The mama hen…is a rooster?

[chicken mama 0908]

Thanks sooo much!! I love to see the deer when they come into the field next to our house - I think they are just beautiful in the snow!!

That is pretty amazing.

 

[nuthatched]

Roosters can and will brood and raise chicks, it's not unheard of. Let's see a pic.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chili isn't/wasn't a rooster yet, he's still a baby. Sometimes people find that older chicks are willing to snuggle with younger ones, but it's not the same as a broody hen (or even a broody rooster, which do apparently exist) raising them.

 

[Martha444]

We have a pet rooster in with our waterfowl. He's got a lot on his mind about nests. He has semi adopted the duck flocks and I will find him resting on a duck nest occasionally. He figured out pretty quickly we liked to find the eggs and would point out covered nests and errant eggs for us, and say we've put down fresh bedding, he will go sit in a nice new depression and make tid bit noises, squishing it down like hes trying to point out a good place for the ducks to make their new nest. He's quite a character. Hes almost 2 years old now - barred rock.

I know a lot of people might not like to hear this but we raise our chickens for meat as well as eggs and something pretty uniform across the roosters that are small is that we think they are under developed or late bloomers. They always have small testicles when they're butchered, are leaner, have more feminine features, are very non aggressive but can be "weird" personality wise.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Young large fowl cockerel sitting on a much younger bantam cockerel.

 

[Holdthechicken]

View attachment 3700250Young large fowl cockerel sitting on younger bantam cockerel.

My silkie cockerel would sit on two younger pullets when they were first hatched, a silkie and a lavender orp.. but the orp quickly outgrew him

 

[gimmie birdies]

We had 2 chicks we hatched out right before going to HI, I know that was not a good idea, but it was winter, and my DH decided last min. to get out of dodge. Anyhoo, my dad cared for them while we were gone, and when we got back I wanted more chicks. I had a friend who had chickens and he tried to keep them from having babies (collecting eggs)...but one ran off and hatched under a shed. He let me grab 2 little chicks to take home. Even though they were brand new, and the chicks I hatched were 6 weeks old or so, one boy and one girl, they were both so happy to have friends. The boy squatted down to be at there level and talk to the babies, and showed them how to eat.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I usually put the smallest from one group of chickens in with the next group of new hatched chicks. I don't usually care if they are a boy or a girl, just small. Then the small bird from one group will not get trampled, but also the new ones get a friend that can teach them the ropes.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Not uncommon for cockerels/roosters to care for chicks. That's a great trait to have.

 

[gimmie birdies]

George got to raise those chicks, (Not related.) Then the chicks he raised raised the next batch of chicks below...(they are standing in the black tray and are 3 weeks older, but bantam so they look the same size.) Also not related.

They are all still together in an out door pen. 2 of these, raised chicks behind them, and soon a chick from that batch will raise a different unrelated group, I just hatched.