This is to be expected in a bad rooster and any offspring he might have.
It's not to be expected in a good rooster or any offspring he might have.
I think it would be a disservice to the breed to utilize a vicious male. He is both human aggressive and hen aggressive, a loss in two ways there, and also averse to coming back to the coop to roost, so he's a very likely one to breed antisocial offspring on top of their likely inherited viciousness. Never worth it in my opinion.
I have tried retraining and breeding out bad traits and it's never once been worth the bother. If he does gain a fear of you and stop attacking, which is rare but not unheard of, there is still a better chance than not that he'll have vicious offspring nonetheless. His behavior is symptomatic of a deeper problem, an incorrect mindset, or warped instincts and perceptions. The surface symptoms you have a slight chance of altering but the underlying issue remains and breeds true far more often than not.
It's almost entirely breeding, not training. About 99% breeding, or even higher, in my experience, since I've never seen another aggressive rooster emerge in all the generations I've bred since culling for human-, hen-, chick- and excess male-to-male- aggressions.
In my experience there are some chooks who can go several ways (friendly or unfriendly, or the middle ground, which is aloof) depending on their life experiences, but the majority have either a bent towards being peaceful or violent. A violent bird needs no excuse to attack. In future, with a bit of experience, you can spot nasty birds as chicks. I bet you he would have given some subtle signs which with more experience you would have noted.
The ratio of hens is not what makes him either pacifist or violent. It's a deeper inherited behavioral pattern. His father was most likely just the same. It's utterly unnatural for a rooster to abuse a hen but due to humans keeping roosters that do, it's normal. Giving him more hens won't guarantee he'll treat them well at all, and it certainly won't fix his human aggression issues.
I disagree about that. I've handled all my males, without exception, and only one has ever attacked me; this male was not of my breeding, and I didn't let him pass on his genes, which solved that problem. I've handled hundreds and hundreds of roosters from all sorts of genetics. Most I raised, but some I bought in as adults. None attacked any human. Not breeding violent males is key.
I would never, ever buy from someone who keeps males who have attacked a human. Likewise, I'd never buy from someone who thinks all males are just inherently violent.
I think most of the posts you've read on violent roosters were written by newer poultry keepers, since most people with years of experience no longer have such issues, whether they've followed my chosen method of culling it out or have caged their aggressive males or have followed your methods and found they work for them, or whatever their methods were.
I don't believe handling makes them view you as subordinate or equal. Trust and friendliness are far safer traits to rely on than fear and mistrust. If the bird perceives that you and itself are in the same social order, then it is always in the back of its mind watching for an opportunity to move up the hierarchy. I won't tolerate a rooster who might one day feel brave enough to attack me or a child.
I think if they view you as the 'top rooster' then that's a fault in itself; I'm not a rooster, and neither is any human. The majority of chickens understand we are not chickens, just like they understand a dog is not a chicken, neither is a cat, or a hawk, and so forth. Some don't perceive the difference and these I cull. These ones tend to be dangerously aberrant. My roosters' respect for humans is not based on every human's ability to physically dominate them. If my ability to back up my alpha rooster status is what keeps him respectful, then where is the rooster's respect for children who can't reinforce their alpha male status if challenged? Too risky. Roosters can do terrible and even fatal damage. There's so many great males out there, why breed the worst ones?
This is a controversial issue which basically divides poultry keepers according to their breeding philosophies. According to people's beliefs, their strains of breeds are shaped, and you can expect these beliefs to be reflected in the behavior of their animals. What you believe is 'normal' is what your animals will come to embody over the generations; 'normal' is whatever you believe it is. Personally, I would not give this rooster another chance because he's attacked a child as well as an adult. If it was just the hens being plucked, and he was of rare and good genetic stock, I might make an exception, but he's not, and human aggression is the absolutely last straw in my books. But whatever your choices, best wishes.
