I have a very slow maturing Araucana cockerel. He's had a rough winter. I hatch eggs under broodies and let the hens raise their chicks with my flock of big dual purpose birds. This has always worked well before, but the day after I sold his only sibling, his mom weaned him, and he was on his own at about 7 weeks in December. He was clearly male, and my previous Araucana boys started crowing and chasing the big hens at 9 weeks, so I figured he'd be OK pretty soon. Then it got cold and snowy, and eventually I figured out that the hens (not the rooster) were chasing him out of the coop and he was spending his days standing in the snow. I separated him at that point (he has his own coop and run within my bigger run so he's not completely isolated), and he seemed pretty depressed, and I wasn't sure if he would live. I worried that his feet had frozen--they seemed sore, but he's using them and they haven't turned black. I tried putting my most docile Araucana pullet in with him, but she kept flying out and he didn't seem happy with her. Now he looks pretty good--bright-eyed, shiny-feathered, but at 24 weeks, he has yet to crow or strut around (his saddle feathers are quite apparent, so I'm positive he's male and plenty old enough). I know I messed up with him, but does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone else had a boy that took so long to mature?
