New Member Asking: How Much Protection Can I Expect From a Rooster?

[redhen]

Also...your top hens (hens at the top of the pecking order...) will fight and protect the flock too...
i had a weasel attack and i know that one of my top hens ,a white rock, fought that weasel. She survived.. but she did have wounds on her waddles and neck.... i think she tried to protect the other girls.

 

[CodyDunn]

I have also had a Buff Orpington roo fight to the death. He was very brazen and thought himself a mighty beast. I was the only person he wouldn't attack, but he still kept a vigilant eye on me

It was okay though because the flock didn't really have much chance for interaction with the rest of my family. I kept him because we free range our chickens a lot, and he would attack ANYTHING that came near the other chickens. Well aware that in most cases a rooster/predator showdown will not last long, I also know that those are precious seconds for the rest of the flock to reach safety. The only other chickens I've had attack things are a Dutch bantam rooster and broody hens: a game hen with spurs whose chicks were appealing to our cat, a Buff Orpington hen that adopted two month old chicks and fought a huge pig, and a mix breed hen that fought a snake.

The game hen was in the run with her babies, but the gate was open and the rest of the flock was out doing their thing. I heard a commotion from the porch and when I looked, that hen came flying like a bullet out of that pen at the cat. I could tell by the noise and demeanor of the hen that she was absolutely scared to death to be that close to a cat, but she squashed my feline's idea that chicks are tasty!

The BO hen adopted two one month old chicks that I'd gotten at a sale. We had two hogs that we showed (much to my dismay: they smell horrible), and the hen and chicks happened to venture into the hog pen. Well the hog had no evil intentions I'm sure, and was just slowly lumbering over to check out the funny little noisemakers. That hen puffed up, and I swear I thought she looked as big as a young turkey. The hog had slow reactions, so she lit into him to speed things up. I found it pretty amusing as the hog was just like "Ouch. Oops. These aren't very nice fuzzballs."

The mix hen was small, barely feathered on her legs, and could fly well. She had a brood hatching, and tried to defend the peeping chicks from a snake. She lost though, and it was very hard to take.

The Dutch roo was my personal favorite, and he had escaped my house (he was my house pet)and gotten out with the free range flock. That day we had a coyote pack attack, and he was the only rooster in the bunch to try to fight them. Sad, as he could have just flown home, but he was a valiant character and tuff for being just bigger than a teacup!

It really does just depend on the rooster, most know how to pick their battles. They should sound alarm calls, although I don't think the majority will try to fight a coyote or big dog. I can certainly imagine them trying to fight off a hawk or cat though. Hope your new rooster does much better for ya

 

[fancbrd4me02]

No matter how fiesty, a roo can only do so much. The best sucess I have seen roos have is my games against hawks/kestrels. There is not a lot a roo can do against a chicken killing dog except get killed first. I keep roos to manage the order of the flock, but don't really consider them as a deterrent to predators.