rooster for protection

[shmeggs]

I am still new to keeping chickens. I have rhode island red hens and 2 red sex link hens. my sex links have been attacked when they were free ranging by couple dogs but the rhode island reds have never been hurt. what im wanting to know is if I get me a rooster will he protect the hens from dogs hawks and other predators? im hoping to maybe get a rooster who is friendly with humans but protect his girls.

 

[centrarchid]

Smaller hawks yes, larger hawks sometimes fro cover, Others no. Look into other options for protection.

 

[ColonelAstroid]

I have a rooster who protects his flock /when danger comes he herds them into the chicken coop, and he's been pretty good.Except when we start picking up the hens. He kinda sorta charges. but if we just don't pick up or handle ( or even touch! ) his favorite hens he lets us pick up the not so favorite ones. PS: he is a barred rock, and I've heard that barred rocks can get very aggressive. So if you do get a rooster, don't get a barred rock. I think we just got lucky to have a nice barred rock rooster!

 

[foreverlearning]

I have a great rooster, he only has to make one sound and every girl is under cover and behind him. I have had them almost a year free ranging and he has protected them. The thing you have to understand is that roosters are still just birds. They can protect or try to protect from a lot but there are things that they can't protect from. As another poster stated they do get defensive over their hens. My rooster has only attacked me once and kept his spurs away from me as he did. This was because I had trapped a hen in the corner of the fence and had my back to him so he couldn't see what I was doing to her (her first preventive poultry dust treatment). After that I would call him over and show him what I was doing to her. When he can see that I am not harming them he just stands there talking sweet to the girl until I am done. Everyone has their own personality and you have to figure out what works for you and them while still being in charge.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have a rooster who protects his flock /when danger comes he herds them into the chicken coop.... Except when we start picking up the hens. He kinda sorta charges. but if we just don't pick up or handle ( or even touch! ) his favorite hens he lets us pick up the not so favorite ones....

Like I have mentioned before in this forum, mean or woman and man fighting roosters are made never born or hatched. If you really really can't help yourself and you just must catch, pick up, or pet your hens, especially in the presence of your rooster then don't own a rooster. Sooner or later he will get the idea that you are also a rooster and that you are in competition with him for the favors of his hens and take you on.

Always catch your hens off the roost and after dark when chickens are more or less blind and helpless. Never cause a ruckus in the hen house at at time of the day or night unless you enjoy being flogged by your rooster. The same thing goes for children running, playing, and shouting around your coop or run.

 

[Bullitt]

I am still new to keeping chickens. I have rhode island red hens and 2 red sex link hens. my sex links have been attacked when they were free ranging by couple dogs but the rhode island reds have never been hurt. what im wanting to know is if I get me a rooster will he protect the hens from dogs hawks and other predators? im hoping to maybe get a rooster who is friendly with humans but protect his girls.

A rooster may get killed by a couple of dogs protecting his flock.

I would suggest getting yourself a good dog and teaching it not to chase your chickens. A good dog will keep away most predators, including other dogs.

 

[Bullitt]

I have a rooster who protects his flock /when danger comes he herds them into the chicken coop, and he's been pretty good.Except when we start picking up the hens. He kinda sorta charges. but if we just don't pick up or handle ( or even touch! ) his favorite hens he lets us pick up the not so favorite ones. PS: he is a barred rock, and I've heard that barred rocks can get very aggressive. So if you do get a rooster, don't get a barred rock. I think we just got lucky to have a nice barred rock rooster!

You are telling people not to get a Barred Rock rooster, yet you have a great Barred Rock rooster?

Some roosters can be aggressive, and it is a combination of personality and how the person raises their chickens.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

....So if you do get a rooster, don't get a barred rock. I think we just got lucky to have a nice barred rock rooster!

How old is your barred rock rooster? Just like in humans a teenage boy is not a man nor is a rooster fully matured until he is two years old. Being old enough to make babies is a poor yard stick with which to measure the sexual, physical and mental maturity of both men and roosters.

 

[JackE]

First rooster I has was a GLW. He was a pain in the rear, but I gave him leeway because I THOUGHT he looked after the hens. I lost 9 out of 11 birds one sunny afternoon to a fox. The rooster was alright though. He wore out his welcome and ended up at freezercamp. The second rooster I had, BO, was a nice guy as far as people went, but he proved to be useless as far as predator protection went. I lost 7 more on another nice sunny afternoon, to Mr. fox. Of course the rooster made it unscaved. Then he took a real dislike to one of my older hens, tried repeatedly to kill her, so he had to join the GLW in freezercamp. Roosters, IMO, are not the answer to predators. I found that 600' of electrified poultry net works REALLY well.

 

[ColonelAstroid]

our rooster is 3 years old, and all the stories I've heard about barred rock roosters are not good ones. we actually didn't really pick him as the rooster, but he kinda picked us. We thought he was a hen.
Sorry, guess those stories were wrong!