We had a rooster that wasn't our 'top rooster' and he was mean to the hens, just to be mean, not to do his thing, one would walk near him or eat near him and he'd go nuts. We ate him & his brother (who was the 'top rooster' and was mean to us) before the hens started laying, so I don't know they were doing their thing or not. Our rooster does his thing like clockwork, every egg I've cracked open has been fertilized, and we've never seen him do it, and KNOCK ON WOOD, the hens don't run from him and he never grabs them when we're around. We have some feathers around in the chicken coop, but some are his, and I think just thru normal shedding, most are in the nest boxes... When we take them treats, he makes a noise to call the hens over if they aren't at the corner of the run where we give them their treats. And he stands around and watches them eat. He chases me out of the run every morning when I let them out of the coop, but he's a good rooster for our hens, which is why we have him. He guards the nest boxes when the hens are in there, and he always inspects them after I've gathered eggs.
He gets really aggitated too when I pick up any of the hens.
