Who has the best rooster

[chooks4life]

Ah, I see. I wouldn't bet him against a feral cat though. Sounds like he's just scaring them, which is useful too, but true feral cats will take down animals more than twice their size with far more formidable weapons than a rooster's spurs. I thought when you said 'destroyed' that you meant killed or seriously harmed but doesn't seem so. Still, good on him for being plucky though.

Best wishes.

 

[sdm111]

My biggest problem was foxes ended up having to put up an elec fence to keep them at bay. And have hawk problems. So I have individual dome pens inside an elec fence. Except for 4 big breeder quarters which still has elec fencing around it. Do what u gotta do to protect.

 

[BantamLover55]

No doubt under some circumstances a chicken/rooster can and will fend off a smaller and/or less determined predator, but I wouldn't call it the norm nor would I bet the chicken in most cases...

Here is what one of the founders of the Iowa Blue chicken club has to say about the Iowa Blue's predator fighting ability.


One thing is for certain. Iowa Blues DON'T like predators. Their disdain for them runs so deep in their blood that they proudly defy predators with an attitude of "I dare you to try" when chickens of other breed run for cover.

Time and time again I hear stories from breeders telling of their Iowa Blue encounters with hawks, raccons, opposums, cats, mice, snakes, etc.


He goes on to tell this story about his Iowa Blues:


This was about 10 years ago when I had my first Iowa Blues. I had at the time just one Iowa Blue hen and she was broody with a nice group of about 20+/- Iowa Blue chicks. I turned mom and babies out to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine while I worked inside the chicken shed. After a short while, I heard the warning screech that chickens make when they see danger, so I thought I'd poke my head outside to take a look. I could see a large hawk making circles in the sky, and chickens were hiding everywhere; under bushes, under hutches, under grain wagons, etc. Every chicken was in hiding........except for my Iowa Blues, the broody hen, her chicks, and my only Iowa Blue cockbird (who was on the other side of the barn yard).

The broody hen looked up at the hawk circling, and puffed out her chest with one eye angled up at the sky. She'd go back to gathering her chicks, then look up at the hawk and puff herself out. This went on for a few seconds then all at once the hawk dove down upon the hen. When she saw him coming, she jumped up to meet him locking her feet with his talons! There they fought, feet interlocked, wings flapping, beaks jabbing, dust billowing, screeching in ways I'd never heard before, and feathers EVERYWHERE.

When the cockbird saw the hawk dive down, he came running to the aid of his damsel in distress. But by the time he got to the sceen of the crime, the hawk had decided he'd met his match and took off in a dead heat to anywhere but where he had just been! The broody hen fluffed herself the way broody hens do, and called out to her chicks. Now, while the fight was going on the chicks all bolted for cover, and now that she was calling them out, they were coming from all over the place! Now, I didn't really notice they had left until the hen called them out, and I still don't know where they came from or where they were hiding.......they just appeared!

Once her chicks were gathered safely by her side, she promptly returned to her regular duties of scratching the ground and tending to her chicks, like the whole hawk fight had never taken place. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, there would have been no indication on the hen that such an event ever happened at all! At that moment, the Iowa Blue became my utmost favorite breed of chicken, and they still are today.


This is just one of the many true stories about the Iowa Blue's ability to fend of predators.

 

[Urucubaca]

Any more

I'd just pick a game bird (not OEG). Fighting is what they're for, and thus would be most 'equipped' for the job, in comparison to any softfeather.

 

[Michael OShay]

And a guard dog isn't going to catch grasshoppers and give them to your hens like a good rooster will!

Have you actually seen a rooster do this? If been raising chickens for 50 years and I've seen a lot of roosters catch and eat grasshoppers, but I've never seen one selflessly give the grasshoppers he's caught to his hens.

 

[Urucubaca]

Have you actually seen a rooster do this?  If been raising chickens for 50 years and I've seen a lot of roosters catch and eat grasshoppers, but I've never seen one selflessly give the grasshoppers he's caught to his hens.

I have seen a rooster give his food (insects) to his hens.

 

[chooks4life]

Have you actually seen a rooster do this? If been raising chickens for 50 years and I've seen a lot of roosters catch and eat grasshoppers, but I've never seen one selflessly give the grasshoppers he's caught to his hens.

Wow, I'm sorry your hens and you have had 50 years of such instinct-lacking, selfish roosters. :/ What breed are they?

(No offense intended, genuinely, my apologies if that does offend. That's very abnormal is all I'm saying.)

Naturally, when in full possession of all their instincts and intelligence, roosters are exemplary mates and fathers. They do more than fight, crow, and mate. They will devote the majority of their time to finding food for both hens and chicks, as well as defend them, find nests for them, etc.

It's almost freakish that you've never had a rooster do that, as it's the norm for the species and was innate to their wild ancestors and still persists in many domestic ones despite human intervention breeding it out of some along with all partner/paternal instinct beyond mating. Same as some breeds have left the hens with no partner/maternal instincts.

Perhaps your roosters come from intensively caged breeding backgrounds? That can knock all familial instinct on the head, leaving you with males who only mate, fight and crow, and do absolutely nothing else. Semi-roosters, not full roosters, only half their natural instincts present.

