Bad rooster

[Conan]

I really do love my bantam roo - Marilyn Manson. I named him Marilyn when I thought he was a girl... I adjusted as necessary. He is so much quieter than a standard rooster. I never hear him crow unless I am outside. I can hear the neighbor's rooster though
Also, yes - They really are so gorgeous!

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[Chickens and kittens]

Dang what a tuff rooster! When I kick my rooster he kind of just stumbles off I don't feel bad though because he never learns his lesson. Yeah roosters are really handsome we have a silver laced polish I think he was called and he constantly crows I think he's more feathers then brains.

 

[nminusyplusm]

We don't want to give him away or eat him since he's the only thing protecting the defenseless hens from whatever has been burrowing under the coop.

Can you post pics of your coop? Maybe we can help with ideas on how to secure it.

 

[Chickens and kittens]

Oh, well I don't have any pictures of it at the moment and it's dark outside but it's pretty much just a rectangle 16 by 28 I think, and the floors are just sand like outside with some hay on the floor for the duck to sleep in they roost on the beems going across the ceiling.

 

[Conan]

Are the tunnels under the coop rat tunnels? We had a terrible rat problem awhile back, to the point that it actually contributed to a serious problem with the integrity of the ground beneath the coop. We shoved a hose in one hole and and posted ourselves and the dogs at exit points. We got rid of a massive colony that way over a couple of sessions.

 

[Chickens and kittens]

Here's what the rooster looks like. This is not him but he looks a lot like this one. It's hard to take him seriously with his big poof on his head.

 

[Chickens and kittens]

Well they're not tunnels ya know what it looks like when a dog digs under a fence that's what it looks like but it's way to small for a dog once I even found a broken egg in the hole.

 

[Conan]

Hmmm, weird. Where are you located? That usually helps folks help determine possible predators and what to do about them... I will say that where I am, in Western Washington, the rats are BIG. Those filthy Norway rats are versatile and I have found egg shells in the holes they dig as well.

 

[Chickens and kittens]

I have to go to bed but please keep posting any advise or questions they help so much! I'll get back to this ASAP! Good night.

Some info you may need to know.
We have many cats and six chickens and one male duck they all live together peacefully. We have possums, dogs, raccoons, miners cats, ocelots, owls, coyotes, a lot of snakes, pigs, rats, and many other animals around our area. The chickens get let out in the late afternoon for a very long reason and they stay in the coop when we're on vacation. We have predator lights on the coop about a foot up. Once I noticed something had dug under the coops walls and broken an egg in the hole none of the chickens were harmed but that was just once and about a week ago. We're located in southern Texas I don't want to give away exactly where we live for obvious reasons but I do understand why y'all would need to know to be able to help me. We have a pretty big coop and there is a tiny coop inside the big coop the tiny coop is about 2 by 4 and is on stilts so the chickens have to climb a ramp to get up there that is also where they lay their eggs. Thank you so much for trying to help me and I'll get back to y'all as soon as I can!