We lost Linda today... Updated... I found her alive!!

[ChickenCanoe]

... to exclusively free-range, you need to come to terms with your inevitable elevated, chronic level of anxiety associated with free-ranging and the inevitable occasional loss of your chickens. Is it a trade-off you will be able to live with?
...

That is so true.

 

[whitneywpanetta]

Thanks for the info! We had a RIR for a period of time and he was one amazing rooster. He kept our hens very safe. However, he had a personal vendetta against me and we eventually gave him up because he was so aggressive. The silkie rooster was an accidental rooster, and I was hoping for equal protection when we realized we had another male, but you are right. He just isn't built like our RIR was. I am going to look into the chicken tunnels.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Another thing I like about Mediterranean roosters is they're aloof and not really into humans so they keep their distance. I've never been attacked by one but I have been attacked by rocks and other breeds.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

I would love to have a rooster. I have a pair of hawks living close by. they cleaned out my poor little doves. I'm worried especially about my one Silkie. Are those type of roosters real noisy?

 

[whitneywpanetta]

Thats good info. I raised both roosters from chicks, handling them often, and both ended up semi-aggressive (well the RIR was aggressive, aggressive). The silkie is at least small and although he does charge at us every now and then he typically doesn't follow through. He just doesn't like it when we get too close to his favorite hen. I enjoy having a rooster so I am going to check out the Mediterraneans. I hear stories about roosters who are very tame/good with people, but I am not convinced they actually exist.

 

[whitneywpanetta]

We didn't loose a hen until after we got rid of our RIR. I think the right rooster will do a great job protecting your ladies.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I would love to have a rooster. I have a pair of hawks living close by. they cleaned out my poor little doves. I'm worried especially about my one Silkie. Are those type of roosters real noisy?

No louder than most. The get quieter with age.
Silkies are sitting ducks for hawks. They never see them coming.
If one likes birds of prey, which I do, they should get a bunch of silkies so they can feed the hawks.

Thats good info. I raised both roosters from chicks, handling them often, and both ended up semi-aggressive (well the RIR was aggressive, aggressive). The silkie is at least small and although he does charge at us every now and then he typically doesn't follow through. He just doesn't like it when we get too close to his favorite hen. I enjoy having a rooster so I am going to check out the Mediterraneans. I hear stories about roosters who are very tame/good with people, but I am not convinced they actually exist.

He may have learned that behavior from the RIR.

I don't manage my birds like BYC/pet people do. I don't handle them except at night to check condition and parasites. Otherwise, they go about their business and I go about mine. I don't move fast around them nor walk directly toward them unless absolutely necessary. IMO, it's the roosters that are human friendly that become the human aggressive because they aren't afraid of you.
I like my birds to be wary of all things and that's the way they stay alive in a hawk/mink filled wood.

ETA
I'd sooner be a small bird in a hawk-filled wood than a caged chicken on a factory farm.- Simon Barnes in How to be a Bad Birdwatcher

 

[User395221]

Does anyone have experience with these chicken tunnels?

You can get collapsible runs which are covered. I've found them useful for my bunnies and chickens (not together, at different times). I've also got non-collapsible runs that can by carried about. Mobile, transportable or collapsible runs, or a chicken tractor, could alleviate the worry of predators. There are a lot of options in addition to tunnels, if you want to go physical protection rather than rooster protection.

 

[aart]

.....I don't manage my birds like BYC/pet people do. I don't handle them except at night to check condition and parasites. Otherwise, they go about their business and I go about mine. I don't move fast around them nor walk directly toward them unless absolutely necessary. IMO, it's the roosters that are human friendly that become the human aggressive because they aren't afraid of you......

Couldn't agree more.