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Speaking of roosters...
Well, a few weeks ago, Panic Pants (the lap Roo!) started attacking Lorp, one of my hens. I know birds well enough to know-- he was not trying to mount her-- he was trying to kill her! She was in bad shape when I got home one afternoon and of course I separated him promptly. Lorp will be okay, and her wounds have already healed. She will look very silly until her feathers come back, but she could use the humility.
I am boggled why Panic Pants did this. Lorp does not bully him, but at the same time she is higher on the totem pole that he is. She is not rooster-like in appearance or behavior. She's not even the head hen, so it's not as if he were challenging her to be 'boss'. Chickadee, one of the lowest on the pecking order, actually still pushed him around.
It was a pretty bizarre occurrence, especially since he's never shown any rooster-dominance behaviors such as cutting a wing (that dance where they drop a wing and shuffle). Heck, he was perfectly mellow when the neighbor's little girl came over and hugs him!
Well, I "tanked" him for a week, to see if it would cool him off. I'll tell you what... having a rooster in the house while trying desperately to get work done was an adventure. He crowed all day, and wanted hugs whenever he wasn't crowing. I have a video of him on the arm of my chair, crowing directly into my face, because where else could he direct his noise?! Yeesh.
After a week I let him out with everyone, free range. Whack! He was immediately trying to kill Lorp again. What the heck! I couldn't have that. I tried a few rooster tricks-- I immediately pinned him down, the way another rooster would, to show who is boss. I let all the girls come over and look at him like that, and he got a peck from Moa (head hen). I held him like that for 10 minutes, before letting him up. Immediately he was after Lorp again! I picked him right up and held his head down gently but firmly in my arms, and showed him to the Lorp like this, below her. Let him go, and again! He went so far as to chase her into the coop and the nest box where she ran to hide.
Well, I wouldn't tolerate that, so I pulled him back into the house again. I troubled over this for a few days. I could understand him attacking a rooster, or even a hen that he felt he had to establish flock dominance over, but this just didn't make sense. Something about the Lorp... hmm. What if I took her out? I didn't want to get rid of her... but I was trying to figure out what was going on. After a few more days inside, I let him interact with the girls again, minus the Lorp. Well, instead, he decided he was gonna try to hurt Derp! You can better believe that I picked him right up before he could connect (she's FAST) and marched him in the house. It seems that something inside of his little rooster mind had flipped a switch! He is supposed to protect them, not harm and kill them.
I tried a few other things, and none of it worked. He was after my hens now, and because I have to keep them penned when I am not outside with them, they can't get away. This is even after I expanded their run so that it's twice as big now (I want to say around 250 square feet). So, earlier this week, I re-homed Panic Pants, though it made me sad to do. He went to a big farm with a big flock of sassy RIR hens that free range. When I dropped him off we sat and watched his interactions for a while. He tried to challenge the hens and they sure put him in his place quick! So far, so good. I told the new owner what he was doing-- I wasn't trying to pass my problems off to someone else. I think that the ability to range all of the time and the no-nonsense attitude of the hens he's with will be good for him. I told the new owner to let me know if he causes any trouble and so far it's been fine. I am crossing my fingers. At least it is close by so that I can visit if I need to.
The trouble is... I really like roosters (when they are are not violent!). I don't mind some teenage hormones-- I know that it's part of the bird, and I accept that a roo is going to want to mount his girls sometimes, and there might be a little chasing now and then. It's the harming of the girls that I cannot tolerate. I love the mannerisms of a rooster, their noises, how they can be sweet to the girls! And so when I saw a fellow local BYC member needs a home for a few LF Cochin roos I felt a twinge. Maybe I should try one, to save him from the stew pot, if he's sweet? But, as you might guess, I am twice bitten, twice shy about aggressive roosters now! So I am very nervous to dedicate to a new rooster. That said, I have read that cochin roosters are some of the most sweet and gentle boys there are. What do you think? Should I try or should I just appreciate the 'peace'? Has anyone had experience with cochin roosters?
