Guard dog hens (Chicken Little)

[gpeters3]

I thought I saw the shadow of a hawk the other night and it occurred to me that there are breeds that are especially aware of their surroundings and sound alarms like Chicken Little in the cartoon. Are there any breeds known for this? That are not also overly "chicken"?

 

[chickmomma03]

I have a Buff Orpington, and he does a great job alerting the hens AND me to any danger at all. Cats, hawks, noises that he doesn't know are safe, unwanted people (um, well, I welcome them but he won't allow them in the pen at all). I can't free range mine, we have way too many hawks/owls and other predators that are a danger to them. I have a large round pen with wire across the top, but he still alerts. I've been working hard to learn his calls (regular egg song, regular crow, distress song, distress crow, little squabble noises he makes, etc), watching the hens react helps to learn them quicker for me too.

 

[gpeters3]

I have a Buff Orpington, and he does a great job alerting the hens AND me to any danger at all.

OK, but roosters are like that in general, right? Would a hen have the same guard dog qualities.

 

[varidgerunner]

Most any rooster will alert to potential danger. The ones that aren't much good at this are the ones that can't see anything above them, like silkies and Polish. I was at a large swap one time next to a guy that had a whole bunch of Bantam roosters. Every time a sparrow flew over they would all make the same exact sound at the same time. Sometimes I ride around with my oriental game cocks. mainly just to make people think I'm crazy, also because it's kind of neat to have a chicken so laid back it rides and watches out the window. I had one that I could actually tell by the sound he made whether he saw a deer, a cow, a housecat, small birds or large birds. They have really good eyes. I'm sure that the hens know exactly what they are saying.

 

[varidgerunner]

Hens that have chicks will make the same sound as the roosters. Sometimes an older hen will give the alarm, especially if she is the dominant hen. Usually the hens job is just to hear it and run. The breeds that always get labeled as "flighty" are usually a little more aware of their surroundings.

 

[gpeters3]

I was at a large swap one time next to a guy that had a whole bunch of Bantam roosters. Every time a sparrow flew over they would all make the same exact sound at the same time.
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I used to love my bantam rooster. He was every color of the rainbow and didn't let anything get by him. He would try to spur me any time I got near the wire. Fortunately he was too small to do much damage and usually didn't jump me when I walked into the pen. Sadly the other roosters were more aggressive and dangerous to the kids so they are in the freezer and we have a no rooster rule now for safety for young grand kids etc..

 

[chickmomma03]

Quote: I've never had just hens. I bought my first ever batch of chickens and they were all suppose to be pullets. One ended up being a cockerel (well, 2 did, but one went back to the store, he was a mean little bugger). He makes completely different sounds than my hens. My hens do make some noises, but nothing like Oreo does. He has a lot more calls/noises/and distress signal than the girls do.

Some roosters don't have good behaviors otherwise and people choose not to keep them around because they're mean. Buff Orpingtons are docile in general. My rooster is with me. I hand raised him though too. He doesn't let me pet/hold him anymore, but he's not running up and attacking me either. My son's father had a rooster that was MEAN. He would run up and try to peck/spur you for no reason whatsoever, it didn't matter who you were, needless to say, that rooster was culled pretty quickly (he had him before I was around).

I grew up around chickens, but there was always at least 1 rooster around for protection purposes too.

 

[gpeters3]

My problem is my 2 year old grandson who loves to play with them and feed them corn. I killed the 2 fighting cocks someone gave us but then the one I raised became very protective and attacked Daniel, striking him in the face 3 times before I could intervene. Fortunately he auomatically put his arms up to protect his face and only got one very deep puncture in his arm. I butchered that one the next day. I'm hoping to find a breed that has natural vigilence instincts so I can add a couple of hens to the flock for security purposes. My 2 bantams are very skittish and are just barely getting used to me but still keep their distance. Probably won't find vigilence and calmness in the same bird. All the big ones are becoming very friendly and one isa red walks around my feet pecking at my shoes and eats out of my hand and sometimes let's me pet her. My new coop allows me much better interaction so they are getting used to me.

 

[varidgerunner]

Calm and vigilant, good with kids, sounds like an oriental game. They have a much lower incidence of human aggression because they have been bred for thousands of years for close human contact. Just get a rooster, the hens don't get along well with other chickens, and might get protective over chicks. Roosters are generally laid back with people.

 

[chickmomma03]

Well, with small children around yea, I wouldn't get a rooster. Other than not free ranging I don't have any sound advice. I can't free range because I live in the country in NC and hawks/owls are everywhere. They hung out in the trees in my yard long before getting chickens.