Cheep N Peep
Songster
~ Please read the whole story~
We picked out our chicks at a local TSC, a few days after Easter. What we thought was particularly interesting was that they hatched ON Easter. We picked out four Golden Comet Pullets, a 'popular breed' bantam, and an 'Americana' or, EE. We drove home and set up a brooder, and I fussed over my new babies for eight weeks. Soon I realized early on that Garnet was a boy, so he became my handsome Ajax. I was so exited to have a rooster! If only.
Out of four 'pullets', three were boys, so out of our six chickens we got four roosters. Arg! For some reason, TSC got a mix up, and our golden comets were really RIRs, Not that they would admit it. And by that time, they had stopped selling chicks.
"Ok,", I told myself, "-at least I get to pick the best rooster." I mulled the choice over in my head, while at the same time looking for someone who would take the others. Roo #1 was a jerk who attacked me every chance he got. We would ditch him. Roo #2 (Ajax) was a nervous wreck. No. Roo #3 was a sweetie, cared for me, cared for the hens. Other than that, he was the most boring chicken of the whole flock. Roo #4 was cautious and respectful around me, could sprint faster than lightning, was exceedingly handsomeness, and friendly with the hens.
I kept my handsome EE roo, #4, and the rest went off to a lady who I knew was ultimately going to butcher them. In the meantime, however they would enjoy fighting, scratching, dust bathing, and rummaging around for bugs in the sun. I was happy that they would be fine.
Fast forward to the end of week nineteen in their little Chickie lives: Thee coop is 89% done, the half -hearted attempts to find some hens their own age have failed, and we recognized our bantam as a Dark Cornish Hen, a feisty take-no-nonsense little girl. My roo has clumsily mounted the RIR hen about twice, but she's upset with him and for most of the day they are separated. We leave them in the coop for four or five hours one morning, and I come back to let them out to free range while I work on their trampoline run. Cleo hops out, looking upset and bloody. Luna is squawking at me from the roost, and Aspen- Oh, my poor little RIR hen is huddled in a corner, the top of her skull exposed, bloody feathers stuck around the edges of the large patch of missing skin on the back of her head.
Horrified, I jump into the coop and scoop her up, already examining the wound and sprinting towards the house. Sick to my stomach, we disinfect the wound, squirt Neosporin all over it, and patch her up. Not knowing if she will die while I'm gone, I rush to Wal-Mart to buy gauze and wrappings.
This happened on Saturday. Today is Sunday. She is doing wonderfully! All the water we chocked down her every half hour perked her up, and now she will drink it on her own. She holds her head up. She is fed a water/feed mash, but won't eat it by herself unless we point it out, and then she takes a grudging peck. She walks around. Puts Luna in her tiny bantam place when Luna visits. Other chicken people at the fair today assure me she will most likely make a full recovery with our treatment.
But they have also assured me of this: a rooster that rapes will rape again. All this because I don't have enough hens for him! I know that he would rape all of them if he had more, but at least none of them would have their heads ripped open!
So what do I do? If I put my EE in there with them again, he will attack my RIR and will eventually make another attempt on Luna (he only tried once but gave up after he could only put one foot on her back at a time, and she gave him a sound tongue lashing). I will get rid of him unless this can be cured, which I doubt. Are some breeds more prone to this? I want a rooster, and love having Cleo around! -but I am hesitant to get a replacement roo after he is gone, even after I raise some more hens... can I tell from an early age if a rooster will rape?
(If you are worried about Aspen, by the way, the worst is over. Right now she is scowling at me and threatening to poop on my pants if I get anymore hens. She is such an attention hog!)
Thank you for any and all replies. (even just sympathy ones)
We picked out our chicks at a local TSC, a few days after Easter. What we thought was particularly interesting was that they hatched ON Easter. We picked out four Golden Comet Pullets, a 'popular breed' bantam, and an 'Americana' or, EE. We drove home and set up a brooder, and I fussed over my new babies for eight weeks. Soon I realized early on that Garnet was a boy, so he became my handsome Ajax. I was so exited to have a rooster! If only.
Out of four 'pullets', three were boys, so out of our six chickens we got four roosters. Arg! For some reason, TSC got a mix up, and our golden comets were really RIRs, Not that they would admit it. And by that time, they had stopped selling chicks.
"Ok,", I told myself, "-at least I get to pick the best rooster." I mulled the choice over in my head, while at the same time looking for someone who would take the others. Roo #1 was a jerk who attacked me every chance he got. We would ditch him. Roo #2 (Ajax) was a nervous wreck. No. Roo #3 was a sweetie, cared for me, cared for the hens. Other than that, he was the most boring chicken of the whole flock. Roo #4 was cautious and respectful around me, could sprint faster than lightning, was exceedingly handsomeness, and friendly with the hens.
I kept my handsome EE roo, #4, and the rest went off to a lady who I knew was ultimately going to butcher them. In the meantime, however they would enjoy fighting, scratching, dust bathing, and rummaging around for bugs in the sun. I was happy that they would be fine.
Fast forward to the end of week nineteen in their little Chickie lives: Thee coop is 89% done, the half -hearted attempts to find some hens their own age have failed, and we recognized our bantam as a Dark Cornish Hen, a feisty take-no-nonsense little girl. My roo has clumsily mounted the RIR hen about twice, but she's upset with him and for most of the day they are separated. We leave them in the coop for four or five hours one morning, and I come back to let them out to free range while I work on their trampoline run. Cleo hops out, looking upset and bloody. Luna is squawking at me from the roost, and Aspen- Oh, my poor little RIR hen is huddled in a corner, the top of her skull exposed, bloody feathers stuck around the edges of the large patch of missing skin on the back of her head.
This happened on Saturday. Today is Sunday. She is doing wonderfully! All the water we chocked down her every half hour perked her up, and now she will drink it on her own. She holds her head up. She is fed a water/feed mash, but won't eat it by herself unless we point it out, and then she takes a grudging peck. She walks around. Puts Luna in her tiny bantam place when Luna visits. Other chicken people at the fair today assure me she will most likely make a full recovery with our treatment.
But they have also assured me of this: a rooster that rapes will rape again. All this because I don't have enough hens for him! I know that he would rape all of them if he had more, but at least none of them would have their heads ripped open!
So what do I do? If I put my EE in there with them again, he will attack my RIR and will eventually make another attempt on Luna (he only tried once but gave up after he could only put one foot on her back at a time, and she gave him a sound tongue lashing). I will get rid of him unless this can be cured, which I doubt. Are some breeds more prone to this? I want a rooster, and love having Cleo around! -but I am hesitant to get a replacement roo after he is gone, even after I raise some more hens... can I tell from an early age if a rooster will rape?
(If you are worried about Aspen, by the way, the worst is over. Right now she is scowling at me and threatening to poop on my pants if I get anymore hens. She is such an attention hog!)
Thank you for any and all replies. (even just sympathy ones)