Doing the "right thing".. and other such things I sometimes struggle with

[PennyM]

 

[PennyM]

 

[PennyM]

 

[Chickassan]

Dang Penny,ya hugged the crap out of her.

 

[WVduckchick]

View attachment 1168115

Today my pasture is much quieter.

This morning is the first morning with our my favorite Icelandic Cockerel, "Dirty Bird". Dirty was the very first egg that I ever hatched. He was hours ahead of the rest and so that "bond" that baby birds get when they imprint happened between us.

Dirty, was the friendly one. He was a Millie Fleur mottle and he was the leader of the 18 strong hatch. Well, he was the leader, until one day he wasn't. One morning I woke up and went to feed them and Dirty was running frantically around the pen. His comb and eye lid were bleeding. Hatchet Face one of the other cocks had de-throwned him. No one would let up. Everyone was pecking him.

From that forward Dirty changed. It was like his personality was altered. He never got on with Hatchet. But I loved him, so he stayed. I gave him girls, he pulled out their feathers and when they were given the choice they joined Hatchet again.

I tried putting everyone in the same coop. Dirty began roosting outside under our barn.. After weeks of putting him in the coop, nothing changed. I still had to find him every night. Eventually, he got his own cage. He put himself to bed in the cage every night. Life was sweet enough. He was my good boy. Things would mellow out, I was sure.

Then, he attacked my father in law. Repeatedly.
Two days later he attacked my husband.
Still, I kept him. He was just going through puberty.. I was sure.
He was sweet to me, he was a good boy.

He dominated my (much bigger) Marans and chased them off the pasture and onto the road. Luckily we live at the "end" of a private road so the only traffic is us. I spent 40 mins running around trying to catch him and pen him before I could herd the Marans Roosters home.

This past week he brutally attacked one of the younger chicks who had ventured out of of her pen. He raped my only Marans pullet and afterward she went into shock from the aggressiveness of it.

And now my pasture is quiet. It took me six months to come to terms with the reality of it all. In the end, Dirty was not a good boy. The hens and chicks avoided him, my family was wary and he created more problems than he was worth. I had been "blinded by love."

The birds in my pasture are all calm now.. calm in a way I've never seen which means I finally got around to doing the "right thing".

Pictured as 8 week old when he was still King.

That's a tough decision to make but you did it

To paraphrase something I read the other day...Good flock management includes subtraction as well as addition.

For the good of all, you did the right thing.

True NFC. I have some subtracting to do too.

 

[PennyM]

Dang Penny,ya hugged the crap out of her.

Sorry, it didn't look like it went through!

 

[song of joy]

This story is beautifully written. Thanks for sharing it and your experience.

 

[mortorffsquail]

@JacquelineJ what did you do as the "right thing" ?

 

[JacquelineJ]

I'm so sorry about Dirty. You did the right thing. I understand that it's hard to cull a bad rooster, especially one you hatched out, and watched growing up. You might want to be careful not to hatch any eggs that he might have fertilized. Temperament tends to be passed on to offspring, and you don't want his aggression incorporated into your flock. Again, I'm sorry.

I won't be breeding until Late April, so no chance of that! I didn't know it was a trait that could be passed along, so that's good to know. Thank you for the condolences. I am still a bit weepy about it.

 

[JacquelineJ]

That's hard stuff, but yes, you did the right thing. Hugs!

thank you x