A story about how a young cockerel promoted himself to flock leader.
We raise a lot of cockerels, 90% for the freezer, 1% to keep for breeding, 9% to sell on with decent pullets/hens. Sometimes a young cockerel will find a way to sneak past the odds.
The young males land in rooster coop when they're about 8 weeks old, to grow up together as a bachelor group. During that time they learn flock social skills and get the crash course in hierarchy from the older boys. I keep a good natured leader bird from the first batch to rule the roost for the remainder of the season, it's his job to oversee things.
The rooster coop shares a fence line with a project breeding group, 11 hens and the best rooster on the farm. The young cockerels can watch the goings-on through the fence on how to behave around hens and how hens behave in a well run flock. They'll stand there and stare in for hours, fascinated.
Henry, the rooster coop leader, would posture up along the fence as a morning ritual with the neighbor rooster. The youngsters would stand around and watch that too. Henry started to get too big for his britches though and the neighbor leader flew the fence one morning and spanked Henry into next week. Their morning ritual was a lot calmer after that, all show and no fuss.
A Bresse cockerel and his 7 brothers landed in rooster coop in May. In August, 5 of his brothers left, along with some other birds. Including Henry, the leader (moved in with girls) He started hanging more by the fence, staring balefully through the fence at the girls. Eventually, his flock dwindled down to just 5 and they were moved to a different building to live with some delinquent Turkeys. He decided Turkeys weren't so bad and made friends.
He would still go to the fence to stare at the hens next door though. He would act like he had treats, try to wing dance around them but the fence always stopped him.
One day, the door to his building was left open for maintenance, when the neighbor flock was out free ranging. That was his chance! Him and his brother both came out and went around to where the flock was ranging. That was where they got their first lesson in how not to steal girls.
I heard the commotion from inside, when that leader rooster was giving those cockerels the what-for when they showed up, trying to get at his girls. They were crying in the corner behind the coop by the gate, pinned down, trying to get back to their area. I rescued them. The leader rooster stepped off of it as soon as I got there.
The two cockerels went back and some time passed. Then the braver of the two cockerels, he started flying over the gate to go try to sneak up on the flock when they were ranging. Going with stealth, calling the fringe girls over from afar. Offering snacks. His brother stayed back, deciding it wasn't worth the spanking he got the first time.
For a month Mr Sneaky tried and tried to convince some girls to go with him. They'd take his snacks and not much else.
A couple of days ago, the leader bird of that flock was acting off. It became apparent that he would need culled and cull day was fast approaching for the remaining extra boys. I had a tough call to make, this flock leader bird had the type I'm after in the project, the looks, the attitude, the temperament. Very showy in his demeanor, think of an OEG bantam. Polite, courteous, diligent and efficient. Do I pull him and try to fix him or do I stick to my guns on "no chicken hospital". I stuck to my guns. I keep extra boys waiting for just in case and I already had a prime son ready to step in as needed.
Over the couple of days that the leader bird was feeling poorly, that Bresse cockerel would stroll the fence, trying to make those girls notice him. He learned how to be polite about it.
Instead of moving the pre-picked cockerel in as the replacement, I stuck that Bresse in there. Overnight I moved him over, set him on the roost inside. He mumbled some rooster speak and sidled closer to the girls on the roost.
This morning, he was trying where he could, being polite and feeling out who might take up with him. Offering up any little tid bit he could find, dancing around it and making a fuss. An Easter Egger, 2 Bresse and an Olive Egger decided he would do. The other 7 ladies are proving harder to get. They're curious but very skeptical. For them, this is their 3rd rooster and the bar has been set high.
He's pretty pleased with himself but his inexperience is showing. He was standing out in the rain today, trying to decide if he should go to the shade cover and hang with those girls, or go up into the coop with the others. He bounced back and forth but mostly stood in the middle, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to be doing and seemingly scared of making a mistake.
He gets an A for effort though, all of his interest and his ability to figure out how he should behave did land him in with some girls instead of the crockpot.
