you find your rooster is not working out... truly, I'm not being crass, there is the dinner table. This can be an integral part of having chickens too. But that's another topic all together.
Hope this helps,
Guppy
