TropicalChickies
Crowing
Hi folks,
I recently ended up with a surprise. 5 months ago, I asked a neighbor from the village for fertile eggs to put under my always-going-broody hen. I didn't have a rooster at the time. Now I have two very beautiful 22 week old cockerels and I'm curious as to what they might be -- and how I would need to manage them in order to keep both.
Paco and Lucio.
We live in very rural area of Ecuador, South America. In the village where my neighbor lives, some people breed gamecocks for sport, most of them appear to be Oriental, but I'm no expert.
I don't think these fellas are purebred. The gamecock breeders keep their fighters caged because they are too valuable (big wagering event around here) to have them out fighting other roosters. And the village is full of all types and mixes of regular barnyard hens and roos. BUT they must let the gamecocks out once in while to blow off steam (mate) because a lot of those barnyard roosters look pretty exotic -- not as exotic as the caged fellas, but clearly they have some of those gamefowl genetics.
So the eggs these two cockerels I have most likely came from this mixed stock.
This is Paco (black and white, gold saddle, green tail feathers). He has already asserted himself as the dominant. Very precocious, maturing early. He crowed at 14 weeks, was trying to mount at 16 weeks, mating successfully at 18 weeks. And now he's got his favorite hen already sitting on a clutch of eggs. He has a very elaborate mating dance and is quite gentlemanly. He doesn't mount hens that rebuff him and he escorts his favorite around when she comes off the clutch, digging up bugs for her, etc. A real love story.
Paco hatched from a green egg, btw.
Paco.
Below is Lucio (who I was calling Lucy until the saddle and neck feathers became apparent -- and folks on BYC confirmed, yes, definitely a cockerel)
He doesn't crow at all. He is maturing more slowly. He holds his body more horizontal, but the past few days has been standing up straighter. I think he would like to mount the hens, but they refuse him -- I suppose because Paco is dominant. Interestingly, Lucio hatched first and is bigger, but Paco matured faster.
And this is really weird -- about two weeks ago, they starting sparring pretty hard, not playing anymore. I had seen Lucio challenging Paco before, but nothing came of it. This was a real fight. I went over to break it up, but before I got there, the older hen who hatched them broke it up by THROWING Lucio down on his back. Since then, Lucio has become quite meek. His former mama is terrible to him now, she even bullies him away from the waterer. It's like SHE picked Paco to be the dominant...
Anyway, here's Lucio. His neck feathers are getting particularly beautiful, long and silky. Lucio hatched from a light blue egg.
Lucio.
Maybe this part belongs in the "Chicken Behavior" forum, I had a hard time deciding where to put this. Because I'd like to keep them both and wonder what I'm getting myself into. Paco is the obvious winner but Im fond of Lucio as the underdog and want to give him a chance to become a man. Or at least a rooster...
I have a plan to get some healthy 5 - 6 month old pullets and put them in a separate area with Lucio to let them make their own society. If these fellas genetics are diluted enough, I think it could work. Since the mama hen threw Lucio down, they've been peaceful together. But I'd certainly appreciate anyone with more knowledge and experience weighing in.
P.S. chances of rehoming Lucio are not good. He'd end up in a soup. I'm a softie and I'd like to give him a chance, so if I need to go out of my way to manage them, that's ok.
Thank you!
I recently ended up with a surprise. 5 months ago, I asked a neighbor from the village for fertile eggs to put under my always-going-broody hen. I didn't have a rooster at the time. Now I have two very beautiful 22 week old cockerels and I'm curious as to what they might be -- and how I would need to manage them in order to keep both.
Paco and Lucio.
We live in very rural area of Ecuador, South America. In the village where my neighbor lives, some people breed gamecocks for sport, most of them appear to be Oriental, but I'm no expert.
I don't think these fellas are purebred. The gamecock breeders keep their fighters caged because they are too valuable (big wagering event around here) to have them out fighting other roosters. And the village is full of all types and mixes of regular barnyard hens and roos. BUT they must let the gamecocks out once in while to blow off steam (mate) because a lot of those barnyard roosters look pretty exotic -- not as exotic as the caged fellas, but clearly they have some of those gamefowl genetics.
So the eggs these two cockerels I have most likely came from this mixed stock.
This is Paco (black and white, gold saddle, green tail feathers). He has already asserted himself as the dominant. Very precocious, maturing early. He crowed at 14 weeks, was trying to mount at 16 weeks, mating successfully at 18 weeks. And now he's got his favorite hen already sitting on a clutch of eggs. He has a very elaborate mating dance and is quite gentlemanly. He doesn't mount hens that rebuff him and he escorts his favorite around when she comes off the clutch, digging up bugs for her, etc. A real love story.
Paco hatched from a green egg, btw.
Paco.
Below is Lucio (who I was calling Lucy until the saddle and neck feathers became apparent -- and folks on BYC confirmed, yes, definitely a cockerel)
He doesn't crow at all. He is maturing more slowly. He holds his body more horizontal, but the past few days has been standing up straighter. I think he would like to mount the hens, but they refuse him -- I suppose because Paco is dominant. Interestingly, Lucio hatched first and is bigger, but Paco matured faster.
And this is really weird -- about two weeks ago, they starting sparring pretty hard, not playing anymore. I had seen Lucio challenging Paco before, but nothing came of it. This was a real fight. I went over to break it up, but before I got there, the older hen who hatched them broke it up by THROWING Lucio down on his back. Since then, Lucio has become quite meek. His former mama is terrible to him now, she even bullies him away from the waterer. It's like SHE picked Paco to be the dominant...
Anyway, here's Lucio. His neck feathers are getting particularly beautiful, long and silky. Lucio hatched from a light blue egg.
Lucio.
Maybe this part belongs in the "Chicken Behavior" forum, I had a hard time deciding where to put this. Because I'd like to keep them both and wonder what I'm getting myself into. Paco is the obvious winner but Im fond of Lucio as the underdog and want to give him a chance to become a man. Or at least a rooster...
I have a plan to get some healthy 5 - 6 month old pullets and put them in a separate area with Lucio to let them make their own society. If these fellas genetics are diluted enough, I think it could work. Since the mama hen threw Lucio down, they've been peaceful together. But I'd certainly appreciate anyone with more knowledge and experience weighing in.
P.S. chances of rehoming Lucio are not good. He'd end up in a soup. I'm a softie and I'd like to give him a chance, so if I need to go out of my way to manage them, that's ok.
Thank you!
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I'm very sorry to hear about Cheri and Paco,
