what age do roosters protect hens

[couturnixquail]

I'm wondering at what age do roosters protect hens because I wanna let my chickens roam in my backyard and I'm worried stray cats will try to kill my chickens and I need a protective rooster, Btw the rooster is about 4-5 months maybe younger

 

[Puddin Fluff]

There are no guarantees on Roos. (Just like human males

.) Some are better providers/protectors than others. If he is to the point where he is trying to mate them, he is already considering them his girls and if he is going to be a good protector, he will.

We had an all girl flock and one of the girls took to running our cat off and continued even after we got a roo. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. Good luck.

 

[couturnixquail]

Not sure if he tries to mate with them but anyway he does run after them tho lol and there all to young to mate anyway some hens are 2 months old another about 3-4

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Well, just because they are too young, doesn't mean he won't try. Teenage cockerels are worse than teen boys. At least teen boys have some social norms they are required to abide by, cockerels don't.

 

[couturnixquail]

Ok one last question since the hens are young will he still protect them or do they have to be older

 

[iwiw60]

I have this sinking feeling you believe that a rooster is going to protect your flock from all predators while they free-range....this is not the case. He will be more than able to cry out the warning signal and the flock will try to run for cover, and he may be able to run off a cat, but when you're talking predators; i.e., fox, raccoon, weasel, coyote, etc., it's not going to happen. JMHO, wishing you all the best.

 

[couturnixquail]

I live in a neighborhood all I'm worried is about cats...

 

[islandgirl82]

He may or may not chase off the cats. Even your hens may or may not chase off the cats. I have two 2 month old chicks and when they were about a week old they both pecked my 180lb Newfie right in the nose when the dog got closer than they were comfortable with as he was sniffing them. That's pretty darn bold for such tiny things. They also pecked my Siamese cat and she won't go anywhere near them now. They had their first introduction without a partition with my big girls yesterday and one of the big girls started to chase the little pullet. The roo didn't even hesitate and ran right up the back of the big girl and pecked her before jumping off over her head. He distracted her long enough for his little lady to make it to cover (between my feet) and he followed suit. He was smart enough to know he's not quite big enough to stick around but he did what he could.

There are zero guarantees that your roo will be able to stop predators from getting to your girls but he will keep watch and warn them if/when he sees them. He'll also keep the girls from bickering.

 

[keesmom]

Really? No foxes, raccoons, coyotes or hawks? All are rather common in urban locations.Not to mention neighboring dogs. A rooster may or may not help in preventing losses to predators. The only answer I can give is it depends - depends on how hungry the predator is, how the attack occurs, etc. The neighbor's cats never messed with any of my grown birds.