Roosters are some of our favorite chickens. They have vigorous personalities, they're inquisitive, and they keep the flock safe.
HOW ROOSTERS KEEP A FLOCK SAFE
Roosters are constantly scanning the sky and their surroundings looking for predators or problems that can impact their flocks.
Roosters have a unique call they let out when they hear or see a hawk in their area. All chickens understand this call when he lets it out. If you have more than one rooster then you hear the call move across the flock as each little guy sends out his Emergency-alert tone. When the hens hear this call they run for cover because they understand danger from the sky is coming.
ROOSTERS TELL THE HENS WHERE TO GO
Roosters are very territorial, they learn their area and generally stick to managing it. They show the hens where treats are with a cute little dance and another unique vocalization generally referred to as "Tid Bitting". When he Tid Bits for the ladies he sends out a bunch of little clucks and burps, kicks his feet and pecks wildly to show the ladies where the food is. If you hand feed him he will rapidly pull off little tiny pieces and carefully set each down for one of his girls, then do it all over again, bite after bite... none for himself, he does it all for the girls (he has his own motives LOL).
ROOSTER PERSONALITIES
The personality of a rooster ranges from total jerk to complete teddy bear - which personality you get has more to do with breed and breeding than with anything you as their owner can do or control.
We hand raise our birds, we feed them individually and care for them so they know we're friends. All this care and concern goes out the window when roosters become adults at around six months of age.
Your sweet little guy may continue to be polite or he may turn into a feisty little jerk who likes to sneak up behind you and kick you or give you a good peck to let you know who's boss.
Two of our oldest roosters (Raven and Frizzel) are not to be trusted, interacting with them means caution...
Raven stays in a large cage area with his personal group of ladies, he is a beautiful black bantam (size), Cochin (breed), with massive feathered feet that look a little like giant snow shoes or clown feet. He has a bright red comb and long bright red wattles that dangle and flap around when he walks, the bright red color stands out against his glistening shiny black feathers. It's a good thing he is so good looking because in spite of his careful rearing when he was young he is a total jerk (I'm using kind descriptive words here). Raven is six years old now but if you go into his cage he will go "All In" on trying to kill you, he will do his jumping kick move where he jumps up in the air and kicks at you with his feet, claws and spurs - if he catches you right he will inflict a minor wound so it's not the most endearing thing he does.
Frizzel is similar to Raven, bantam (compact size) and Cochin (breed) but he has the weird genetics that give him fluffy funny-looking feathers. He looks like he is wearing a massive fluffy coat, it undulates and moves around as he struts around his area. He is a sneaky little jerk like Raven but he is so entertaining to wathc that we keep his pen nearby our gym so we can watch him try to woo one of the girls to come visit. Frizzel has no social skills, he rarely tid bits for the girls, he struts around like a professional wrestler and it takes a special hen to become friends with him. The girls must agree, he's good looking because for some dumb reason they keep coming to visit this little entertainer.
ROOSTERS FIGHT
Generally speaking you can't have two roosters in the same physical area together because they are very protective of their turf and will fight to become the owner of the space.
It's this fight to be king of their flock that drives some roosters to be bigger jerks than others. If you have a rooster that attacks you it's probably because he perceives you as a threat to his world (even if you're the one who delivers the treats and meals).
We keep our chicken area divided into separate areas to keep the roosters from killing each other. If they are allowed to fight they can inflict terrible bloody wounds on each other's combs and wattles.
The fighting is not a favorite attribute of roosters but once you understand what causes it and what you can do to prevent it, then it is easier to sit back and just enjoy their antics as they go about their job of woooing the ladies.