We raise a lot of cockerels, 90% for the freezer, 1% to keep for breeding, 9% to sell on with decent pullets/hens. Sometimes a young cockerel will find a way to sneak past the odds.
The young males land in rooster coop when they're about 8 weeks old, to grow up together as a bachelor group. During that time they learn flock social skills and get the crash course in hierarchy from the older boys. I keep a good natured leader bird from the first batch to rule the roost for the remainder of the season, it's his job to oversee things.
The rooster coop shares a fence line with a project breeding group, 11 hens and the best rooster on the farm. The young cockerels can watch the goings-on through the fence on how to behave around hens and how hens behave in a well run flock. They'll stand there and stare in for hours, fascinated.
Henry, the rooster coop leader, would posture up along the fence as a morning ritual with the neighbor rooster. The youngsters would stand around and watch that too. Henry started to get too big for his britches though and the neighbor leader flew the fence one morning and spanked Henry into next week. Their morning ritual was a lot calmer after that, all show and no fuss.
A Bresse cockerel and his 7 brothers landed in rooster coop in May. In August, 5 of his brothers left, along with some other birds. Including Henry, the leader (moved in with girls) He started hanging more by the fence, staring balefully through the fence at the girls. Eventually, his flock dwindled down to just 5 and they were moved to a different building to live with some delinquent Turkeys. He decided Turkeys weren't so bad and made friends.
He would still go to the fence to stare at the hens next door though. He would act like he had treats, try to wing dance around them but the fence always stopped him.
One day, the door to his building was left open for maintenance, when the neighbor flock was out free ranging. That was his chance! Him and his brother both came out and went around to where the flock was ranging. That was where they got their first lesson in how not to steal girls.
I heard the commotion from inside, when that leader rooster was giving those cockerels the what-for when they showed up, trying to get at his girls. They were crying in the corner behind the coop by the gate, pinned down, trying to get back to their area. I rescued them. The leader rooster stepped off of it as soon as I got there.
The two cockerels went back and some time passed. Then the braver of the two cockerels, he started flying over the gate to go try to sneak up on the flock when they were ranging. Going with stealth, calling the fringe girls over from afar. Offering snacks. His brother stayed back, deciding it wasn't worth the spanking he got the first time.
For a month Mr Sneaky tried and tried to convince some girls to go with him. They'd take his snacks and not much else.
A couple of days ago, the leader bird of that flock was acting off. It became apparent that he would need culled and cull day was fast approaching for the remaining extra boys. I had a tough call to make, this flock leader bird had the type I'm after in the project, the looks, the attitude, the temperament. Very showy in his demeanor, think of an OEG bantam. Polite, courteous, diligent and efficient. Do I pull him and try to fix him or do I stick to my guns on "no chicken hospital". I stuck to my guns. I keep extra boys waiting for just in case and I already had a prime son ready to step in as needed.
Over the couple of days that the leader bird was feeling poorly, that Bresse cockerel would stroll the fence, trying to make those girls notice him. He learned how to be polite about it.
Instead of moving the pre-picked cockerel in as the replacement, I stuck that Bresse in there. Overnight I moved him over, set him on the roost inside. He mumbled some rooster speak and sidled closer to the girls on the roost.
This morning, he was trying where he could, being polite and feeling out who might take up with him. Offering up any little tid bit he could find, dancing around it and making a fuss. An Easter Egger, 2 Bresse and an Olive Egger decided he would do. The other 7 ladies are proving harder to get. They're curious but very skeptical. For them, this is their 3rd rooster and the bar has been set high.
He's pretty pleased with himself but his inexperience is showing. He was standing out in the rain today, trying to decide if he should go to the shade cover and hang with those girls, or go up into the coop with the others. He bounced back and forth but mostly stood in the middle, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to be doing and seemingly scared of making a mistake.
He gets an A for effort though, all of his interest and his ability to figure out how he should behave did land him in with some girls instead of the crockpot.
