Do roos make nests for hens?

[turtlynne]

I had the pleasure this morning of watching my rooster scratch out a nice hollow in the shred in a dark corner of the coop while "his" hen watched(I was cleaning so I was there a while) - then he "talked" very seriously and gently to her and ,believe me , they were beak to beak and she was listening...and I just found todays egg in that spot - she has never laid there before! It was really a pleasure to see... do others have roos that direct egg laying? Is this common? Even if it is I feel blessed to have enjoyed observing this behavior...actually , I hope it IS common!

 

[canada-goose]

Yes, good roosters do that a lot. It's such a cute instinct!

 

[gryeyes]

I don't know where he learned it, but my rooster got into the nest boxes in the new coop I built, and cooed and chuckled and coaxed at least 3 of the hens into them, one after the other. He got in, turned around, made satisfied sounds, and sat there. The first time I saw him do that, I was was wondering what the heck he was doing. There was a hen standing outside of the nest box, watching him, and I thought she also thought he was acting oddly.

But then I saw him do it with two more hens, and I suddenly realized he was telling them it was a good place to lay their eggs!

After he got out, he stood there and encouraged each hen to get in and check out the nest box.

Amazing that he knows how to do this, because he's my "first generation" rooster, which I had purchased as a pullet chick with other 3 day old pullets. No grown up chickens here to give instruction! And *I* certainly didn't teach 'em anything.

 

[Miss Red]

All my roosters play the "lay here!" Game with their hens. Its always fun to watch, quite amusing when they cackle and the girls settle down to lay. I have a roo that even sits outside of the.boxes when his girls lay, threatening anything that walks by. He attacked someone one day for getting close to his girls while they were disabled. Lol!

 

[mychickensrock]

I am so glad to know that my little roo isn't the only one that gets in the nesting box. He even sings an "egg song". When one of our girls does lay an egg and announces it to the world, he always comes running.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Oh I want a rooster for my girls, so bad!! I can't wait to get some rural land so I can have at least one guy chicken. I loved the sweet little cockerel we had, but we gave him away because he was noisy at the crack of dawn and we're in the city. Darn it. I get to visit him at my friend's farm, but I don't get to see him interact with my hens now!!

 

[mcgertylee]

Hi I just joined this group and described a similar behavior of my rooster! It is so endearing, the way he takes care of them and won't even eat until they have their fill! I thought that was what he was doing, telling them "this is a great place for eggs'! Unfortunately, he now has three of the hens in next boxes brooding without eggs!