BIG surprise today!!!

[featheredmom]

I had surgery yesterday and on my way home from the hospital my husband asked me to stop by his work. I thought he just wanted to check on me.

I get there and he pulls a dog crate out of his truck...inside? A 2-1/2 month old Jersey Giant rooster!!! I was SO excited...he is GORGEOUS!! I had wanted one for months after hearing how wonderfully protective they are(we are on 111ac in the country and after something got 2 of our hens(one being our favorite gal), we rebuilt the coop piece by piece and wanted a bigger/more protective roo). They were sold out at every hatchery and I was going to order a baby this spring(along with some hens I didnt really need for company), this is MUCH better, I don't even have to wait for him to grow up before receiving the benefits of a protective roo!!

I brought him home but havent introduced him to the flock yet, we will do that tonight. The kids were fighting over him, they both want him to be theirs, but he is MINE-LOL

Much better than a bouquet of get well flowers...only a fellow chicken-keeper would understand that.

He DOES have a "scabby comb" as I guess he was fighting with the other roos at his previous home(hence my dh's co-worker was happy to re-home him), but those will heal in time and he will make a great flock addition!!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Awesome! Glad you got such a perfect get well gift and glad he is now somewhere where he won't be fighting!

Hope you feel well soon!

 

[ramirezframing]

glad to hear you got what you wanted, I'm just happy I aint the only one who loves getting chickens as gifts. Good luck with him and get well fast

 

[featheredmom]

Well, when my hubby came home from work, I found out the whole story...my poor baby!!

He was living with an older woman where he was sent to live in a bachelor pen with his brother because she thought he was too big, but he wanted the girls so much he kept flying out and would then get attacked by the dogs. They tried clipping his wings, but he just started digging a hole.

So then dh's co-worker "rescued" him and his brother(another JG)-he only wanted one, but took them both since they were in bad conditions(the 3rd & 4th were killed by the dogs). Upon bringing him home, his neighbor's 4 roosters tried to attack him since only one could go in the coop/run with his hens :-(

So the story was shared about not knowing what to do with the roo...and now he is ours

After quite a rough beginning, he has a good forever home and will be safe.

 

[abbey808]

It's a win-win situation. You got your roo and he got a new, happy home.

What a wonderful get well gift!

 

[abbey808]

Forgot to ask in the last post... pics of your new boy please!

 

[KYTinpusher]

Congratulations on the new roo!

However, I would urge caution, especially since he has been around and suggest that you quarantine him for at least 3 weeks before introducing him to your hens. You never know what he may be carrying.

 

[featheredmom]

Thanks all for all the get well wishes and no, ramirezframing, you are not alone-at all!! I would rather have a chicken or other pet anyday over a standard gift...I love my pets-and that includes my chickens.

Thanks KYTinpusher, you are very wise, my dh actually told me the same thing, he was raised with chickens, I saw them for a few years until my grandfather gave it up(I was about 4 or 5) so I never learned the "real work" behind chickens, just the fun parts. I wanted to introduce him tonight but alas he is in the garage for the next 2wks(we have a small area(8x8) fenced in with a slatted wooden fence and covered with hay-its for our outdoor dogs when it gets too cold), he said then we could move them closer to our other chickens for a week(we have a dog pen that goes around the chicken coop on 2sides to keep away predators and he will go there) and then finally let him in with our girls. So that is what we will be doing. I SO wanted to put him in right away, but I truly understand the safety concerns and will wait-even if it is not so patiently.

He is truly the sweetest guy!! I couldn't believe how wonderfully calm he was for both his size and all that he has been through in the last week alone. He let my kids(9&12) hold him and was just eating up all the attention. He wouldn't eat unless we fed him out of our hands(spoiled already). You can tell that he knows he is a pretty boy, although even at only 2-1/2mos, he makes our other chickens look like midgets(we have Production Reds, Barred Rocks, EEs, and golden comets/gold sex-link(we JUST figured out what these girls were, they were our first chickens from TSC and we never could figure them out). I went to see/feed the girls after putting him up and WOW did they look teensy tiny...keep in mind that our youngest(a group of EEs) have just started laying some last week and continued through yesterday when we got another starter egg(we have gotten 4/9 so far, but they're all ready)and our oldest are about 1-1/2. And our girls are not midgets, they are good sized chickens, he is just HUGE!! I can see now how they can take on large predators, if I didn't know him better, I would be afraid of him myself!! But he is truly the sweetest guy!!

Now just to hope that when we DO introduce him to the hens he will be just as gentle with them and not go through the rambunctious teenaged phase and "rape" my girls.

I am so in love with my rooster and told my dh again before he went to bed that he was just perfect!! One of the best gifts he has ever given me(and that is saying a lot after all these years).

 

[fishnet1971]

yaaaaay!!!! congrats on the new roo!!!!!! that is awesome. What better way to make you recover faster. I wish I could figure out how to get my DH to get me chickens for gifts.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Oh, I can't wait to see photos. I have a JG hen and I LOVE her. And I'm sure you've seen threads on Stan the JG Rooster. He's awesome!