Nah, there's no putting anyone to shame. The chickens trained me and continue to do so each day. Just happens that I've been willing to let them.
My two wonderful roos were cuddly, in very different ways from each other. My #1 was a perfect Barred Rock who ran like the speed of a rocket, Rocket Man. Perfect looking, perfect acting, polite to his ladies, kept us at arm's length, never attacked us. But at night, if his girls got tucked in before he got to bed & the light was out, he'd wait for me to come tuck them in & brush against my legs. I would speak softly to him, bend down, explain that I was going to pick him up & put him on the perch (next to his next fav hen). I'd bend down, he'd steel himself and get stiff as a board, I'd lift each foot onto my hands, lift slowly & balance him against my chest then deposit him carefully on the rail. Once there, he'd relax, settle in & I could pet and kiss him goodnight. But daylight was a different thing... ZERO chance that he'd take time away from the girls to spend even a second for himself.
My #2 roo (Mr Peanut in my avatar) came from some friends who decided that chickens would be a good idea & got them from TSC. Well, when they knew that he was not a she, he had to go (neighborhood rules, etc.). They asked if we wanted to come get their cockrel & make him soup because "we can't have him, he crows all of the time, he's mean & aggressive."
Turned out that he was NOT. Let's just say that if YOU had a dog chasing YOU, trying to kill or harm you or YOUR family, it'd be on now wouldn't it?! (Personal experience with that dog let me know that it was an indulged a**hole...and yes, it's the owners' fault for not correcting a negative behavior with people, so if course a lowly chicken being chased didn't bear correction either. Don't get me started )
On the way home, riding in a box on my lap, I found him to be very quiet & subdued. So I opened the box a wee bit to see if he was ok. He was laying on the towel & just looked up at me. He looked small & afraid, having just had a traumatic capture & now having left the only surroundings he'd known. So I reached in & put my hand on his back to pet and reassure him that he was safe. Poor thing was stiff and so tense! The moment I touched him he started to relax. I don't know that he was able to conceptualize what I was saying or where he was going but he landed in Shangri La!
Of course the girls wanted NO part of him and the Rocket Man wanted to whoop his behind every day, multiple times. He slept inside until his feathers came in fully & we made a separate outdoor enclosure adjacent to the chicken yard and would put him outside daily. Everyone could see but not touch. We integrated him eventually & he was able to stay outside, but he'd bonded with me. (And I made no secret that I was his person, either, though I loved on & respected EVERYONE. He was my
chicken, that's for sure!)
Oh how I loved that guy! Taught him to sit on my shoulder, climb steps, how to find food, ahhh. I'd be in the chicken yard with my pitchfork often, turning the dirt & getting rid of the chicken bombs. When he'd had enough & thought that it was time to cuddle, he'd wait until I was bent over, jump up on my back & plop down, refusing to move. It must've been a sight for anyone passing...as I frequently had to maneuver him by pulling my shirt up, lol. (And I tried the 'Ok, well I will just stand up & teach you'. After scaring the b'jeezus outta him and him clawing for purchase...on my back...I chose another way!)
They are why I love roosters, those two dear boys. And why, if ever we win the lottery, I want to have a huge bachelor colony. There will be room for the previously unwanted roos from far & wide. It will be a retirement home for boys to match the old age home for hens that we run now!
Dearest BarredRockMom,
I am grateful for BackyardChickens for providing a forum to learn and grow from and to simply fill the heart with warmth over so many awesome stories!