Best wishes.

 

[Michael OShay]

Wow, I'm sorry your hens and you have had 50 years of such instinct-lacking, selfish roosters. :/ What breed are they?

(No offense intended, genuinely, my apologies if that does offend. That's very abnormal is all I'm saying.)

Naturally, when in full possession of all their instincts and intelligence, roosters are exemplary mates and fathers. They do more than fight, crow, and mate. They will devote the majority of their time to finding food for both hens and chicks, as well as defend them, find nests for them, etc.

It's almost freakish that you've never had a rooster do that, as it's the norm for the species and was innate to their wild ancestors and still persists in many domestic ones despite human intervention breeding it out of some along with all partner/paternal instinct beyond mating. Same as some breeds have left the hens with no partner/maternal instincts.

Perhaps your roosters come from intensively caged breeding backgrounds? That can knock all familial instinct on the head, leaving you with males who only mate, fight and crow, and do absolutely nothing else. Semi-roosters, not full roosters, only half their natural instincts present.

Best wishes.

You probably have a good point. Most of the roosters I've had have been from very docile breeds that were bred for egg production or meat production and quite frankly, they have been worthless as protectors, providers, or herding hens into the coop. Not only have I lost hens to predators, but sometimes it was the rooster himself that was taken, and my hens have made there way back into the coop in the evening just as well without a rooster as with one. All my roosters been good for is fighting, crowing, and over-breeding and battering the hens. This is why I currently have no roosters in my flock. I have 25 hens; 7 Black Sex Links, 7 Black Australorps, 4 Buff Orpingtons, and 7 Easter Eggers, and I get loads of eggs without the aggression, fights, over-breeding, and battering of hens. And based on my past experiences with roosters, I think my hens are enjoying the peace and quiet as well. I'm sure that there are some of the breeds like games where roosters might have some value, but I have become very utilitarian over the years, and with the docile, egg laying machines that I raise, roosters are more trouble than they're worth.

 

[chooks4life]

You probably have a good point. Most of the roosters I've had have been from very docile breeds that were bred for egg production or meat production and quite frankly, they have been worthless as protectors, providers, or herding hens into the coop. Not only have I lost hens to predators, but sometimes it was the rooster himself that was taken, and my hens have made there way back into the coop in the evening just as well without a rooster as with one. All my roosters been good for is fighting, crowing, and over-breeding and battering the hens. This is why I currently have no roosters in my flock. I have 25 hens; 7 Black Sex Links, 7 Black Australorps, 4 Buff Orpingtons, and 7 Easter Eggers, and I get loads of eggs without the aggression, fights, over-breeding, and battering of hens. And based on my past experiences with roosters, I think my hens are enjoying the peace and quiet as well. I'm sure that there are some of the breeds like games where roosters might have some value, but I have become very utilitarian over the years, and with the docile, egg laying machines that I raise, roosters are more trouble than they're worth.

That's a shame, but at least your hens and you have got some peace now. I often hear about the whole 'herding the hens to bed thing' but haven't seen it happen, in my experience all chooks know when to put themselves to bed with or without a rooster.

Good roosters are great additions to any flock but unfortunately can be a little hard to come by, for sure. I had to cull negative social traits out of both genders before I got a flock I could trust to not destroy itself, lol... So no excessive violence, no chick killers, no abusive males, no bullies, and no cannibals. They're all pretty heritable traits so culling out works against them pretty well. Took a few generations of work but it's doable within a few years. Not easy if you only buy in new roosters every now and then rather than keeping and breeding your own lines though. Unfortunately some people idealize the sort of rooster you mention, the abusive sort, so that sort of mentality gets bred on as though it was worth something.

I've had very docile roosters who still did their job properly, they don't need to be abusive to hens and aggressive to humans in order to also protect from predators. I think you've just had a run of bad luck with them, it's a shame you've not had a great experience. Don't blame you for not keeping them anymore, that's a long time of putting up with such crap.

Best wishes.

 

[Michael OShay]

That's a shame, but at least your hens and you have got some peace now. I often hear about the whole 'herding the hens to bed thing' but haven't seen it happen, in my experience all chooks know when to put themselves to bed with or without a rooster.

Good roosters are great additions to any flock but unfortunately can be a little hard to come by, for sure. I had to cull negative social traits out of both genders before I got a flock I could trust to not destroy itself, lol... So no excessive violence, no chick killers, no abusive males, no bullies, and no cannibals. They're all pretty heritable traits so culling out works against them pretty well. Took a few generations of work but it's doable within a few years. Not easy if you only buy in new roosters every now and then rather than keeping and breeding your own lines though. Unfortunately some people idealize the sort of rooster you mention, the abusive sort, so that sort of mentality gets bred on as though it was worth something.

I've had very docile roosters who still did their job properly, they don't need to be abusive to hens and aggressive to humans in order to also protect from predators. I think you've just had a run of bad luck with them, it's a shame you've not had a great experience. Don't blame you for not keeping them anymore, that's a long time of putting up with such crap.

Best wishes.

Thanks. I appreciate it. You too. )