What predators can roosters actually kill/fend off?

[gjensen]

The White Sussex cock would make a good meal for a stoat, and everything else that eats chicken.

 

[oliverj102]

A local who has 6 loman hens said they had a stoat in their garden and the chickens attacked it! As a group mind but they went for it and chased it out. They said it looked like it was going to go for one then decided there was easier food that wouldn't tag team! I hope mine are as feisty !

 

[desertrocks]

Anyone that has been under seige by a 8-10lb rooster will probably agree that even if the predator is successful, it will not be a cakewalk.
Our 3 cats and 1 dog that share the yard with our 8m/o roo leave him alone and he only herds the cats once in awhile. Most of the time they pass by one another without a sideways look.
Anything else that enters the yard however, wild birds and such, is run off as soon as it is spotted.
I am confident that a good sized roo can provide pretty excellant security for his flock if allowed to act naturally.

 

[chickchick8]

I have a New Hamp rooster who is a pretty tough son of a gun. P. Allen walks right up to hawks and most of them get the message to leave. He's super observant and very alert, always gets his hens under cover. I love him- his progeny are just as ballsy. And he minds people and is very friendly. He's the best rooster I've had in the 11 years since I started with chickens. I don't think he'd stand a chance against a coyote, raccoon, or a feral dog but that's okay. I don't expect him to. His gutsy nature with the hawks and other smaller threats are just icing on the cake. He also does a wonderful job of keeping the dogs in check around the hens.

Contrast that to some roosters I've had that would sleep through a weasel attack in broad daylight. :\

Edited to say: I think there are some roosters, and I've had a few, that could easily deter human predators as well. I had a naked neck roo once that I swore should have been used in the fight against terrorism. That sucker was MEAN!!

 

[LukePalmer]

I've actully seen many videos of roosters taking on a hawk that's swooped down and missed the target and by the time it takes flight the rooster is on it straight away. I think it's all in the mindset. My south African mastiff which is a huge muscular 13 stone lost a tumble with a jack Russell x Yorkshire. But he also taught the bull in the nabouring field that approaching him is a bad idea lol. The best thing for a rooster todo is to lead the predator away from his hens and play a game of "catch me"

 

[old mcdanold]

yea my old roo used to run off cats and small raccoons even but a woopin on my lab yes a 110 pound black lab who thought it would be fun to chase chickens but in the end a yote got him and that was the end of freerangeing for my birds

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Most chicken vs. predator encounters end in the death of the chicken so do not count on rooster coming out on top. The exceptions to this general rule are lucky birds & we all talk about -- but they are the exceptions.

Some exceptions I have heard or witnessed {other than on this forum}: (1) once, my brother saw a Game Rooster on his tether hit and kill a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk that dove in after a hen (though the same game chicken farm has many losses to hawks all the time); (2) Some years ago, I heard my Bantam Game hen screaming one night, I went out with flash light to find her blindly flogging a opossum who was eating one of her chicks it had taken from under her in pitch darkness (I shot & killed the opossum which would have probably killed her next.); (3) One of my 9 lb Buckeye roosters I saw run at and chase off a juvenile Cooper's hawk diving for a hen (the young hawk was probably hungry and inexperienced at hunting) and (4) recently, I witnessed one of my Game Hens with her chicks who hit a large adult (female) Cooper's Hawk diving for her one month old chicks -- the hawk failed to get a chick and the hen flew in the air behind the hawk chasing it away. If you have not experienced it, a game hen with chicks can hit hard like a regular rooster & I have noticed they come for your face.

However, a determined, hungry predator will almost always win against a chicken. Please never trust that a rooster is some kind of deterrent -- he may sacrifice himself first.

I trust my dogs, donkey & mules to be my best defenses. They are more formidable against predators (except hawks).

at night a chicken is a helpless protein bar that is unable to defend itself.

I marvel at the Newby Chicken keepers who must ask how to get ahold of one of their birds. At night and when on the roost makes a chicken is about as vulnerable as a warm blooded animal can get to becoming a predator snack. Do have some consideration however. A hen or rooster snatched off the roost poll without first waking up may freak out on you.

 

[bonsaiherb]

I would add that to date my rooster and chickens seem to discourage the predation of seagulls when treats are put out. So far the seagull observes but does not compete.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Not saying we should cockfight but getting those tall 3' Vietnam cockfighting game birds would really kill a lot of predators.

No kidding! I was in Vietnam this summer. Those things are terrifying! And they fight them regularly. Saw young Hmong boys, maybe 7 y.o., pit a couple against each other. Those birds were as tall as the boys were. Whoo! Scared the heck outta me. Huge, fast, brutal, and hot under the hackle feathers!

 

[Brightside1]

Depends on how hungry the predator is.

My 2 roos and 6 chickens became coyote food a few weeks ago. They took 8 adult birds in 2 hours in broad daylight. I never had roos before, and this year I kept 2. I'm pretty sure their nonstop screaming to let the world know where they are at all times helped call in a hungry pack. I never had coyotes until I got roos this year. We free range our 11 acres and coop the birds at night, so after I kill this new coyote pack that moved in I'm going back to hens only.

With that much free range acreage I would think that the coyotes were inevitable. And a couple of good dogs will keep coyotes away for sure. My female beagle mix and my young Jersey roo are an infallible team.