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

[MaggieRae]

My rooster sneaks up on cats and knocks them off the fence. He also tried to kill my blue boots that he was sure was out to get his ladies. They do offer some protection, but they're more for paying attention to surrounding areas and sounding alarms when danger is close.

 

[FireTigeris]

The roo's alarm sounds like a hen... anyone have viedo of the alarm sounds?

(wonder if they would react if I play it over the speakers...)

There are different sounds for:

'Come for food'

'run for cover, hawk'

'fly to roost ground critter'

'go to bed'

'lay an egg'

'I saved you all/I'm the best, I'm the rooster, you are mine'

 

[thndrdancr]

Well I had a roo I wasnt sure about, he seemed protective of his ladies, etc but he was a pain growing up. He turned into a fine protective guy and would call the girls to eat, etc before he did, but it was hard for him, he was a pain growing up by stealing all their food and eating first, etc, so I wasnt sure how he would turn out. Still he was only 5 to 6 months old when the attack happened, no spurs or anything, poor guy.

He turned out to be a wonderful roo, we had two dog attacks. The first dog attack, (I wasnt home but the handyman was), the roo fought and engaged the dog about 15 times trying to save "his" girl/s.

He saved all the girls but the initial one, which was his favorite lil silkie hen...but he died in my arms later that eve. He was valiant to the very end and I think he died more thinking he failed his girls than anything.

The dog came back three days later and without my roo to give them all time to hide, the dog took out 12 more of my flock.

I had a small young silkie roo with some of the hens, but he ran and hid, letting all his girls get slaughtered. He was the only survivor that was out that day.

So it just depends on the roo, I suppose. I know without my huge orp roo, I would have probably lost my whole flock the very first day. He really gave them time to hide while he gave his life for those precious seconds.

 

[pringle]

Sad story,one of my buff orps was being carried away by a fox right when I came outside then I saw my roo go chasing after the fox into the woods and he never appeared again.I guess it depends on specifically which roo you have not the breed but the chicken itsself you can have an extremly protective silkie roo then have a super scared jersey giant roo all im saying is that it depends upon the chicken itself and not the breed.

 

[mom'sfolly]

My BO roo is a wuss. He lets the neighbor's cat chase his girls and all he does is sound an alarm. When the cat first started this the roo was easily twice the cat's weight, and is still far larger than the cat. I wouldn't rely on him to save my girls. But, he is a kind boy and very beautiful. The silky roo I had probably would have gone after a lion; he has a serious "tude. That kitty would have been dealing with the mad Butterscotch if I still had the boyo.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

What everyone said.

There are tendencies among certain breeds for particular behaviors, but individual results may vary. Age may also be a factor, how old was this guy? But you are right in getting rid of him asap if he is being aggressive towards your family. There are lots & lots of roosters in the world looking for jobs, there's no need to keep one who is a bother. Send him to the other side of the road & audition your next candidate.

All the roosters I've known seem to think the best contribution they can make to the survival of their species is to keep themselves alive to mate another day. They are attentive to the hens & will call them over when treats are to be found, and they do sound a warning -- then beat a hasty retreat to a safe location -- when they spy danger during the daytimes. They have a sound they make when something walks by or flies overhead, and an especially Bad Word they say when they see a hawk. But the nights I've lost birds to raccoons, opossums & cats I never heard a sound from any of them.

I'm sorry for your losses, and hope you can find a roo that better suits your needs. You may not find one who is both considerate towards your family and a heroic defender of his hens. But you should be able to find a handsome bird that will at least be a good look-out.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Yeah. That.

My RIR roo has jumped on the back of my 60lb Chow/Lab, he has the guts to and with jumping on the back techniques he might get a few spurs in before he went down....but in a real fight I would expect him to be dog food pretty quickly.


However, between my bright LED flashlight and my rooster's fighting attempts we suffered no losses the one time a raccoon weasled into my chicken tractor!! GO ROOSTER! That's the main reason that we decided to keep him.
I have noticed that he doesn't sleep very soundly and seems to keep some kind of watch at night, to a point anyway.
Mainly he's a lot louder and more distinct sounding than my hens. I can't hear them much from the house, and the hens tend to squalk about anything and everything. I never know if it's just a fat egg or "get out of my food dish" or a real threat. If Mr Roo does his "alarm call" then I come out to check on them.

I like having my roos in the flock.

 

[theFox]

If you expect none then you'll be happy with your roo, if you expect too much then you won't be happy with your roo and he is apt to wind up dead.

Just my two cents worth, most of the time they will sound the alarm and your hens will escape, don't expect a roo dog dust up to be good for the roo. It isn't really likely to be and once the roo is sidelined your hens are just finger food or play toys.

 

[Mattole]

Great information and stories, everyone! I appreciate your input. I think I had a misconception about the abilities of a rooster to defend a flock, due to how fast and cunning and aggressive our rooster was towards me (early on) and my wife (always).

Our rooster was - and I say WAS for a reason, as you'll see - a very fancy looking Chinese White Crested. He looked a little odd with our Americauna and Speckled Sussex hens (and they thought so too at first), but we needed a rooster to keep a few hen bullies in line and during a trip to the feed store there was Mr. Crested, just delivered by someone who's neighbors complained about his crowing. Long story short, over the next month he became a real gentleman with the hens, and they liked him a great deal, but he became aggressive towards us. After doing research on this forum I used some techniques to modify his behavior (keeping him away from the hens when they were eating, tapping him on the tail with a stick when he approached me with evil intent) and it worked in terms of his relating to me, but my wife had no such good fortune. As the chickens are free range during the day and our hens even come up on the porch and into the kitchen if we let them, this meant that my wife had to encounter Mr. Crested on a daily basis.

Well after the 2nd dog attack we started giving some thought to getting another rooster. Thanks to you all I found out that it was reasonable to expect an alarm call from a roo, which this guy did not seem able to do. We had felt great sympathy for him since he was sort of a foster child, but that went away quickly soon after the 2nd dog attack, because for some reason he greatly intensified his aggression towards my poor wife and actively pursued her in the yard whenever she went out. I wrote a post here a few days ago saying we were going to give him back to the feed store. The next day day however, after he had once again ambushed and bloodied my wife, we both thought - no way do we want this rooster to go to another home where he may harm someone else, or be the source of a child's future nightmare stories. This realization combined with the sight of my wife retreating from the yard shaking and in tears compelled me to go outside and send Mr. Crested to the great free-range ranch in the sky...

We did like most aspects of having a rooster around however, and it just so happens that a dear neighbor had an 8-month old very handsome Americauna rooster that she needed to find a home for, and we brought him home last night. As I write this he is out there with the flock in the rain, plucking spring grasses. If this guy returns our considerable kindness with benign indifference towards us, gentleness towards the hens, and the ability and willingness to sound the alarm if danger arrives on the scene, we will be happy to have him.

Thanks again for all of your support and information!

 

[2txmedics]

Well I have Beautiful chickens from mixed breeds to EE's, Leghorns, Buff Orpington, and Por. D'uccles.....my buff Roos are HUGE in size and I mean huge!!!


This is one of them:

and this is the same one after something tried to get to the hens:

they will fight!!!! I found feathers, blood, skin and inards all inside the run on the walls