The thing with roosters is.. you have to love your rooster. That was my mistake the first two rounds. I didn't really feel passionate about them. That, and they weren't an ideal fit for me. That's the other thing- there are TONS of roosters out there. Plenty of mean ones, but many good ones also. BE PICKY! It's okay to not find the perfect male on the first try. It rarely happens. I've never had a mean rooster either, just ones that didn't work out.
First roo: A barred rock named Sweetie, because he was a doll. Cuddly, loving. But he got rough with the younger pullets so he had to go. We rehomed him with someone who had older hens who knew how to handle him.
Second/third roos: bantam cochins, Donnie and Felix. We were smitten. We thought our young hens would be safe, alas, we didn't account for team work. They would gang up and harass the pullets, so they were separated and went to homes with lots of bantam hens for them.
Fourth roo: Rugie, Blue Croad Langshan. A poultry prince charming, if I ever met one. I hadn't intended on another male, traumatized alongside my hens that there were no good ones out there. A friend convinced us to try him. We weren't prepared for his sheer size, a staggering six lbs at little more than six months old. We expected a giant personality. We were met with a giant goofball. We brought Rugie home the week we had to leave on Christmas holiday. Needless to say we were concerned about leaving him with our flock. But, when we came back, we found him cuddling our hens, gentle as you like. Floored, we continued expecting a streak of ferocity. It hasn't shown, and he's a 9.5 lb two year old now. Still growing, 2.5 ft tall, and gentle as ever. He never bites, has only tried to "get" us a couple times when we have startled him, or when his hormones are raging and he gets a little too big for himself. He tries to nip ankles, quickly scolded and then he is a gentleman all over again. Just this morning I caught him to show a friend, who couldn't believe I could go in and scoop him up without fuss. He likes to be held, fawned over, and spoiled. Never tries to peck or bite or get down. Crows a little, usually when he doesn't like something. He doesn't care for men, so when my male neighbors come into our yard Rugie stands a yard away and crows at them nonstop until they leave. He also crows at the mailman. On Sunday, he crows around the time the mailman would come. He has gorgeous babies, all blue, black, lavender, silver, and we got our first splash this May, which we are hopefully keeping. I could go on and on, but suffice to say if you want someone else to love your rooster, you have to love him first!
