Will my less aggressive rooster defend my flock if I get rid my aggressive one?

[ChickenEnclave]

Hello everyone. This is something a bit serious. I have a Americana named Rocky dominant rooster who is very aggressive. I have tried to calm him as much as I can but he seems relentless. I have done the dominance stance and put him on the ground with his head held down for 30 seconds. This calms him down for a few hours but the next day he'll start attacking my foot (I have boots so he hasn't hurt me.) Well not completely. I do grab him and hold him. I tried to comb his head to calm him down. The other day he bit my hand and my chin. Hurt but no blood so was not big a deal but he is getting very aggressive.

My other roosters are wimps and so far none fight (they are still young though so spring time will show if they will) Point of this post is that my Rooster Rocky I'm thinking of culling. But my question to all of you as a new chicken owner will my other roosters who are not aggressive and are compete wimps (2 are more skittish than the hens) will they be willing defend my hens while free ranging or would I have to endure Rocky being aggressive to be the one to defend them? I wonder if my roosters growing with him being dominant will not know to defend them from predators? Hope not. Thanks in advance. Picture below is Rocky. He does have a mean look

 

[SueT]

I will not endure an aggressive rooster. One of the others will probably step up. Right now, they aren’t allowed to. I’d give them a chance.

 

[fluffycrow]

Relying on your male to be a guard animal will result in him, and most likely some of the girls killed. The males are not there for protection they're there for alerting the other birds to the danger, which then lets each bird make a choice on how to react. Some run to the closest cover, some stay still and very close to the ground (mostly young birds), etc

 

[ChickenEnclave]

Relying on your male to be a guard animal will result in him, and most likely some of the girls killed. The males are not there for protection they're there for alerting the other birds to the danger, which then lets each bird make a choice on how to react. Some run to the closest cover, some stay still and very close to the ground (mostly young birds), etc

I gotcha. I thought roosters would defend the flock. I try to be with them most of the time but sometimes I'm not. So I'll keep this mind. I'm that case I'm more inclined now to cull him. Thank you!

 

[Perris]

Please read this article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/
it will help you and your roos.

 

[Mygoose]

Hello everyone. This is something a bit serious. I have a Americana named Rocky dominant rooster who is very aggressive. I have tried to calm him as much as I can but he seems relentless. I have done the dominance stance and put him on the ground with his head held down for 30 seconds. This calms him down for a few hours but the next day he'll start attacking my foot (I have boots so he hasn't hurt me.) Well not completely. I do grab him and hold him. I tried to comb his head to calm him down. The other day he bit my hand and my chin. Hurt but no blood so was not big a deal but he is getting very aggressive.

My other roosters are wimps and so far none fight (they are still young though so springtime will show if they will) Point of this post is that my Rooster Rocky I'm thinking of culling. But my question to all of you as a new chicken owner will my other roosters who are not aggressive and are compete wimps (2 are more skittish than the hens) will they be willing to defend my hens while free ranging or would I have to endure Rocky being aggressive to be the one to defend them? I wonder if my roosters growing with him being dominant will not know to defend them from predators? Hope not. Thanks in advance. The picture below is Rocky. He does have a mean look

Are you trying to defend the flock against ground predators, or aerial, or both? We have a goose to defend against aerial. Do you pick up or touch the hens a lot? Is there anything that could explain the behavior?

 

[K0k0shka]

Some roosters will try to defend in addition to alert, but not all. For every cool video of an alpha rooster bravely throwing himself at the predator, there are all the other alpha roosters out there who gave the call and then just ran away with the hens. So while a rooster can help somewhat, he can't really protect a flock. If you let them free range, you should accept the risk of loss as part of the deal.

With the head rooster gone, one of the others will probably step up to take his place as alpha, either peacefully, or they'll fight to figure out who takes the throne. Whether that new alpha will protect in addition to alerting though, is anybody's guess. He'll be at the top of the hierarchy within the flock, but what else he does with his power is up to him.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Are all of your roosters americana? I've heard that sometimes different breeds of
roosters are better or worse at protecting the flock.

 

[Folly's place]

While he's attacking you, the Giant Who Brings Food, he's not looking out for actual dangers, or tidbitting his flock members, or doing anything actually useful.
Many of us put up with a miserable first rooster when we started having chickens, and we learned that life is just too short to have one like this guy. You won't make him nicer, best to invite him to dinner, for you or another family.
One of your youngsters may be the perfect rooster, or not. Once this jerk is gone, flock dynamics will change, and you can see who rises to the challenge.
Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

I do think this one needs to go.

I do notice better flock protection with a good rooster, but not all roosters are good ones.

How many birds do you have? How many roosters? I had a pair of boys this fall, removed one and the whole flock changed for the better, but really no way to predict.

The best way to a good rooster is a sharp knife. Even if you don’t get a good one out of your current flock, there are a lot of roosters. Start looking, what you want is the best rooster, a rotten one just keeps you longer from that.

Mrs K