Will my OEGB rooster ever let her set?

[Henny Penney]

This is not a post about whether it is wise to have one rooster and one hen, I know the concerns and downside of that, this is to ask anyone who has done it if the rooster ever let the hen get broody and set.

I raised Old English Game Bantams for 45+ yrs, stopped 6 yrs ago. Missing them, recently found a pair near here in Washington state who needed to be rehomed. So we rebuilt the coop and brought them home. Love having them, the "plan" being to "hopefully" get a few more hens from her, we don't want more than one or two, the coop is too small and we are too old. (Yes I know we could end up with roosters). But our little guy will not leave her alone when she wants to just lay an egg! He will sit in the nest, stand by talking, annoy her till she leaves, he is just a nuisane! He isn't rough on her, in fact she pretty much ignores his mating behavor, I wonder if we'll ever have fertile eggs! But she ends up dropping eggs anywhere and everywhere because of his "over attention". We'd get another hen if we could but OEGB are hard to impossible find where we live. Do you think he'll leave her alone if she gets broody?

 

[LaFleche]

What a cute pair! They are lucky you took them in.

To keep him busy, and give the hen a little more rest and privacy, you could adopt any other bantam breed hen, preferably one that lays a different egg colour than your OEGB hen.

 

[Henny Penney]

What a cute pair! They are lucky you took them in.

To keep him busy, and giver the hen a little more privacy, you could adopt any other bantam breed hen, preferably one that lays a different egg coulour than your OEGB hen.

Thanks for your reply. We would, but it took a long time to find these! Bantams don't seem very popular these days, at least not in western Washington.

They are a cute pair! I always had the reds/gray roosters before, but I've grown fond of our dusty guy! His name is Sage, she is Hazel. He is a self-blue, she is a blue.

 

[LaFleche]

Did you already look in the buy/sell/trade forum or you state forum?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/#buy-sell-trade.67

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/washingtonians-come-together-washington-peeps.717207/unread

 

[Henny Penney]

Did you already look in the buy/sell/trade forum or you state forum?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/#buy-sell-trade.67

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/washingtonians-come-together-washington-peeps.717207/unread

thanks for the suggested, I tried to find the WA group but only found old posts, this time found the newer ones, I will post there also!

 

[LaFleche]

thanks for the suggested, I tried to find the WA group but only found old posts, this time found the newer ones, I will post there also!

Good luck!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thanks for your reply. We would, but it took a long time to find these! Bantams don't seem very popular these days, at least not in western Washington.

They are a cute pair! I always had the reds/gray roosters before, but I've grown fond of our dusty guy! His name is Sage, she is Hazel. He is a self-blue, she is a blue.

What a coincidence... My BBR OEGB rooster is named Sage! You've got a gorgeous pair and I hope they bring you lots of joy. How long have you been without any chickens between the years of breeding and getting this pair?I'm super excited for you

 

[Henny Penney]

What a coincidence... My BBR OEGB rooster is named Sage! You've got a gorgeous pair and I hope they bring you lots of joy. How long have you been without any chickens between the years of breeding and getting this pair?I'm super excited for you

Thank you for the well wishes. It has been 6 years. They definitely bring us many smiles! what characters, each very different. We hope they will breed and raise a few chicks. Of course we also hope we get a hen or two and will have to find a home for any roosters. The “down“ side of chicken raising.

 

[LaFleche]

This is not a post about whether it is wise to have one rooster and one hen, I know the concerns and downside of that, this is to ask anyone who has done it if the rooster ever let the hen get broody and set.

I raised Old English Game Bantams for 45+ yrs, stopped 6 yrs ago. Missing them, recently found a pair near here in Washington state who needed to be rehomed. So we rebuilt the coop and brought them home. Love having them, the "plan" being to "hopefully" get a few more hens from her, we don't want more than one or two, the coop is too small and we are too old. (Yes I know we could end up with roosters). But our little guy will not leave her alone when she wants to just lay an egg! He will sit in the nest, stand by talking, annoy her till she leaves, he is just a nuisane! He isn't rough on her, in fact she pretty much ignores his mating behavor, I wonder if we'll ever have fertile eggs! But she ends up dropping eggs anywhere and everywhere because of his "over attention". We'd get another hen if we could but OEGB are hard to impossible find where we live. Do you think he'll leave her alone if she gets broody?

How are things with Sage and Hazel?

 

[Henny Penney]

How are things with Sage and Hazel?

thanks for asking, I think I posted elsewhere, Sage got overly protective and thus aggressive with me and he went to live elsewhere, we miss him. Hazel misses him. We were fortunate to find another OEG pair and after a challenging intro period, Woody and Sparkle are Hazel's coop mates. Sadly, though she started out the queen, she is at the bottom of the pecking order and Woody is not always nice to her. Also, she is the least tamed, having had a traumatic life (which we added too) so I cannot hold and comfort her, though I try to let her know I care and love her. She and Sparkle get along, Hazel was aggressive with her, now not so. They are a lively trio and we love them all, wish she was a happier hen.
Hazel is on the right in the picture. Sparkle and Woody are spangle OEG.