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Still ongoing. It can be induced readily and consistently once taking molt cycle into account.

Here the little munch is harvesting Elder Berries and feeding them to juvenile offspring and hen. It looks like a miniature browse line like left by cattle or large number of deer in a woods. He get all the ripe fruit below about 36".

Here is a kicker. Just before roosting time we had a strong spate of wind from northeast. A lot of stuff got blown around. Rooster and brood currently roosting in high weeds just off porch. Mother of those chicks roosting in up in a bush about 20 feet away. I can hear hen with seven...

Neighbor to south east been here for a while and they have a new group of dogs plus and older female that used to be a problem around chickens. I broke the big female off killing chickens. Now she is welcomes by all but me. She steals my carcass experiments with extreme regularity and you do...

The harem released at dawn as chicks already down and foraging under rose bus just outside of cage. Immediately the group began the fast walk picking up exposed night flying insects not net down in the grass. They are also getting grasshoppers not yet warmed enough to jump effectively. We...

Notice how rooster holds hackle feathers when engaging a snake. Even chicks involved.

Nap time in pen next to house.

Full on broodiness in display. Hen stopped clucking and now running chicks off at least intermittently. Chicks now oriented on rooster. When they produce distressed contact calls he is the one that responds. His calls are very close to clucking and he is holding his tail up like a hen that...

A molt male jungle fowl and some domestic chickens undergo during summer that precedes the hard molt where all remaining body feathers are replaced. Long pointy hackle feathers are replaced by shorter rounded feathers that are black at least on the tips. A thread on subject...

I am pretty sure broodiness in these roosters is suppressed until the rooster commences molt. The stops really come off when eclipse molt gets underway. That said, the rooster still has a preference with respect to what hens he likes to hang with. Order of preference 1) Hen in lay 2) Hen with...

He will have sired 3 brood by 2 hens this year. Nearly a quarter of what I have done with games so far. Two more broods Will be produced for generating pullets, then will shut down for molt and preparation for winter.

Over last couple weeks the rooster above had to deal with an additional hen that came into lay. He switched from attending the broody hen with chicks to the hen in lay. Hen in lay has nest site roughly 100 yards from location rooster was using as roost previously. He stayed with hen in lay...

I would like to collect all the shed flight feathers in sequence, but lack manpower.

Check spread wings of adults for incoming feathers where replacement on both sides in a stepwise pattern; your birds should have started replacement process within the last month. Commercial high output egg producers have the more compressed molting pattern with delayed start.

Yes, every year and likely with yours right now even in the north with an ornamental flock. Early stages of molt most people are not aware of.

This guy is on track to be full on broody. Two prior attempts where a no go. Change appears to coincide with start of flight feather replacement. He moves around less than would otherwise. He also is not defecating in the nest. He goes to roost / nest a solid two hours before before...

I think there is a form of pairing that can go between a rooster and hen he mates with and frequently as clutch is built up. He was penned with her during that and for about 2 days of incubation.

Setup from above. We have 6 chicks. The chicks do not hesitate to run about under rooster when food is present. The hen has not demonstrated any animosity towards this rooster, in part because he was the one she was penned with as she produced the clutch.

Tomorrow, I will be teaching a class of college students about chicken behavior emphasizing communication. Part of what I want to do is demonstrate paternal care they approaches the broody level shown previously in thread. A hen that hatched a clutch yesterday (Easter chicks) was housed in a...