Chicken Empathy

[Brahma Chicken5000]

If this isn’t love then I don’t know what is

 

[micstrachan]

Oh, yes! I’ve seen that video before! Love it! Neat how her rooster friend is waiting patiently you, too.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay - another heart-warmer. Sorry it's so long ...

Herman the House Rooster - an overlarge, overspoiled hatchery Silkie, lives in a kennel in my back room. In our ongoing attempts to integrate him with the rest of our flock, Herman makes regular forays out-of-doors. He gets very excited when it's time to go out, doing what my daughter calls the "Happy Chicken Dance" before hopping down and waltzing to the back door.

Herman obviously likes to GO outside, he just doesn't like to STAY outside. The closest we've gotten to getting him mixing with our other birds is letting him explore the grow-out pen full of "teenage" bantams. They were a really mixed lot that included five really, really small youngsters - a pair of unusually tiny OEGB cockerels and a trio of extremely shy D'Uccles. These itty-bitties were at the mercy of the slightly bigger, much bolder chicks.

It didn't take Herman long to straighten things out. He herded those timid little wallflowers into a well-appointed corner and commandeered a "play space" for them. They had a perch and a sand-wallow all to themselves, and he regularly escorted them to the feed and water, where they were finally able to eat and drink unmolested. At the end of the evening, Herman waited until "his" babies were tucked into their little corner box and the main cohort was settled into the bigger coop before marching to the run door and "announcing" that he was ready to be let out. Once released, Herman wandered around the yard, picking at treasures and treats until someone headed for the back door ... then he made a beeline for it himself. It was bedtime!

Although he no longer has "babies" who need protecting, Herman still makes his rounds of the smaller runs, peering in to see what's up (or maybe what's for dinner, who knows?) And he still makes a beeline for the back door as soon as we head inside. There's no way he's going to stay out in the big, bad backyard all night. He is, after all, a House Rooster!

Herman sounds like a treasure.

 

[MissChick@dee]

View attachment 1515623

He’s beautiful