K Bennett

Well said Jay Green, I do agree with you. As this was my first rooster, I certainly was ill prepared on exactly what is involved with their characteristics, perhaps if I would have known she was a he earlier I might have done a better job with the situation. I blame myself for not preparing my kids on how to act around a rooster as I do with the dogs. As I said before, its not worth it for me to undo the damage so I have decided to soup it. (its a good excuse to try my first known rooster soup anyway) I do enjoy the roosters and will certainly get another one and properly prepare my children. However, I did get my 2 yo to walk right up to him to throw some scratch down and help me get eggs tonight. She definitely is not at the level of Craig's 2yo, but were working on it.
Bottom line, we are working on that issue. However the opinion I was offering was that of this particular rooster, how my kids have reacted, and his ability to protect the flock.

I do think your post offers the best advice for someone who wants a rooster, and can appropriately plan for it with their children...
...with that said, I promised my wife I would post her comment; she emphatically declares her innocence about her rooster attacker. She claims to have been working in the garden and minding her own business when out of no where this rooster pecked at her eye leaving a scar visible to this day. Now if you have not had a cranky rooster in 37 years, I agree that it cant be luck. And probably more how you interact with them. I dont know how they interacted with the chickens at her age, so take it for what its worth.

Thanks for the insight Jay.

I came to this site because I was searching how to harvest my very first chicken...or in this case rooster. I thought I would post my thought here since you were wondering about a rooster playing nice with children and defending the flock. I started out with 5 hens and a rooster but not by choice, the rooster (a black Australorp) was supposed to be a hen. I decided I did not want any roosters because my wife has a small scar under her eye from a run in with a rooster during her childhood. According to her, they always go after your eyes. I did not take the time to verify this because for me the chance of one of my young children losing an eye was not even worth the time researching it as I mainly wanted laying hens. But, alas my hen ended up being a rooster. My kids were fine with the rooster at first, but he has chased them and gotten all puffed up at them as if he was posturing. While he did not actually "attack" them, the fear they now have about going in our backyard to play supersedes any desire I have in keeping him. Hence why I am here to learn the best way to harvest him.

Oh and as far as protecting the flock; I am down to 2 hens. The other 3 were eaten by either a fox or a weasel. He is big, beautiful and loud...but thats about it, so as far as a real need for a rooster: It is my opinion that unless you want fertilized eggs, there is no real advantage to having a rooster around. I do enjoy their "attitude", size, and colors, so I may get another one someday for that purpose.

I should note; black australorp is the only rooster I have personally owned. He is fine around me and does not posture, but all the women in my home, he goes after. It almost makes me think of the alpha male pack leader characteristics in dog packs. I do not know enough about chickens to comment on that though, just my observations. I have been around a few silkies and they seemed calm to me. So if you are determined to get a rooster, I would research the breeds to see what might be best. I would think maybe a smaller rooster would also be less intimidating to young children, as this australorp I have is one of the biggest chickens I have ever seen.