what kind of protection do Roos provide?

[mikeksfarmer]

What level of protection does the roo provide? Does he just protect the girls from other Roos or does he do more? Lets say he is in the yard and a dog comes up will he stand in the way? Will he herd the girls to the coop? Will he make a warning call? Maybe some examples would be nice.
Thanks

 

[the1much]

my roo's will fight to the DEATH for their girls, and their yard. that includes other birds ( mine has taken on a hawk) dogs,(yup done that too) humans ( yup every time a stranger THINKS their gonna come in) and even sounds. a GOOD roo is better then ANYTHING else,, of course pens and netting help,, but what helps if the pred. gets past those? a ROO!

 

[the1much]

my roo has a growl that tells everyone to "watch out and hide" and i can barely hear it,, but EVERY bird in the yard can,, and follow it. he also has a scream,, that means BIG trouble,, i need help. when i hear that i come running, and he has NEVER been wrong.

 

[Melilem]

Excluding my cochins, every other breed of rooster I have known has sacrificed themselves to nighttime predators. I have lost 5 non-cochin roos (2 of which silkies) to predators, and not one hen during that time. One roo that I had (a black sex link roo) hurt a predator really bad, it left a trail of blood as it limped away

(That roo is still alive and well at a friend's house). I have never lost a cochin roo though, only hens /:
Also, they are good at letting the hens know when to hide from hawks, airplanes, and cats.

He will not herd the hens, he will make a warning call, and depending on the rooster-he may or may not confront the dog. My cochin roo would probably trip one of the hens as he ran for his life though. Of course that is supposed to be funny

Cochins, at least the ones I own, seem to lack some elements of chicken masculinity. Im sure the poofy tail doesnt help.

 

[the1much]

the roo will even tell the rest its time for bed.

 

[sussexgal]

Yes to all that Melilem and the1much had to say. Spanky spied a hawk in the air and growled. Everybody hoisted their skirts and ran to the spreading ewes for cover. One of my hens had a bum leg and there was Spanky, urging her to get a move on and get to the ewe bushes. Literally behind her kicking her in the fanny. He has also helped me round up the younger kids and get them in the coop at night. He calls when he finds treats he thinks his ladies would like to share with him and he corrects the younger roos when they get to fresh. He is magnificent and it is a pleasure to know him.

 

[gritsar]

In addition to what the others said, if one of my hens wanders to far from where the flock is foraging one of the roos always goes backs and hurries her along.
One of my roos is always the last to go in the coop at night. He won't go in until all the hens are inside.

 

[SewingDiva]

Quote:

This is the thing I read on the board all day!

~Phyllis

 

[Attack Chicken]

My roo Kernal also screams when a pred comes into sight. One time my dog was sneaking up on a pullet just to sniff her and Kernal took off across the yard and jumped on her back! A couple pigeons owe their life to Kernal because a hawk had them on the ground and then Kernal ran at the hawk and the hawk flew up and let the pigeon go and it flew off.