JessicaDotta
Songster
- Oct 27, 2020
- 150
- 323
- 126
Last year, I started my chicken journey. I purchased four chicks from TSC. I had room for four more, but more than anything else, I wanted easter eggers.
So on Craigslist, I found an advert for colorful egg layers. I wrote. They promised four chicks and would do their best to only have pullets. About four months later, I had two roosters. Sigh. But by then, I loved all my chickens. And it worked for a while. The roos were best buds, hanging out, hunting bugs together. They used to crow in stereo, looking at each other and timing it perfectly.
Then puberty hit, and Cletus became the outsider.
At night, I'd have to hunt and hunt for him, because he wouldn't go in the coop. I learned quickly sleeping on the back porch railing wasn't good enough. One night, I heard him screaming his head off and ran outside. He was dazed, sleepy, but had fought off something that dragged him halfway across the yard.
Soon, Cletus had his own coop (though I had to force him to sleep indoors for about two weeks before he became accustomed) I thought things would be great. He'd sleep alone and free-range during the day. But it wasn't so. Once the males started sleeping apart, they starting fighting. Cletus became a penned cockeral.
One night, I found Cletus standing in rain outside his sleeping area when I got home from work. Somehow, half of the hens had gotten into their coop but one of them had knocked the door shut behind them. The remaining hens slept near Cletus, who stood watch over them until I came home. My friends wanted me to allow the roosters to split time with free-ranging with the hens. That lasted about five minutes. When I tried it, Cletus immediately led the hens into the road in front of my house. Sweet, yes. Brave, yes. Smart, well . . . not exactly.
On Sunday, a severe thunderstorm (I think a near tornado) blew Cletus's welded cage into my garden. Several trees nearby were uprooted before the gale started. There were a lot of things to put right, so I caught him and put him in the duck's sleeping area. I snapped this picture because I could see how unhappy he was to be penned again. (Not to mention, he was wet and had been blown out of his home) But who wants a rooster?
Well, as it turns out, the Amish beekeeper that lives nearby!! He has ten hens, no rooster. So tomorrow, Cletus is going to take a horse and buggy ride to a farm where he goes from Cockrel to Rooster! I couldn't be happier for him.
So on Craigslist, I found an advert for colorful egg layers. I wrote. They promised four chicks and would do their best to only have pullets. About four months later, I had two roosters. Sigh. But by then, I loved all my chickens. And it worked for a while. The roos were best buds, hanging out, hunting bugs together. They used to crow in stereo, looking at each other and timing it perfectly.
Then puberty hit, and Cletus became the outsider.
At night, I'd have to hunt and hunt for him, because he wouldn't go in the coop. I learned quickly sleeping on the back porch railing wasn't good enough. One night, I heard him screaming his head off and ran outside. He was dazed, sleepy, but had fought off something that dragged him halfway across the yard.
Soon, Cletus had his own coop (though I had to force him to sleep indoors for about two weeks before he became accustomed) I thought things would be great. He'd sleep alone and free-range during the day. But it wasn't so. Once the males started sleeping apart, they starting fighting. Cletus became a penned cockeral.
One night, I found Cletus standing in rain outside his sleeping area when I got home from work. Somehow, half of the hens had gotten into their coop but one of them had knocked the door shut behind them. The remaining hens slept near Cletus, who stood watch over them until I came home. My friends wanted me to allow the roosters to split time with free-ranging with the hens. That lasted about five minutes. When I tried it, Cletus immediately led the hens into the road in front of my house. Sweet, yes. Brave, yes. Smart, well . . . not exactly.
On Sunday, a severe thunderstorm (I think a near tornado) blew Cletus's welded cage into my garden. Several trees nearby were uprooted before the gale started. There were a lot of things to put right, so I caught him and put him in the duck's sleeping area. I snapped this picture because I could see how unhappy he was to be penned again. (Not to mention, he was wet and had been blown out of his home) But who wants a rooster?
Well, as it turns out, the Amish beekeeper that lives nearby!! He has ten hens, no rooster. So tomorrow, Cletus is going to take a horse and buggy ride to a farm where he goes from Cockrel to Rooster! I couldn't be happier for him.
