Derperella, the (weird) Faverolles, & Friends

[Nambroth]

The cochin roo is home with us! He is SO mellow. I know that can change when his hormones start, but I've never met such a calm chicken. He's being quarantined in the house for now, I'll post photos next week.

We are as ready for the storm as we can be! My husband and I always try to be ready for unexpected weather, so this was plenty of warning.

 

[UnderHisWings]

The cochin roo is home with us! He is SO mellow. I know that can change when his hormones start, but I've never met such a calm chicken. He's being quarantined in the house for now, I'll post photos next week.

We are as ready for the storm as we can be! My husband and I always try to be ready for unexpected weather, so this was plenty of warning.

Yay! Glad you found a roo! I hope he will be a wonderful new friend for Derp and all the other girls! Any name yet? Looking forward to photos...

 

[NovaAman]

Prayers for ya while you whether the storm.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

The cochin roo is home with us! He is SO mellow. I know that can change when his hormones start, but I've never met such a calm chicken. He's being quarantined in the house for now, I'll post photos next week.

We are as ready for the storm as we can be! My husband and I always try to be ready for unexpected weather, so this was plenty of warning.

 

I can't wait for pictures! Cochins are adorable. what color is he? If it makes you feel any better, I am located on the shore of NJ, so I will be hit with the storm just as bad, or worse than you. I'm guessing you probably didn't evacuate? I didn't. My house is a rabbit barn right now, but the chickens are outside. Going outside to feed them is not going to be fun...

 

[ChickieG'ma]

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?

Nambroth,
I have a couple of 8 month old Cochin cockerels from a McMurray batch this spring. They are big marshmallow boys, just sweetness personified, gliding around my backyard now since they were wee peeps. They've gone through the "will mount anything with feathers" and "no dinner, no movie, just action" stages but still are not crowing and have never made a mean move on anyone, people or chickens. Their lovemaking skills are so clumsy I doubt they will ever father any chicks, feather trimming notwithstanding, and that is if they ever get the chance because we have a very serious GLW flockmaster named Bill who watches his girls very closely.
Longstory short, I love them and would keep them forever but I must rehome them for the sake of our roo-to-hen ratio or my girls are going to go on strike. Just have to psych myself up for it. 8>(

 

[StarLover21]

The cochin roo is home with us! He is SO mellow. I know that can change when his hormones start, but I've never met such a calm chicken. He's being quarantined in the house for now, I'll post photos next week.

We are as ready for the storm as we can be! My husband and I always try to be ready for unexpected weather, so this was plenty of warning.

Yay! What color is he? And how old?

 

[Nambroth]

I can't wait for pictures! Cochins are adorable. what color is he? If it makes you feel any better, I am located on the shore of NJ, so I will be hit with the storm just as bad, or worse than you. I'm guessing you probably didn't evacuate? I didn't. My house is a rabbit barn right now, but the chickens are outside. Going outside to feed them is not going to be fun...

Oh dear! Yes, you will get it worse where you are, though it is set to stall out on us a bit and dump a lot of rain. I have not been evacuated because I am on the Western side of the state, about 5 hours from NYC and the coast.

Yay! What color is he? And how old?

He is a bit strange. His owner said that the eggs she bought were supposed to be blue, black, and splash. But this roo is black with red mixed in (one of his brothers is much closer to a partridge color, one is a nice black, one is a splash, and two whites).
He's about 5 months.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Oh dear! Yes, you will get it worse where you are, though it is set to stall out on us a bit and dump a lot of rain. I have not been evacuated because I am on the Western side of the state, about 5 hours from NYC and the coast.

He is a bit strange. His owner said that the eggs she bought were supposed to be blue, black, and splash. But this roo is black with red mixed in (one of his brothers is much closer to a partridge color, one is a nice black, one is a splash, and two whites).
He's about 5 months.

The town next to me was evacuated, but not us. The wind is already kicking up pretty strong, and the thing's not even here yet. Who knows what tommorrow holds...

Good luck dealing with it when it reaches you.

 

[Nambroth]

My dear Derperella friends on the Northeast Coast: Please be safe, smart, and aware these next few days!

 

[notinoz2007]

batten down the hatches and take care all you peeps on the west coast. i've heard my niece's school in west central PA has already called off the next 2 days because of the storm.