Hector's World: Adventures and Mayhem at Mountain View Poultry (or Sequel to The Evolution of Atlas

[speckledhen]

Hector's girls have been going through terrible molts, mostly due to both Jill and Thea being broody. Jill did not get eggs, and Thea raised some Brahmas for me. Jill was almost completely naked for ages, lost a ton of weight, too. Now, she is feathered again, but very small. The barring on her back is odd, very dark-looking, but maybe I'll wait and see if it evens out some. It just looks different than before she molted.

Hector is slowly getting his feathers back. Rowena looks great, but none of the three are laying again. Rowena bloated up for awhile, remember, and I'm not sure what was going on inside her, but she may never lay again. And is it my imagination, or lighting, or is Hector looking a tad brassy? I'll have to go back and look at him again without the camera lens. He's been a very good boy lately, though he gives MaryJo a hard time so she does not want to be in his group. Maybe if she starts laying, she'll be better in there.
Hector has lost some weight, too, you can tell.

 

[speckledhen]

I checked Hector, must have been the light. He does not seem at all brassy to me to just look at without the camera.

He did, however, attack MaryJo when I put her in his pen. He made her jump on the waterer and was trying to jump up at her even then. She is 24 weeks old, for crying out loud! He should be flirting, not attacking! No, she is not squatting for him yet, but he should not be attacking her. He doesn't attack Zara when I put her in there. But, I cannot breed from Zara because of the evidence that she is a dwarf gene carrier, not to mention her crow head.

I'm wondering if MaryJo will end up with the Brahmas, she likes the young Brahma males so much, LOL. Bash sure doesn't want to hurt her, he was trying to mate her and being pretty relentless about it, too. He's a big boy for her, even if she fills out as she matures, but I can't put her with a rooster that is mean to her. This is insane, that I cannot get more girls for Hector. Right now, Hector is only in a holding pattern as a replacement for Atlas, it seems. But, the only two pure Stukel hens are over 6 years old now and the others are Atlas daughters, like MaryJo, so all could be dwarf gene carriers. Well, probably not all are, but I have no way of knowing which are and which aren't other than Zara and Athena probably are, because Piglet and Pooh-bear came out of Apollo with those hens.

The only ones not giving me trouble are my Brahmas, sigh. And I love my BRs, including goofy Hector.

 

[1muttsfan]

Things may change as she becomes more mature. Although sometimes birds can have very strong personal preferences, and roosters are the kings of their domains.

 

[speckledhen]

Things may change as she becomes more mature. Although sometimes birds can have very strong personal preferences, and roosters are the kings of their domains.

In some ways, I think Hector is much like Atlas. If a girl does not submit, he loses his cool and flogs her. MaryJo is not there yet, hormonally. I'm going to let her hang with her Brahma "brothers" for a bit until she is squatting or laying and then we'll see. She does run loose with both Atlas and Hector every day, but avoids them.

Hector is really a good boy. We worked with him enough! But, he's smart. And he's so handsome, such a gorgeous head and kind eyes.

 

[speckledhen]

Hector & crew. L to R: Jill, Thea and Rowena. Wish Ro would begin laying again, just so I know she's okay. Thea is currently laying, but I can't use her eggs due to her wry tail. Shame, really. She's a great hen.

And MaryJo, who I hope to put with Hector when her hormones cooperate. She's 25 weeks old now. I just pray she is not a dwarf gene carrier, being a daughter of Atlas. She has a lovely form and nice v-tail. Too bad she's missing her comb blade due to Zara's assaults.

 

[1muttsfan]

My she makes those little boys look like midgets! But they will soon catch up.

 

[speckledhen]

Okay, what can I do with a rooster who will not accept new hens? My EE hen started up laying again after about 8 months hiatus. I wanted to breed her to Hector for barred EEs. I took her and sat on the hammock with her while Hector was out, called Hector to me. He flirted this way and that way. Finally, after a few minutes, I put her in the lawn chair. He went up to her and jumped in her face. Then, she hopped down to run home and he flogged her all the way to the barn, though at one point I could tell she was going to squat for him, but he never gave her a chance. He treated MaryJo the exact same way, which is why she decided she preferred Atlas to Hector and is with Atlas now, not what I want at all. I will not have Maretta hurt! She is almost 7 years old and doesn't deserve it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I see that about half the time. Some roosters only want their own girls, and others will take all. It seems the characteristic isn't interchangeable. Either they like new girls or they don't. Maybe if you separated him out of his flock for a while he might be receptive to other hens company, but I think you have enough of separating birds out.

 

[1muttsfan]

I agree.

Maybe you should think about raising some Hector babies and keeping a boy, and rehoming him somewhere where he can have a flock of his own girls. It's not such a terrible idea to change out roosters every few years anyway.

 

[speckledhen]

I see that about half the time. Some roosters only want their own girls, and others will take all. It seems the characteristic isn't interchangeable. Either they like new girls or they don't. Maybe if you separated him out of his flock for a while he might be receptive to other hens company, but I think you have enough of separating birds out.

Yes, right now, I couldn't handle it. Atlas doesn't care for Athena at all and wasn't all that thrilled with Zara, either, but Zara would squat for him, at least. He seems to like MaryJo a lot. He is not pushing her to submit to him at all, acting almost fatherly toward her. She was checking out the nests today, by the way. But, I don't want a chick out of MaryJo with Atlas. Lizzie, Tessa and MaryJo are all his daughters, though I have never known if any of them carry a dwarf gene. He sure does.

I agree.

Maybe you should think about raising some Hector babies and keeping a boy, and rehoming him somewhere where he can have a flock of his own girls. It's not such a terrible idea to change out roosters every few years anyway.

I know I probably ought to hatch out some from Hector, but I have only Jill with him that I can breed from and she has not started back laying after her long broody period and subsequent molt. So, no eggs except from Thea. Rowena never laid after that time when she bloated up, not sure she ever will again. And Jill was producing mostly males, it seemed, of the few I did hatch from her. What on earth would someone do with Hector if he was like that with their hens? He'd end up in someone's soup pot, I bet.

Well, I'm off to read. Got up too early and I'm fading. Good night, ladies.