It hasn't gotten any easier.

[bobbi-j]

I was picking blackberries last summer and my rooster was closer to me than any of the other birds so I tossed one to him. He started calling the girls, and on of them came. I threw him another one and he picked it up in his mouth and carried it and dropped it in front of another hen who had approached. I threw several more berries to them and he didn't eat a single one.

That is fun to watch, isn't it? Today while I was sitting in the coop waiting for a couple of hens to lay their eggs (I may or may not have had too much time on my hands... ) my rooster came in with one of the hens, looked in all the occupied nest boxes and then started scratching around in the straw under the nest boxes. It almost looked like he was making a nest for her. She just crawled in under him and started scratching around, too. It was kind of funny. I'm still not sure what they were doing. He did it in another corner of the coop, too. It was almost like he was telling her, "Here. Lay your egg here." She didn't but it was interesting to watch their behavior.

 

[Quailsong]

Thank you for explaining the "Indian Burn" & comparison to wringing. And yeah a roo, esp one that's leading hens away & potentially aggressive, is def going to be an issue.

"I at least know they were treated good and feed the good things." That's the mindset to have, for sure. We're keeping chickens outside of battery cages where they can see real sunshine & chase after bugs. My own goal for my birds is a "Lifetime of good days with only one bad day (culling)".