Bringing in a replacement roo/cockerel

[aart]

Well, Woody's in the freezer, along with the remaining 3.5yo hens.
Was a long, hard, bittersweet day.

Willie seems to be behaving, no gonzo all-the-girls-are-mine-now rampage of mounting going on. Am hearing some attempts, funny how you get to know the sounds, but nothing prolonged. So am assuming, at this point, removing Woody has removed the competitive drive and Willie is mellow. Will have more time to observe tomorrow and the weekend.
Fingers Crossed.

ETA: just watched Willie try to mount a hen, she kicked his ass and he hightailed it pronto....haha! Good tho that he's taking lessons.

 

[lazy gardener]

Aart, sorry you had a hard day. My day is coming, though I don't know when. Life goes on, and You're right... chicken math includes subtraction and division, and is not only about addition and multiplication. Good flock management requires such decisions for improvement of future generations.

 

[aart]

The hardest part emotionally is deciding who to cull.
I guess I can compartmentalize after that, it's meat not pets.
Most of slaughter day is just hard work physically for me,
especially the cleaning up,
hauling all the detritus out to the woods to dump.
The relief of having it all done balances out the emotional and physical fatigue.
Picking that one dry warmer day in the forecast was a good move,
I almost put it off at the last minute crating birds the night before, really glad I didn't

Sat in the run yesterday with some treats just to observe, especially Willie.
It was very interesting to see who avoided whom, especially amongst the older girls.
He quickly deferred to any feinting dominance from the older girls, which was good to see. He had never hand fed, he came close yesterday but others were more assertive and he backed off. He never quite got to my hand even tho I diverted the other birds and he wanted to, so I just dropped some on the ground and he got a few before being displaced by the 'hungrier' ones. I didn't push it, I don't care if he hand feeds was just an experiment to observe reactions.

A couple times he passed behind me thru only a foot or so space next to the fence,
made me a bit nervous...but felt he was avoiding the other birds rather than trying to 'sneak up' on me.

Later in the day I observed from the window one of the pullets, first layer, who is first to hand feed(assertive) and had previously harassed Willie by chasing him, submitted to him easily and he gently mounted her, she shook her tail, then they both went back to scratching around, very good sign. When he's rebuffed, he doesn't chase much, and no pinnings.

Over all he seems very calm. I walk thru the run frequently. He stays out of my way but not in a panicky way. If he's just lounging, he stays put, seemingly not concerned with my presence. Will give it a few more days then pick up a few of the girls, see how he reacts to that.

Wow, that got long...apologies for clogging your thread with my own gratuitous catharsis.

 

[lazy gardener]

No, Aart, Do not ever apologize. You are not clogging my thread. What you are doing is providing good information for those who are new to the rooster game. Often the best learning occurs simply by reading such threads and seeing how others manage their flocks, and the behaviors they see, including the good/bad and ugly... and how those behaviors are interpreted and managed. And, really, this is the entire reason why I started this thread. Good input from you.

 

[aart]

Great, thanks!

All is calm this morning, not even any chasing for a 'morning mount'.
He's either still scared or incredibly considerate cause... man, his legs sure are red!

For those who don't know,
red streaks/areas on cock/erels legs indicate good hormone flow.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yeah, I was admiring Goliath's rosy colored legs yesterday.

 

[aart]

Guess no one else is playing along here. How's Goliath, LG?

Willie is doing well, slowly 'winning over' the hens,
rather clumsily(maybe because they are not totally submitting),
but not aggressive or 'mean'.

He and his loyal pullet crew seem to be the 'bosses',
slowly taking over the prime roost spot.

I still do not trust him 100% tho...he seems a bit edgy or maybe both of us are.
It's hard not to be a tad anxious around him, I'm working on that.
Wings often seem slightly lowered when I'm around,
but he does stay out of my path of movement.

 

[lazy gardener]

Jack continues to send Goliath running for the hills on a regular basis. He squeals like a girl! This, while he's flapping madly trying to go through the chicken wire walls of the run. Winter time will be interesting. Goliath is scoring occasionally with the girls. They don't squat at his command, but, there's not as much complaining either. Goliath stays out of my way.

 

[aart]

Are you going to get rid of Jack?

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm hoping to keep him until after spring breeding, and then either process him or possibly pass him on to a local flock. I really don't want to process him b/c he's been with me for so long. But, of course, I'll do that rather than pass him onto doubtful conditions.