mes06a
Hatching
- Mar 14, 2015
- 5
- 0
- 7
Please accept my sincerest apologies for the title.
My wonderful wife and I have a less than wonderful Dominique cockerel, Richard. Now, I realize that it is indeed less than wonderful of me to tell you, so directly, that ol' Rick is less than wonderful. Nevertheless, he is quite unpleasant. We did not intend to get a rooster, however, finding ourselves with one, we endeavored to make the best of it. Richard has endeavored to thwart our efforts.
He is aggressive.
Let me be quite plain. He is a fierce specimen...more closely resembling a haughty, barred chimera (chimaera if you prefer) than the oldest extant American breed of gallus gallus domesticus. He breathes fire....almost.
He is aggressive toward our hens. He is aggressive toward our dog (the two have fortunately never been allowed to face-off). He considers himself more than my match and most importantly...he has it out for my wonderful wife.
Now. I realize that some may think that I am guilty of anthropomorphism or mere vilification but I assure you that Richard more than lives up to the most common nickname for that given name... My wife cannot set foot in our backyard without him attacking her.
I am by no means a fan of the idea of having to cull Richard. He is a truly beautiful, albeit difficult and cantankerous, bird. I assure you that the situation seems to warrant such an extreme measure. I can further assure you that I do not relish this and have not reached this conclusion easily.
I was asking advice from a co-worker who has experience raising chickens. He told me that we can cull the cockerel, but that this action will cause the hens to stop laying. He said that in Richard's absence (no, he did not call him by name), the hens may lay for an additional week or so but will soon cease laying.
I'm aware that hens do not need a rooster to lay eggs. My questions are:
1.) Will my hens, who are accustomed to the presence of a rooster, stop laying if Richard must...no longer be with us...or anyone?
2.) If we do cull dear Richard, would we need to replace him with another rooster?
3.) Would my day time free ranging hens be in greater danger in our fenced yard without a rooster?
4.) Do I need to grant Richard a reprieve and simply allow him to mature before taking such a drastic measure?
I am truly grateful for any and all advice. I am open to alternatives but am not interested in being overly criticized for considering culling (yes, that does mean killing) my rooster. He is be-feathered. I am therefore fairly certain that he is not a person and is not truly sapient. Don't judge me.
Actually, do judge me, just not too much on that one...
My wonderful wife and I have a less than wonderful Dominique cockerel, Richard. Now, I realize that it is indeed less than wonderful of me to tell you, so directly, that ol' Rick is less than wonderful. Nevertheless, he is quite unpleasant. We did not intend to get a rooster, however, finding ourselves with one, we endeavored to make the best of it. Richard has endeavored to thwart our efforts.
He is aggressive.
Let me be quite plain. He is a fierce specimen...more closely resembling a haughty, barred chimera (chimaera if you prefer) than the oldest extant American breed of gallus gallus domesticus. He breathes fire....almost.
He is aggressive toward our hens. He is aggressive toward our dog (the two have fortunately never been allowed to face-off). He considers himself more than my match and most importantly...he has it out for my wonderful wife.
Now. I realize that some may think that I am guilty of anthropomorphism or mere vilification but I assure you that Richard more than lives up to the most common nickname for that given name... My wife cannot set foot in our backyard without him attacking her.
I am by no means a fan of the idea of having to cull Richard. He is a truly beautiful, albeit difficult and cantankerous, bird. I assure you that the situation seems to warrant such an extreme measure. I can further assure you that I do not relish this and have not reached this conclusion easily.
I was asking advice from a co-worker who has experience raising chickens. He told me that we can cull the cockerel, but that this action will cause the hens to stop laying. He said that in Richard's absence (no, he did not call him by name), the hens may lay for an additional week or so but will soon cease laying.
I'm aware that hens do not need a rooster to lay eggs. My questions are:
1.) Will my hens, who are accustomed to the presence of a rooster, stop laying if Richard must...no longer be with us...or anyone?
2.) If we do cull dear Richard, would we need to replace him with another rooster?
3.) Would my day time free ranging hens be in greater danger in our fenced yard without a rooster?
4.) Do I need to grant Richard a reprieve and simply allow him to mature before taking such a drastic measure?
I am truly grateful for any and all advice. I am open to alternatives but am not interested in being overly criticized for considering culling (yes, that does mean killing) my rooster. He is be-feathered. I am therefore fairly certain that he is not a person and is not truly sapient. Don't judge me.
Actually, do judge me, just not too much on that one...
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