What predators can roosters actually kill/fend off?

[ginbart]

Last year for some reason when my son in law came over he left his dog out and just forgot about him then he went home.

I didn't know the dog was here and he killed my only rooster and 4 of my hens. If you wanted to see some one lose it you should have seen me. The dog did have cuts on him and he was green because he went in the little pond we had. I wanted to kill the dog but it wasn't his fault. I think my rooster was only about 9 months old but he did his best.

Now the rooster I just killed last week because he went after my husband and son all the time. He didn't go after me but my son came in the house screaming like a girl, he's 13, and said MOM GO OUT AND SHOOT THAT ROOSTER. I did and then he started crying. That rooster didn't know he was not the boss and so he went down. I don't understand why he was like that I held him all the time. It must have been a man thing.

 

[centrarchid]

When a rooster is killed during daylight hours, very seldom is the rooster the aggressor even shortly before the deed is done. I have seen roosters in trouble many times of the years and usually they are not even able to scratch their attacker, especially if the attacker knows what it is doing. I have seen adult roosters run off naive predators / animals but even then rooster is often clearly frightnened and always ready to run away if predator becomes more serious. Problem for rooster under those conditions is he is not fast enough. After dark roosters are helpless as far as I can tell. I have never seen a rooster kill anything of size other than another bird and have not seen any raptors killed by rooster even though I value free-range roosters mostly for prevention of losses to daytime birds of prey. I have watched my birds for a long time in predator rich environments and my birds are not wimps.

My concern is that too much confidence is placed io the use of roosters as anitpredator mechanisms which will result in folks being willing to put roosters and flocks in general too much in harms way.

 

[psychik]

Our very large Buff Orpington was killed in the middle of the afternoon by a hawk. Our employee was sitting at his desk, looking out the window watching the rooster scratch around when the hawk swooped down and decapitated our guy with one swipe.

The rooster was done for sure. Our employee turned completely white and left for the day. He talked about it for about a month and then quit! So traumatic for a city boy!

 

[centrarchid]

Our very large Buff Orpington was killed in the middle of the afternoon by a hawk. Our employee was sitting at his desk, looking out the window watching the rooster scratch around when the hawk swooped down and decapitated our guy with one swipe.

The rooster was done for sure. Our employee turned completely white and left for the day. He talked about it for about a month and then quit! So traumatic for a city boy!

Details in observation are missing. Hawk can not yank head off, rather head was eaten after kill was made. Hawks and owls are prone to consume head and neck, especially of larger prey before going after balance. Other predators will sometimes go for head first as well but it is not an event like your observer described.

Hawk was on victim for some time and part of that may not have been all that pleasant to watch, especially if observer emphasizes with chicken. It is also hard to watch if high value placed on chicken. Other issues may have complicated employees day where observation is concerned.

 

[Our Roost]

centrarchid, A red tailed hawk kill 2 of my birds. Both were killed at different times. What I observed was quick and brief on one bird ( that attack I watched)and very dramatic on the second. Lets just say that after it had the bird entrapped by its talons, it proceeded to immediately remove the head of my chicken. Dont know if that is part of their kill tactics but that was the first thing he devoured. I wasnt as lucky to be around for the second kill but the head was gone and he managed to eat through to the heart on the second bird before I got there. Swooped down and Decapitated with one swipe was probally the most dramatic way to describe the event and posted that way. No wrong no foul there, Just perspective viewing. Anyway you look at it, the bird lost its head!

 

[MrsBachbach]

And that's one rooster I'd have culled as a predator. No way I'd put up with that. A rooster does not have to be human aggressive to be a good breeder and flock leader. Mine are bred for temperament; to me, that's just as important a breed trait as any characteristic in the Standard of Perfection. Most backyard flock keepers prefer a non-human-aggressive rooster.

Where did you get the idea I was breeding him? I raise Ameraucanas, not EE's, and I do breed to the standard of perfection. Just because I had an EE years ago does not mean I bred him to Ameraucanas or even sold him for that matter. The bird was culled the following year, btw. Don't assume so much.

 

[centrarchid]

centrarchid, A red tailed hawk kill 2 of my birds. Both were killed at different times. What I observed was quick and brief on one bird ( that attack I watched)and very dramatic on the second. Lets just say that after it had the bird entrapped by its talons, it proceeded to immediately remove the head of my chicken. Dont know if that is part of their kill tactics but that was the first thing he devoured. I wasnt as lucky to be around for the second kill but the head was gone and he managed to eat through to the heart on the second bird before I got there. Swooped down and Decapitated with one swipe was probally the most dramatic way to describe the event and posted that way. No wrong no foul there, Just perspective viewing. Anyway you look at it, the bird lost its head!

I am striving for accuracy of descriptions. First hand is better and direct observation is better yet.

 

[speckledhen]

Where did you get the idea I was breeding him? I raise Ameraucanas, not EE's, and I do breed to the standard of perfection. Just because I had an EE years ago does not mean I bred him to Ameraucanas or even sold him for that matter. The bird was culled the following year, btw. Don't assume so much.

Your reply has confused me. You seem to have misunderstood my point. I didn't say nor did I assume that you were breeding him, just that my own personal policy is that a human aggressive large fowl rooster does not stay here, that I breed for temperament because it is heritable. Many folks do believe that it's completely fine or tolerable rooster behavior for him to flog the hand that feeds him. No one was even discussing EEs vs Ameraucanas so not sure where that came from.

My reference to the Standard of Perfection was only to emphasize how important of a trait I feel temperament is in a rooster, as much as eye color or body type, just as much of a trait to be bred for-had nothing to do with you breeding your rooster. Not sure how you got that from what I said. Please re-read my reply for clarity-it had nothing to do with the breed of your rooster.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Roosters are just slightly larger CHICKENS, and don't fend off any determined predators any more than a mad hen could

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... Hawk can not yank head off, rather head was eaten after kill was made. Hawks and owls are prone to consume head and neck, especially of larger prey before going after balance.
...Hawk was on victim for some time and part of that may not have been all that pleasant to watch, especially if observer emphasizes with chicken.
...It is also hard to watch if high value placed on chicken. ...

In my humble opinion hawks eat the head and neck first because there are fewer feathers on the head and neck that the hawk must ripped out to get to the flesh.
.
I have said it here before, and centrachid is 100% correct. Those dashing predators of the skies hawks and owls slowly eat their victims alive or until the chicken slowly succumbs from trauma or shock. I truly believe that some forms of intestinal parasites can kill a chicken faster than a red tailed hawk can.

Warning graphic photos:

There is nothing noble about a hawk killing and eating a chicken. Last Winter I watched a blue darter (Sharp Shinned) hawk catch and kill a migrating orchard oriole not 30 feet away from me. On this size bird a sharp shinned hawk is an efficient killer. However on a bird the size of a pigeon the sharp shinned hawk is out of its league. No hawk is an efficient killer on a chicken sized bird. A falcon (not a hawk) comes the closest but falcons kill game birds like ducks on the wing with one fatal stoop often at speeds of over 200MPH.

Over the years I have rescued chickens that have been in the clutches of hawks or owls for 10 minutes or more, and most of the time the chicken fully recovered.