Good thoughts and prayers for him today coming your way.
I may be bias here, but I would strongly suggest considering a turkey for this. They are also very protective and excellent companions, but they are more gentle with the chickens. My Tom is my guard turkey. He has told me about many a suspicious activity around here. Including three separate incidences when my neighbor trespassed in the middle of the night. He is also the reason I have never lost a bird to a predator. I watched him scare the beejesus out of a pit bull X one time, then I pick him up and cuddled him. He follows me everywhere. He even learned to fetch from my dogs, but he is an amazing protector of my birds and property and always a gentlemen with the chicks.
