What rooster breeds do best at watching over a flock?

[CHICKENX2005]

What rooster breeds do you all think do best at watching over a flock? And what rooster breeds are worst at watching over a flock? I know individuals are all different but in general what have you observed and what have other chicken owners said?

 

[fluffycrow]

Being a good observer and knowing when to sound warning calls is not only an individual thing, but also has to do with age. When birds are younger, and do not yet have much experience with predators (especially when not raised by a broody), they tend to spook very easily, even at the sound of a dove. With age, they get better.



As long as the rooster doesn't have any feature stopping it from doing its job as sentinel(as is the case with most polish roosters and their enormous crests that reach their eyes), you should be good

 

[CHICKENX2005]

Being a good observer and knowing when to sound warning calls is not only an individual thing, but also has to do with age. When birds are younger, and do not yet have much experience with predators (especially when not raised by a broody), they tend to spook very easily, even at the sound of a dove. With age, they get better.



As long as the rooster doesn't have any feature stopping it from doing its job as sentinel(as is the case with most polish roosters and their enormous crests that reach their eyes), you should be good

So roosters that are raised by a hen are better at watching over the flock then those raised by humans? If so is there a way to help teach a cockerel that a buy/hatch as a day old chick to be a better sentinel. And what age range do you think that a rooster is best at watching the flock. I would imagine that not just young but also very old roosters won't do as good. But I'm not sure.

 

[145chuckens]

So roosters that are raised by a hen are better at watching over the flock then those raised by humans? If so is there a way to help teach a cockerel that a buy/hatch as a day old chick to be a better sentinel. And what age range do you think that a rooster is best at watching the flock. I would imagine that not just young but also very old roosters won't do as good. But I'm not sure.

I would love to know the answers to chickenx2005's questions too. I have a lot of hawk problems and am curious as to what roos do best at watching out for hawks. My roo is a leghorn mix and he does great but I'm really curious if that's common for the breed/mix or not and what other breeds do good.
Thank you

 

[BantyChooks]

Honestly, I haven’t noticed a pattern. The best rooster I ever had was a silkie and he watched over the flock very well, alerting for hawks and keeping an eye on the skies. Other silkie roosters that I’ve had were completely useless.
Other good roosters I’ve had include Plymouth Rocks and Chanteclers.

 

[fluffycrow]

So roosters that are raised by a hen are better at watching over the flock then those raised by humans? If so is there a way to help teach a cockerel that a buy/hatch as a day old chick to be a better sentinel. And what age range do you think that a rooster is best at watching the flock. I would imagine that not just young but also very old roosters won't do as good. But I'm not sure.

A cockerel raised by a hen is better equipped to watch over the flock, but what really matters is his individual temperament. A broody raised bird will be more accustomed to predators of the area they were raised in, but it does not make them inherently superior. A brooder raised bird will take more time to familiarise with the environment and its predators, but it'll get there eventually. What matters most is that your male is naturally aware and observant. I would agree with the age range you have provided.

Although I will say that older roosters only have problems with watching over their groups when they are experiencing health problems, or when they have really slowed down from age. A healthy 8, 9 year old rooster has no problem watching out for the flock

 

[rural mouse]

I have a gold penciled hamburg. He's a little guy (4.5 pounds sopping wet), but is very alert and the first to sound alerts over aerial threats. He's also incredibly quick (he's faster than my leghorn based hens).

I've had a jersey giant as well. Incredibly protective. He paced circles around the coop while a hen was broody in the coop, telling her about everything going on outside. I've heard stories about them (working together) killing hawks.

Both had older experienced birds teaching the younger ones about life. Notice I didn't say were broody raised. I got the hamburg (and other babies) into thee coop at an earlier age than the giant was, but still much later than I do now. Broodies talk to babies while still in eggs. When using incubators or farm store/shipped babies, I put them in a modified tote in the coop with the mama hen heating pad (found info on byc) from the beginning. The adults do the raising and its almost as good as broody raised.

 

[CHICKENX2005]

I have a gold penciled hamburg. He's a little guy (4.5 pounds sopping wet), but is very alert and the first to sound alerts over aerial threats. He's also incredibly quick (he's faster than my leghorn based hens).

I've had a jersey giant as well. Incredibly protective. He paced circles around the coop while a hen was broody in the coop, telling her about everything going on outside. I've heard stories about them (working together) killing hawks.

Both had older experienced birds teaching the younger ones about life. Notice I didn't say were broody raised. I got the hamburg (and other babies) into thee coop at an earlier age than the giant was, but still much later than I do now. Broodies talk to babies while still in eggs. When using incubators or farm store/shipped babies, I put them in a modified tote in the coop with the mama hen heating pad (found info on byc) from the beginning. The adults do the raising and its almost as good as broody raised.

So do you mean that you had the chicks in their own cage but where the older chickens can see them. Or where they in the same run as the older chickens?

 

[rural mouse]

So do you mean that you had the chicks in their own cage but where the older chickens can see them. Or where they in the same run as the older chickens?

Tote with windows and baby hatches inside the coop.

Whole thing tucked under the nest boxes. Adults won't let babies outside until they deem them big enough/temp warm enough/babies know alert sounds? for them to venture outside.

 

[rural mouse]

These babies came from feed store.