Lurch and Morticia

[Gofygure]

Your chickens are so beautiful! Glad everything is working out

Thanks!

Fabulous story. I hope everything works out well....I would be heart broken if you had to separate Lurch and Morticia!

I HAD three roosters. Could not bear to part with any of them. Of the 12 new chicks I got in March TWO are roos...)
(ALL of them were from the "pullet" bin, by the way...

)

Now, with the five chicks that hatched here in the coop recently, I have 33 chickens, five of them roosters. I'm hoping and hoping that the none of the babies are!!

I have no plans to get rid of anybody. I'll build another coop or two if I have to (already have 2...what's one more?? LOL) And having so many roos gives me that much more reason to get MORE chicks!! Your birds are very beautiful! I want some speckled sussex.....hmmmm, I can hear the hammer and saws already......

Wow! I'm impressed by your dedication to your roosters. I have to admit I'd be less merciful had Lurch not undergone his ordeal.
And you can't go wrong with the Speckled Sussex. They're beautiful, smart, and friendly. <3 I plan to use them as a foundation for a project that will take about five years to complete. I was lucky in that the best of the pullets and my biggest roo survived.

 

[Dowie]

Lol, that's a very sweet offer. Fortunately, it looks like Lurch will have some new ladies shipping out on the 20th to keep him off the other roo's radar. He really is scrawny compared to the two big guys, which isn't a bad thing when the other two are all hopped up on testosterone. I had to give One a lesson in biting the hand that feeds him.

Today is a very rainy day, and everyone is stuck in the coop. Whenever I venture outside I get a chorus of vocal complaints from the Comets, who are staring out one of the windows. But the Sussex have accepted the boring day and settled into the rafters:


Everyone, of course, except for Lurch and Morticia. Morticia is more than capable of flapping up onto her perch, but Lurch still walks like he's just gone to sea and isn't quite coordinated enough to get up there. So, like any sweetheart, Morticia stays down on the shelf with her man.


I have never met two chickens that were this devoted to each other. I'm interested to see if they will eventually grow apart, or if this attack has forged a lifetime bond between them.

I had a rooster who had a lady love. Oh he love love looooved her! And no-one else. Which meant she had to wear a saddle, as she was over-loved. She was his special lady, and she even was allowed to boss him around! When she died, he walked around her body, and did a sort of ceremony. He picked up food in his beak for her, and stared - he did this for several minutes. He cried for days.

 

[Gofygure]

I had a rooster who had a lady love. Oh he love love looooved her! And no-one else. Which meant she had to wear a saddle, as she was over-loved. She was his special lady, and she even was allowed to boss him around! When she died, he walked around her body, and did a sort of ceremony. He picked up food in his beak for her, and stared - he did this for several minutes. He cried for days.

Oh my, what a sad story. I'll have to be extra vigilant with little Morticia.

 

[GardenGal]

Gofygure, how touching about your rooster's faithfulness. Poor baby.

 

[Dowie]

Oh my, what a sad story. I'll have to be extra vigilant with little Morticia.

Yep, hopefully he won't get too attached to her when he's mature enough...I don't know why Sooty fixated on her. She was our only big red hen. Two weeks after she died he jumped into my neighbour's coop and was chasing his big red ladies around!

 

[Gofygure]

Yep, hopefully he won't get too attached to her when he's mature enough...I don't know why Sooty fixated on her. She was our only big red hen. Two weeks after she died he jumped into my neighbour's coop and was chasing his big red ladies around!

Hey, we all have a type.

 

[Dowie]

Well, Lurch sounds pretty loyal, but I'm sure he's not weird like Sooty. After Sooty's girlfriend died he refused to sleep with the other hens! As you said, we all have a type.

I hope Lurch finds the other laaaadies beautiful too, eventually. He's gorgeous and sweet - so good you are giving him a chance.

 

[HenFriend]

I have 7 roosters, couldn't find new homes so ended up keeping them. I have 5 silkie roos in together and most of the time they respect the pecking order and get on fine. I know I'm too soft but couldn't bear to think of them as someone's dinner!

 

[Gofygure]

Poor Lurch!


It seems that somebody got into a scuffle and lost a chunk of his comb in the process. I don't know the details, as I didn't see it, but for now I'm just watching for signs of infection and letting it heal up on its own. The good news is that Lurch is now almost lurchless, and his big-boy feathers are starting to come in nicely. Still no interest in the ladies, but God knows One has enough enthusiasm for five roosters. The whole flock has been lazing around in this heat. Today I went outside to give them a cold, tasty treat: yogurt!

The problem with yogurt is that the chickens love it even more than I do. And I mean LOVE it.


I end up getting swarmed by twelve birds who will stop at nothing to drown themselves in yogurty bliss. There are chicken face-plants....


....six-chicken pileups....


...and a serious loss of dignity for everyone involved.


But, something tells me they enjoy it anyways.

The wee girlies and their extra boyfriends, whom I can't even give away, have moved outside as well.


The RIRs are flighty little guys, but the Cochins are more docile than any chicks I've ever raised. I'm really enjoying them. Still trying to get the packing peanuts gone, but I may just bite the bullet and raise them for the dinner table.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Lurch's comb doesn't look too bad - he is still handsome. Great pics of yogurt bliss.