Good protective breeds?

[the chickentaco]

So we lost our old flock recently to a fox, and are now starting over. Our previous flock had a roo aggressive to people but mostly skittish of animals (except Arial predators) before him we had a highly protective Delaware hen who'd fight off our ravens and get the flock to chase of ground predators like coons, cats, etc. Now we're starting a new flock and I was wondering what are the chances we'll get a good guard hen out of our new set, we have a Leghorn,and NHR who are both very bold and upfront, our RIR is surprisingly calm and lazy,the rest are bantam cochins, who obviously aren't going to be able to do much, as cute as they are! XD our coops too far back on our property to hear much from the house so we'd like to be able to have a good alpha chicken to watch things when we're not able. Yes they do have a run and enclosed coop before you ask, but we often free range in the summer (we have 2 acres. So you can see why it may be hard if they decide to wander).

 

[Happy Quack]

I have a livestock guard dog who does great at protecting against fox, coyote, bobcat, coon and skunk. I have chickens, ducks and geese. I would not expect any of the fowl including the geese to be good at protecting themselves. One year before the LGD we had a mountain lion eating chickens. WE could not figure it out as it was happing in the middle of the day until my dad saw it snatch a hen at 10 in the morning. We have never had a problem sense getting a LGD. I would go with something bigger than a roo.

 

[Mrs. K]

The best rooster I had was an EE rooster. Captain, I did not have a single loss for 3 years, then one day he cam back with his entire tail gone, but I had all my hens....I went into lock down, but not long enough, a week later, I lost him and a hen.

Mrs K

 

[the chickentaco]

I have a livestock guard dog who does great at protecting against fox, coyote, bobcat, coon and skunk. I have chickens, ducks and geese. I would not expect any of the fowl including the geese to be good at protecting themselves. One year before the LGD we had a mountain lion eating chickens. WE could not figure it out as it was happing in the middle of the day until my dad saw it snatch a hen at 10 in the morning. We have never had a problem sense getting  a LGD. I would go with something bigger than a roo.

Wow. I'm glad we don't have mountain lions here! Though we do have Bobcats.We actually do have a very good labradoodle who has taken a few bites out of our backyard coyote (he'd kill any of our predators if he could keep em down long enough, stupid fox always slips into the blackberrirries!), and a Boerbol who's readily protective of our goats and critters. We'd leave them out always, if we didn't have such huge packs of coyotes surrounding us (at least four in the smallest)! A few friends have lost rottys and mastiff mixes, to them down by our docks. They're not shy in the least!

 

[Folly's place]

No chicken can cope with predators! Plan on getting the birds you like, preferably birds who can fly, rather than the quiet ground hugging types, and then have a safe coop and run, and good fencing, especially electric, to help keep them safe. Mary

 

[the chickentaco]

No chicken can cope with predators!  Plan on getting the birds you like, preferably birds who can fly, rather than the quiet ground hugging types, and then have a safe coop and run, and good fencing, especially electric, to help keep them safe.  Mary

Good point, our land is all fenced whith barbed wire, the coyotes havent found away in yet and our coop and run are all covered and chew proof, we don't have any deterrence up right now but we do have some old electric fencing, and motion lights. We'll probably try and set that up! The fencing was for our horse, never thought to use it for chicken defense! we had some more flighty breeds early on, but they'd jump the fence when freeranging and then coyotes would hit em rooster was the only survivor of that set. we don't clip our birds wings though so they all generally learn how to scale our fence when in need, and hide in our many cover areas, under deck, bushes, blackberries, trees etc. When free ranging.

 

[Folly's place]

My advise was contradictory, for sure. I like birds that can get up into trees, and roosts, and have some basic survival instincts. On the other hand, they might fly over fences too. Mine will not bother to fly over five foot fences (usually). Electric works best for land predators; either multiple strands of tape, or the poultry netting. I do avoid the breeds described as widely ranging, and haven't been happy with the 'very quiet' Orphingtons either. Mary

 

[the chickentaco]

My advise was contradictory, for sure.  I like birds that can get up into trees, and roosts, and have some basic survival instincts.  On the other hand, they might fly over fences too.  Mine will not bother to fly over five foot fences (usually).  Electric works best for land predators; either multiple strands of tape, or the poultry netting.  I do avoid the breeds described as widely ranging, and haven't been happy with the 'very quiet' Orphingtons either.  Mary

Haha! No it was good advice!I do want to try electric fencing!. But that's partially why I loved my Delaware, she was loud enough to scare, big enough to defend herself, and smart enough to be 7 feet up on our deck whith the rest of the flock before coons would know what happend!Her name was Taco!