This article had so much insight into rooster behavior. I appreciate the time it takes to put this all in writing. Currently I have two cockerels that were supposed to be pullets. I'm still deciding if one or both should go.
Shad, for content I would give this ten stars if I could. I could not put it down and found it absolutely eye-opening. I'm wondering now if my chickens will arrange themselves into tribes and I can keep all 3 roosters for my 25 hens.
So why only 4 stars? Sorry - I'm an editor by genetics! I wish I could go over this with a fine-nibbed pen! There are just a few grammatical issues or places where I think your fine mind outraced your typing speed. Your research and observations are impeccable, however, and this was a truly incredible read! Thank you so much for sharing!
Yeah I know, it's a bit of a grammatical mess in places. I do hope people will bear in mind that it's ripped from my book and I've had to graft in a lot of background that I have been able to just refer to in the book. Thanks for reading. If you felt the urge, please do edit it and send me a copy.
I have read this excellent article through once and will read it again as I work to rehab Fabio with the advice you've already given me. It has certainly helped us both already but we have a ways to go. Now that we've got little Captain growing up with the new batch of chicks, he will add a new dimension to my flock. One that I hope Fabio will adjust to. I will continue to learn and try to improve my behavior with my flock based on your endless good advice and suggestions.
Would that every chicken had a living arrangement like you have set up! I thoroughly enjoyed the read. Your writing is high-quality and the way you phrase things is much more accurate than I could ever manage.
While very kind of you to say, it's not really true. You've written some good articles. Part of the difference is you neither have the time or the climate for observation. Also, yourself and other people set out to keep chickens with a completely different objective. I was fortunate in that the people who got the chickens in the first place lost interest in them quite rapidly. They were more work than expected and less friendly than required.
I was able, with a bit of arm twisting, to make the set up so I could do such studies. It is actually quite a lot of work. 6 coops that need cleaning at least once a week, plus the maternity units, supervised feeding and of course keeping my house reasonably clean is a bit of a nightmare.
Most of all, it's climate. I wouldn't be doing this in sub zero temps.
The accuracy with which the various aspects of rooster behavior are described makes this a n excellent article. But i found it somewhat hard to read, it took me a couple of attempts to get through, more like a scientific text. Very well researched and observed though. Should we ever have chickens and rooster(s) i will read through this article again.
I'm glad you commented. I knew it was going to be long, it's taken from my book which is a bit more 'scientific' than is possibly suitable for BYC.
If you ever have time and felt like commenting on the sections you found particularly difficult to read I would be very grateful.
One of the reasons the article is so long is because in the book I can refer to earlier chapters of study papers in the reference section. I found it very difficult to try and make sure I included enough relevant information to make the article understandable.
Thank you for persevering.
This is a great article Shad! Answered some questions Ive had concerning Rooster behavior. Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and knowledge!