Well, I guess I should start with, he is really a cockerel about 6 months old. Anyway, he has 6 hens, which I KNOW isn't really enough. However, even with his young age and not enough girls, he is gentle, never over mates them....just an all around good boy. He is also great with us. HOWEVER...I have one tiny little BTWJ. My only bantam. She has to stay separate because he tries to mate her and I know he would kill her. Today she accidentally got in with him and his hens. He IMMEDIATELY jumped on her and tried to mate. I grabbed him off and grabbed her. He jumped right back on and actually bit into my hand thinking he had her neck. I just don't understand WHY? Is it because he KNOWS this is a hen he has not mated before and wants to make sure he spreads his genes? Is it because she is the only white chicken and therefore more "flashy" to him? I am just confused. The second he sees her, he drops everything to try and mate her. Obviously she will NEVER be with the big chickens and will soon have her own area with a bunch of bantam buddies. I just wish I could get a better understanding of his behavior.
In my experience i feel that the standards for some reason are infactuated (sp?) with the bantams. I had the same problem with my GLW and my BTWJ Nelson just loved the smaller girls, eaiser catch maybe? I ended up rehoming my standards and just stuck to bantams
Quote:Oh dear.....well, OMG he wants fresh meat was the first thing that popped into my head. *sigh* was hoping there was more to it than he was a typical male. Something more like the "easier to catch" theory chickenaddict suggested. It is nice to know someone else has experienced the same thing though. It just seems so strange to me. ETA.....I never even wanted bantams at all anyway. She was a bit of an uh oh while hatching. Now I wouldn't trade her for the world and will just get some more. LOL
