Beginning A Rooster's Road to Recovery

[buckabucka]

I'm not fond of pinless peepers, but I've needed to use them for certain hens in the past. They do work. One hen needed them all the time, -she was a feather picker even as a chick. Another hen reformed after wearing them for 6 months or so, -her issue had to do with being cooped up too long in the winter.

If you decide to try them, I bought a whole boat load once and would be happy to send some!

 

[islandgirl82]

Enjoying a little evening snack all together. He's growing less and less concerned with my presence and how close the girls are to me. He's also waiting until I'm not watching so closely before mating so he is respecting me as number one.





My eldest hen on the left, daring to get closer and he's still leaving her alone. He's also not letting others mistreat her - attempts to get on her good side maybe.

A little stretching in the garden.

 

[Kaylin]

I'm happy to see he is integrating well. He is such a pretty boy and I think everyone was rooting for him he has quite the fan club.

 

[Birdydeb]

I've certainly been rooting for him. Way to go Russell!

 

[aart]

Glad things are still improving...what a great flock..and pics.
Good that you can get closer for better picks and he's getting used to trusting you.

Not sure I buy the whole 'not mating in the keepers presence' theory.
My cockbird is very well behaved and I don't think my presence has any bearing on when he mates, nor should it.
Directly interfering by preventing a cockbird from mounting a willing hen just doesn't make sense to me... I'm not a cockbird, why would I interfere?
As long as he's not being aggressive with me the keeper or the girl birds, he can do what ever he wants whenever he wants.
I want them all to be calm in my presence, accept that I am there and it's nothing to worry about...might even mean something good is about to happen.
But then my birds are confined and I don't spend a lot of time in their coop and run.
Maybe it's different when they free range.<shrugs> But actually it may be an even touchier thing, as they can't really get away and that can make them nervous.
Babbling ceased <grin>

 

[islandgirl82]

You're right, we are keepers not roosters, however, look at all the things we do for our hens from day one; show them the food and water, hand out treats, provide them with shelter, show them where to nest, do our best to protect them from predators and so on. All these things are what a rooster naturally does for them so although we are human, don't we act an awful lot like those roosters? To top it off, some hens will even squat for we humans...

The only hen I deter him from is my eldest because I don't want the last of her life to be lived in fear. The more he's out and leaves her alone, the less I'm finding her hiding. She still does but not quite as much. As for mating, he hangs back on his own. He does do it in my presence, just not while I'm looking directly at him but with time, that will probably change. The one exception is during feeding time; if there are any hens who are not letting others eat, he will mount them whether I'm looking at him or not though I'm not sure he's actually mating and not just knocking them down a peg or two.

 

[aart]

You're right, we are keepers not roosters, however, look at all the things we do for our hens from day one; show them the food and water, hand out treats, provide them with shelter, show them where to nest, do our best to protect them from predators and so on. All these things are what a rooster naturally does for them so although we are human, don't we act an awful lot like those roosters? To top it off, some hens will even squat for we humans...

The only hen I deter him from is my eldest because I don't want the last of her life to be lived in fear. The more he's out and leaves her alone, the less I'm finding her hiding. She still does but not quite as much. As for mating, he hangs back on his own. He does do it in my presence, just not while I'm looking directly at him. The one exception is during feeding time; if there are any hens who are not letting others eat, he will mount them whether I'm looking or not though I'm not sure he's actually mating and not just knocking them down a peg or two.

Well, it's a fine line indeed. Anthropomorphism can go both ways.
We as keepers manage/arrange the environment (that we created) to 'keep them' healthy and cater to/control their instincts(where to lay and roost).
We can kind of communicate with them, in a sense, but certainly not in their language-vocal or body.
Tho I do believe that animals can sense and react to our demeanor's ('feelings').....fear and anxiety or calm and confident.
But they are still animals and we are still humans.

The squatting, that's pure biological behavior/instinct...I seriously doubt they 'think' we are going to mate them.
Like a dog humping your leg...and I've read stories of cockbirds humping inanimate objects.
Squatting is also a submissive behavior, not necessarily sexual, males will squat too when submitting to a dominant male.
As mounting can be a purely dominance behavior, like when your boy is schooling a feed bully....which is great to see, that's good cockbird behavior.

