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- #11
- May 22, 2011
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When we first got Rusty, he would challenge anything, which didn't always work out for him. At the time, we had two beautiful Embden geese, George and Gracie. George was huge (38 pounds!) and wickedly protective. The day Rusty challenged him, I hurt myself laughing so hard. Here's little Rusty doing his "let's get it on" strut and George watched for about 3 minutes before he accepted the challenge. That's when we learned that chickens are not entirely flightless. When George came at him, wings spread, neck stretched out like a battering ram and hissing like a ruptured boiler, Rusty showed us that he wasn't entirely a bird brain and flew about 80 yards into the goat and horse enclosure. Magic, my black Morgan/Paso Fino mare came over to investigate and poor Rusty's day just kept getting worse. He flew away from her and perched on top of the metal round pen gate, with the hot wire from the electrical fence resting across his back. When I approached to pick him up and put him awaym he turned to get away and caught that hot wire with his comb. Oops. Feathers everywhere and another 40 minutes before he calmed down enough to catch.
Now Rusty is a calm sweet-tempered bird, who enjoys attention and being handled. The exception was when we had Honey, a yellow Lab, who we had for too short a time. We will free range our chickens during the day to save on feed and because it makes for happier healthier birds (and better tasting eggs). Honey, for some reason, didn't think that Rusty should be out on his own and would bring him to me. She was a gentle dog with a soft mouth, so he never had so much as a dented feather, but boy, you wanna talk about ticked off? Rusty definitely did not appreciate it.
Our other roosters are Bobblehead, the Polish crested, Dude, the Ameraucauna, Paul, the Jersey Giant (almost 11 pounds at 6 moths old) and Stew, Rusty's son.
Rusty, Stew, and Paul all (usually) get along with everyone (although Stew will occasionally chase Paul, which is hillarious!), so they share a coop and yard. Bobblehead and Dude want to fight, so they are in smaller enclosures with their hens.
Between the eggs and the entertainment, how could anyone not keep chickens?
Now Rusty is a calm sweet-tempered bird, who enjoys attention and being handled. The exception was when we had Honey, a yellow Lab, who we had for too short a time. We will free range our chickens during the day to save on feed and because it makes for happier healthier birds (and better tasting eggs). Honey, for some reason, didn't think that Rusty should be out on his own and would bring him to me. She was a gentle dog with a soft mouth, so he never had so much as a dented feather, but boy, you wanna talk about ticked off? Rusty definitely did not appreciate it.
Our other roosters are Bobblehead, the Polish crested, Dude, the Ameraucauna, Paul, the Jersey Giant (almost 11 pounds at 6 moths old) and Stew, Rusty's son.
Rusty, Stew, and Paul all (usually) get along with everyone (although Stew will occasionally chase Paul, which is hillarious!), so they share a coop and yard. Bobblehead and Dude want to fight, so they are in smaller enclosures with their hens.
Between the eggs and the entertainment, how could anyone not keep chickens?
