Beginning A Rooster's Road to Recovery

[MistyMountain]

I've been quietly following along, but the moment you said Westie, you got my attention. Absolutely love them. We had one that we got at age 7. He was our kid before kids, truly our everything. That once in a lifetime dog. We lost him to lymphoma 5 years ago at age 15. We immediately adopted a pound puppy, not wanting to replace him, but looking for a dog to fill the hole he left and grow with our boys. Lilly has turned out to be a fine farm dog, but she's no Westie. I miss our Max so much… I am currently on a waiting list for another!!! Might be a year before I get the call, but I can not wait!!

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:

I'm glad you've joined!

My Westie was truly great with my flock and even the one who used to live around the corner snuck over here on more than one occasion. The first time he did, he froze in the middle of the road, watching my girls peck around in the grass through the hedges. At first I didn't even realize he was there but I went and got him and carried him home before he got comfortable enough to give chase. Any time he would visit after that, he liked to watch them from a distance but never went after them either.

The newfie - westie pair was such a great balance to have.



This was Connor experiencing the flock free-ranging for the first time. My OE was totally enamored with him and wouldn't let him get more than a few feet away from her which made him a little nervous at first and he found a great hiding spot...



...but he got over it.




Supervising chickens crossing the road (driveway). The OE leading the way.







Connor loved his "chicken tv"

 

[islandgirl82]

Russell has had much more success with the girls this morning. I guess he realized that doing the hokey pokey when my girls want to waltz and passing on the ridiculous pick up lines gets him a lot more of the kind of attention he seeks. He ignored Hola (despite her attempts to keep him monogamous) and went for Java first thing. All business, no sweet talking. She didn't even try to make a run for it and he's very subtle and quick about it. She did however run to me as soon as he was finished (this is the same girl who runs to me and tattles when someone else sits on her egg before I've collected - every time). His next partner was the SLW who walked right up to him while he was sharing his breakfast with my Golden Spangled Hamburg, Amelia. Amelia actually squatted for him but he passed her over for the SLW. His previous keepers said he always left their bantams alone, even though they were all kept together. Although GSHs are a Large Fowl breed, they are very small. He seems to know he's just too big for her. He's also been leaving my eldest girl alone. She's not laying anymore - do roosters know when a hen has gone through her menopause?

He's still tidbitting for my shy girls and when they approach, he just moves away to let them eat in peace.


Dashing past the fire pit - I think he knows he'd look mighty fine spinning on a spit if he gets out of line...




Photo quality isn't great (he keeps such a healthy distance, it's difficult to get clear shots and please excuse the muddy dish, it poured her yesterday and all last night) but you can see the size difference. Amelia only weighs about 3lbs - if that and he weighs at least 8-10lbs.




We are both much more relaxed around each other. I approached him for photos of him sunbathing and after a minute, he actually closed his eyes. This is good.

 

[aart]

What muddy dish??

A good, mature rooster does know if a hen is in lay or not.......whether he knows that the one is too small for his girth is debatable, but maybe<shrugs>

Glad things are looking up!
That behemoth lunker of a black and white dog is the bomb!!

 

[islandgirl82]

Hahaha! Willie's fantastic and he loves having little things to look after.

My daughter has been watching the flock and she told me Russell did try to go for the GSH but she ran away and then charged him and pecked him and he backed off so I'm thinking you're correct in him not paying too much attention to the size difference but she's not hesitating to tell him "no". That's one reason I like the GSHs so much; they're feisty, territorial and fearless (much like a westie actually). They make great free-rangers and are prolific layers too. Small eggs so it takes two of hers to be the equivalent of an an extra large egg but she'll go 10 days in a row before having a break. Mine is also loaded with personality. They're not lap chickens by any means but Amelia and I have done much bonding and she's always at my heels. She and Java have similar personalities and pair off together a lot though Java doesn't mind being held.

 

[islandgirl82]

Today was Russell's first full day out with the girls and for much of the afternoon, my children and I were gone. My eldest hen still hides from him but less so than she had been which tells me he is actually leaving her alone and that pleases me. She still won't get near him though. Most of the other girls have submitted to him and he's choosing the bossiest girls first instead of starting at the bottom of the pecking order and working his way up. He's still tidbitting to the timid girls and moving away when they get near him instead of trying to mate.

His successful advances on most of them seem to have ruffled the feathers of one bossy little lady who has begun picking at his incoming tail feathers every time she walks by him. This was yet another reason for the slow introductions. I didn't want his bare backside to be a temptation. I'm still keeping him separated at night and hoping that the feather picking isn't a lasting thing and that they hurry up and fill in. Are there favorite methods that others use (besides culling) to deter feather picking?

Russell also seems to have finally accepted that he will not change the way my girls rush to me every time they see me and is no longer trying to hide them from me. This evening he actually dared to follow a few of them up onto the deck as they watched me prepare dinner and has begun to follow their lead when they swarm me for treats, though he hangs back and lets them get close so I toss some goodies his way. I think I may be starting to win him over.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Continuing to enjoy your documentary! He is such a pretty boy.

 

[lazy gardener]

Maybe you could turn the tables and put a saddle on HIM??? Or, you could put pinless peepers on all of your hens. But... that seems like a bit of over-kill. I think I'd rather cull the roo, no matter how nice, or give him a bachelor pad, and only let him out to range with the flock during the day, which is pretty much what you're doing, yes???

 

[Leahs Mom]

@lazy gardener

Whoops...I misunderstood what you were saying. Disregard!

 

[islandgirl82]

I'd like to avoid culling altogether. I really don't want to do that. He does have his own bachelor pad and is quite easy to herd back into it with the help of my children. I was just curious what other people's favorite methods are in dealing with picking that doesn't include culling.