Norman the Rooster

[Braxton Brigade]

Yay!!! Had my Norman fix for the week!

sorry you fell down the hill! Man, sorry about the eggs.

could you AI Norma?

One successful mating can yield a hen with enough sperm to fertilize a months worth of eggs (maybe less for small breeds).

These things can take time, soon enough she will have success.

 

[speckledhen]

One successful mating can yield a hen with enough sperm to fertilize a months worth of eggs (maybe less for small breeds).

These things can take time, soon enough she will have success.

Generally, you can rely on two weeks of fertility and it goes down drastically after that, but there have actually been cases of verified fertility after 30 days, though that is rare. So, Norman only has to get it right one time every couple of weeks, LOL!

I remember being frustrated with my first rooster's easygoing attitude, taking so long to get started on his duties, but he finally got down to business; the girls loved him and so did we. Had some nice sons and daughters from him.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

Generally, you can rely on two weeks of fertility and it goes down drastically after that, but there have actually been cases of verified fertility after 30 days, though that is rare. So, Norman only has to get it right one time every couple of weeks, LOL!

I remember being frustrated with my first rooster's easygoing attitude, taking so long to get started on his duties, but he finally got down to business; the girls loved him and so did we. Had some nice sons and daughters from him.

Exactly. I had one guy that was very timid, didn't crow until he was 9+ months old, didn't breed until he moved to a new home with new hens haha. I am now told he crows and breeds quite often.

Mixing inexperienced cockerels with sometime wild pullets/hens can hinder the process.

 

[QueenMisha]

Hey again everybody. I'll post some new pics in just a minute! I've been awfully distracted with personal stuff the past couple days and haven't had time for BYC at all, so sorry for the lack of updates! It's that pesky old social life rearing its ugly head again, and for once I've actually been doing normal-people things rather than obsessing about chickens 24/7. Eh, I'll call it a healthy development.

Yay!!! Had my Norman fix for the week! sorry you fell down the hill! Man, sorry about the eggs. could you AI Norma?

I'm strongly considering it; while I imagine such things would come about naturally given time, I don't particularly have any qualms about speeding the process up a bit. Plus, AI is a skill I have read about but never personally attempted, so it would be an important learning experience. I think it will depend on how this next batch of eggs goes. I'll be candling them on Saturday, and if I get an infertile batch again I'll probably try AI.

I'm about ready for a new Norman/Norma fix (just a small little hint QueenMisha)!

New pics will be up in just a moment.

 

[QueenMisha]

Birthday selfies! These were taken on Tuesday. To celebrate Norman and Norma's birthday, I let them eat absolutely hideous amounts of 6-grain scratch and put them in their outdoor pen for the entire day. Plus they got extra cuddling time!

In their outdoor pen.

Supervised free ranging today, as it wasn't terribly busy so I had some time to kill. I don't even know how many times I chased our other boys, Napoleon and Han, away from Norma.

Also, would anyone be interested in some photos of the shop to see where Norman and Norma get to spend their time? Seriously, it's been totally dead today (1 customer!) and I have another hour to kill before waterers get done for the night. I'd be happy to take pictures of anyone's interested.

 

[Teila]

Howdy QueenMisha

Happy birthday to Norman and Norma! They are such a BEAUTIFUL couple!

Yep, I am having a quiet work morning [09:15AM] all the way over here is Aus .. I would love to see some pictures please.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

Birthday selfies! These were taken on Tuesday. To celebrate Norman and Norma's birthday, I let them eat absolutely hideous amounts of 6-grain scratch and put them in their outdoor pen for the entire day. Plus they got extra cuddling time!



In their outdoor pen.





Supervised free ranging today, as it wasn't terribly busy so I had some time to kill. I don't even know how many times I chased our other boys, Napoleon and Han, away from Norma.

Also, would anyone be interested in some photos of the shop to see where Norman and Norma get to spend their time? Seriously, it's been totally dead today (1 customer!) and I have another hour to kill before waterers get done for the night. I'd be happy to take pictures of anyone's interested.

I would enjoy seeing the shop! I do have a question... do you think the daily handling of norman/norma is stressing them out? Since I don't personally know their temperaments I can not assume that they are friendly enough to hold.

 

[pattyhen]

Happy belated birthday to Norman and Norma. The pics are gorgeous and I am so happy they got to celebrate their birthdays.

I would love to see the shop. Does Norman live inside the shop or a cage in the back?

Thanks so much for the update and the pics. Keeping my fingers crossed that the eggs are fertile this time. Good luck.

 

[QueenMisha]

I would enjoy seeing the shop!  I do have a question... do you think the daily handling of norman/norma is stressing them out? Since I don't personally know their temperaments I can not assume that they are friendly enough to hold.

I don't think so. On an average day they get handled for maybe 20-30 minutes, on a slow day sometimes as much as an hour. This is generally 3-4 times a week as that is how often I work. They both have very calm personalities - Norman moreso than Norma, he actually gets upset when I don't handle him or if I hold other birds (besides Norma). Norma is not quite as demanding of attention, but she is pretty tame when I pick her up. Both of them seem to take after their Silkie heritage in that respect.

 

[QueenMisha]

Here's the front of the shop and the back corner where we keep the indoor birds (Seramas, Norma/n, and youngsters).

The office. As you can see, we've rather got a theme going on.

Norman and Norma share the cage in the middle, while all the others hold various pairs and groups of Seramas.

The chick room! This is where all the little Norma/ns will go once they are hatched.

The backyard, where our resident flock, large breeders, and sale pullets go. We don't have any pullets currently for sale, so right now that pen is occupied by my boss' gang of Orp-crosses, as well as a few odds and ends.

Remember how I mentioned once we got the back, backyard cleaned up we'd be able to put in some breeding pens, including those for further generations of "Bates Bantams"? Well, as of recently, it got done! After removing three flatbed loads worth of old machines and junk from the backyard, it's ready to be fully cleaned up and have pens put in. That should occur sometime between now and next summer.