Random idea breeding for predator resistance.

[Coopscraft]

i have been reading that some breeds are more predator resistant than others. I read that the Sumatra chicken can fly really well and jump more than 7 feet with clipped wings. However they also don’t lay very well and are highly prone to going broody. i wonder if one could cross and select to develop a breed that was alert, a good flyer, and a good layer?

 

[bigz1983]

Possibly.
I heard brown leghorns are good at evading predators, they don't stand out like the white leghorns and are good layers.
Chickens can't see at night so it doesn't matter how feisty they are if something attacks them in their sleep.

 

[BantyChooks]

Possibly.
I heard brown leghorns are good at evading predators, they don't stand out like the white leghorns and are good layers.

x2.
Even my White Leghorns rarely, if ever, get taken. They're fast, wary, and very good fliers. One flew onto the roof of my walk-in coop to escape a dog.

 

[cmom]

I had a couple of White Leghorns, Houdini-1 and Houdini-2. They were very good at flying but they were great escape artists too. No matter what coop and pen I put them in they could always find a way out. They eventually disappeared. I found some feathers from one behind the coops and never found anything from the other escapee. I figure either a fox or more likely a coyote got them as we have a lot of coyotes around. They got out one to many times.

 

[Perris]

It would be quicker and easier to try existing heritage breeds, rather than start again with the same end in sight... most have medium to good lay rates, medium meat, medium broodiness, all are good foragers and have good predator awareness.

 

[IamRainey]

I'd concentrate first on making the enclosure impregnable. I think, in the end, you can rely on that far more and much faster than breeding.

 

[Coopscraft]

I can build a chicken fort. I was thinking a breed that would be aimed at a “free range” market.

 

[Fishkeeper]

No bird is ever going to be predator-proof. If it was possible to breed birds to such an extent that no predator could get at them, no predator would eat birds, because all birds would have been naturally selected into being predator-proof.
Additionally, prey animals (like most birds) do not die of old age in the wild. Disease or a predator will get them first.

It's certainly possible to breed chickens that are harder to catch, but not to a reliable point. You'll still have notable losses. It's still possible for a predator to get into your coop and kill all your birds, as some do. In fact, the only reason that gamefowl (essentially wild chickens) aren't extinct is because they breed fast enough to keep their population up.

 

[Coopscraft]

ah

 

[bigz1983]

i have been reading that some breeds are more predator resistant than others. I read that the Sumatra chicken can fly really well and jump more than 7 feet with clipped wings. However they also don’t lay very well and are highly prone to going broody. i wonder if one could cross and select to develop a breed that was alert, a good flyer, and a good layer?

How about a Sumatra crossed with brown leghorn?