 

[islandgirl82]

Agreed, when we mimic the behaviors of other species, they tend to respond instinctively. I wasn't necessarily suggesting that the hens think we're going to mate with them, just that they do squat for us. Who knows what they're thinking.

As for communicating with them in their own body language, I believe we can as long as we take the time to study their body language. I have noticed that those hens who spend the most amount of time in the gardens with me, that I hand-feed the grubs and other insects to, will immediately squat for me after they've had those tasty treats, whereas before their first time digging in the garden with me, they would avoid me. My Hamburg now being the first to eat from my hands, she's always at my heels and is even bold enough to get into my lap on her own and Hamburgs are notoriously skittish. Using the index finger can be used like a beak, when one is doing something we find to be undesirable behavior, jab a finger in their direction and they move...much like another bird pecking at them.

Our fingers and hands can also be much like the jaws or claws of a predator; bending down to pick up a bird with open hands and spread fingers frightens them but when using the back of the hand to approach them and touch them under their chest first, then move over the top of them, I find I have much better luck catching them without scaring them. I don't know about you, but I've always been told never to approach a strange dog and pet it on the head but to let it sniff the back of your hand first. Even approaching a horse with open palms is a bad idea, instead of being like jaws to a bird, think claws of mountain lions and other such predators and they tend to tense up and back away (or worse) but approaching with palms down is far less threatening.

 

[islandgirl82]

The Ultimate (unintentional) Test:

Yesterday my 8 year old son had his birthday party here with just a small group of friends. I debated for much of the morning whether to let Russell out of his run to spend the day with the girls or not, knowing that having kids around who aren't mine and some of whom aren't familiar with chickens, let alone roosters, could be dangerous. I finally decided I'd let him out at least for a little while before the party and herd him back into his run if need be. There is after all plenty of cover in the tree line and thorn bushes that he could go to if he were feeling uncomfortable. As guests arrived, I kept an eye on him and he kept the girls to the backyard while the guests stayed in the front yard and down in the field. There came a time when they wanted to play on our zipline that runs between a couple of trees near the big coop and despite the kids rushing to it (as my own do all the time), he stayed calmly nestled on the bench around the fire pit with all of the girls nestled in a row under said bench. The kids played and there he sat quietly and peacefully watching (I stood between him and them all the while anyway).

Eventually, he brought all the girls around to the front yard to dig in the garden as guests began to leave. One little girl saw him and recognized him as the rooster who showed up at her house when he had found himself far from home and ran straight for him. In a panic, I shouted for her to stop which she did. Her own hens let her pick them up and carry them around and although she had pet him and hand fed him before he came here, he was injured then and in a state of shock. Now that he was feeling better, there was no telling how he would react to being charged like that. I was so proud of him though. He just stood still, didn't tense up or make a move towards her. She must have been putting out some signs that she just really wanted to hug him and not hurt him or something and didn't make him feel threatened. Even so, I still won't be leaving him unsupervised when we have company or maybe leaving the company unsupervised....

Earlier today, after I finished mowing lawns on the grounds, I found the flock all dirt bathing in the flower bed behind the house, Russell and my eldest hen, Mairah bathing side by side!

This evening also had pleasant a surprise. I was out for the evening, not getting back until after the flock would have gone to roost for the night. The new girls still put themselves in the coop they've been using, so when I didn't find him in there I expected to see him in the big coop with all the others. Not being ready to have him in there just yet, I wasn't looking forward to moving him back to his little coop but when I went in to close up, he wasn't in there either. I went to his little coop and there he was, he had put himself in on his own - no doubt after making sure all the girls were safely in their coops as I have watched him do for several nights now before herding him back to his own. A few more days with Mairah growing more comfortable being around him and I'll begin moving him to their coop at night.

*Also, without any interference, I haven't noticed any feather picking since that one day. Hopefully she got her point across and is done with it.

 

[Kaylin]

Wonderful!