He's recognizing they're getting close and responding appropriately. It's still a good step.
Oh yes, I don’t know much but I’m so happy with him so far, he’s very reasonable. He’s not jumping on hens all day long, or giving constant warnings, so I don’t think he’s feeling too much stress of the hormones.
He may not be at Full Hormonal Idiocy yet? Will he get more alert, more on edge, paranoid? Maybe any idiocy will increase when the ladies do get going?
Diane seems to find me a threat at all times these days, whether she’s gladly eating out of my hand yet whining at me while eating, or whether I’m ignoring her while she pecks my muck boot ankles, makes no difference. Compared to her, he’s so normal!
I keep an eye on him to try to read if anything I’m doing or how I’m moving around his hens doing chores is not setting right with him, and usually I’m talking to them all. When I put my hands on the pullets to feel around and all their bellies at a health check a couple weeks ago, he came close and watched both hen and me. The pullets were a bit upset at first and then waited it out. He quickly seemed fine with it - after the first two he sort of lost interest though he stuck around. So far he’s very chill.
The new Buckeye ladies' redness comparisons:
Bea and Olive, they are twins very hard to tell apart. One in front isn't very red.
The other twin, Olive or Bea, she's redder
Same pose but the color came through redder
Below, Peaches, who used to be Piccolo but Peaches kept coming to me when I talked to her. She's definitely red. Shehnai chose her today for his evening assignation. She objected but also formed a good position, his feet were firmly on her wing wrists, and she didn't keep objecting.
Lizbel, right and left sides, which flush and do so differently from each other. Shehnai chose her earlier this afternoon. She's been a favorite since early on, possibly because she's so easy to catch off guard. Her neck feathers are a little beat as a result.