Well, a few weeks ago, Panic Pants (the lap Roo!) started attacking Lorp, one of my hens. I know birds well enough to know-- he was not trying to mount her-- he was trying to kill her! She was in bad shape when I got home one afternoon and of course I separated him promptly. Lorp will be okay, and her wounds have already healed. She will look very silly until her feathers come back, but she could use the humility.
I am boggled why Panic Pants did this. Lorp does not bully him, but at the same time she is higher on the totem pole that he is. She is not rooster-like in appearance or behavior. She's not even the head hen, so it's not as if he were challenging her to be 'boss'. Chickadee, one of the lowest on the pecking order, actually still pushed him around.
It was a pretty bizarre occurrence, especially since he's never shown any rooster-dominance behaviors such as cutting a wing (that dance where they drop a wing and shuffle). Heck, he was perfectly mellow when the neighbor's little girl came over and hugs him!
Well, I "tanked" him for a week, to see if it would cool him off. I'll tell you what... having a rooster in the house while trying desperately to get work done was an adventure. He crowed all day, and wanted hugs whenever he wasn't crowing. I have a video of him on the arm of my chair, crowing directly into my face, because where else could he direct his noise?! Yeesh.
After a week I let him out with everyone, free range. Whack! He was immediately trying to kill Lorp again. What the heck! I couldn't have that. I tried a few rooster tricks-- I immediately pinned him down, the way another rooster would, to show who is boss. I let all the girls come over and look at him like that, and he got a peck from Moa (head hen). I held him like that for 10 minutes, before letting him up. Immediately he was after Lorp again! I picked him right up and held his head down gently but firmly in my arms, and showed him to the Lorp like this, below her. Let him go, and again! He went so far as to chase her into the coop and the nest box where she ran to hide.
Well, I wouldn't tolerate that, so I pulled him back into the house again. I troubled over this for a few days. I could understand him attacking a rooster, or even a hen that he felt he had to establish flock dominance over, but this just didn't make sense. Something about the Lorp... hmm. What if I took her out? I didn't want to get rid of her... but I was trying to figure out what was going on. After a few more days inside, I let him interact with the girls again, minus the Lorp. Well, instead, he decided he was gonna try to hurt Derp! You can better believe that I picked him right up before he could connect (she's FAST) and marched him in the house. It seems that something inside of his little rooster mind had flipped a switch! He is supposed to protect them, not harm and kill them.
I tried a few other things, and none of it worked. He was after my hens now, and because I have to keep them penned when I am not outside with them, they can't get away. This is even after I expanded their run so that it's twice as big now (I want to say around 250 square feet). So, earlier this week, I re-homed Panic Pants, though it made me sad to do. He went to a big farm with a big flock of sassy RIR hens that free range. When I dropped him off we sat and watched his interactions for a while. He tried to challenge the hens and they sure put him in his place quick! So far, so good. I told the new owner what he was doing-- I wasn't trying to pass my problems off to someone else. I think that the ability to range all of the time and the no-nonsense attitude of the hens he's with will be good for him. I told the new owner to let me know if he causes any trouble and so far it's been fine. I am crossing my fingers. At least it is close by so that I can visit if I need to.
The trouble is... I really like roosters (when they are are not violent!). I don't mind some teenage hormones-- I know that it's part of the bird, and I accept that a roo is going to want to mount his girls sometimes, and there might be a little chasing now and then. It's the harming of the girls that I cannot tolerate. I love the mannerisms of a rooster, their noises, how they can be sweet to the girls! And so when I saw a fellow local BYC member needs a home for a few LF Cochin roos I felt a twinge. Maybe I should try one, to save him from the stew pot, if he's sweet? But, as you might guess, I am twice bitten, twice shy about aggressive roosters now! So I am very nervous to dedicate to a new rooster. That said, I have read that cochin roosters are some of the most sweet and gentle boys there are. What do you think? Should I try or should I just appreciate the 'peace'? Has anyone had experience with cochin roosters?
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