Which breeds are most likely to stand up to predators?

[rachelbinnc]

I have a silver spangled hamburg who is impossible to catch. She is petite and fast and even fullgrown can fly quite well. She is also quite wild compared with the other breeds I have and heads for cover if a leaf drops from a nearby tree. Her eggs are a bit small but she lays six a week. I recently had a stray dog get over my backyard fence and she escaped without a single feather out of place. If I were you I'd look for fast chickens, not fierce chickens.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Good point...those that can fly up in trees easily also can avoid dogs and some other predators who can't fly.

 

[Teresaann24]

My silkie roosters stand up to stuff but everything they stand up to could kill them in a sec...LOL

Use a good dog to protect or an electric fence.

 

[pko]

Interesting posts. An update:

I've contracted the services of an elder gentleman who looks not so different from the KFC colonel. Together with a small team of crack scientists on a remote desert island we've managed to cross frogs with the leftover DNA found in a mosquito's bloodsack. A mosquito held in Amber for millions of years. Me, some children and a mathematician will be visiting the island shortly to see the latest results.

 

[calista]

Quote:

Sounds like you could sell the concept to Hollywood. Retire and raise velociraptors with the proceeds.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

Quote:
get a terrier you can train them to get at rats and mice

 

[Crack N' Egg]

I have a SLW Roo. He is 8 months old and he is HUGE!!! He protects his girls and does it with a vengeance. It's true with what they say, that a rooster will fight till the death. Hopefully it will never come to that, but he has already run off a large fox, and red-tailed hawks. And of coarse the occasional little chickadee or butterfly when he's wound a little too tight!

 

[pko]

If he crows, he wont survive long in residentia. The non-Jurassic park version of a raptor isn't that different from a chicken:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Velociraptor_dinoguy2.jpg
Its no worries now. I talked to a maremma breeder about my plans and on her advice have reconsidered putting the chicken coop on the quarter acre block next to my house. Instead I'll put it in my yard with both dogs and go for different breeds(of dog). It'll have to be a fort knox cos at least 1 of the dogs is gonna wanna play or hunt. Foxes are the only major predator here (aside from feral dogs/cats) so if its in my yard, my dogs are now the biggest threat to my chickens. I bet Noah didn't have to figure this stuff out! I bet his T-rexes got along just fine with his sheep.
Thanks for the advice guys, I wont be lacking for information on how to lock down the coop. I will still be on a quest for "El Pollo Grande" however.